2008 Memorial Day ORV Summary

PRESS RELEASE - NPS
May 29, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend 2008 marked the first major holiday weekend of implementation of the court-ordered consent decree to protect nesting birds and sea turtles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The consent decree, in general, has thus far resulted in larger temporary resource protection closures being implemented during the shorebird and sea turtle breeding season than has occurred in the past, which has coincidently reduced the miles of beaches open to pedestrian and off-road vehicle (ORV) access as we head into the summer season. The National Park Service (NPS) provides the following summary of resource protection and ORV management activities for the 2008 Memorial Day weekend.


With fewer miles of beaches open to access, the Seashore’s park ranger staff were prepared to deal with potential vehicle congestion and safety concerns at ORV access ramps and on beaches open to ORV use. NPS used aircraft and park rangers on the ground to monitor vehicle levels on Seashore beaches throughout the holiday weekend. At about 1:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, during an overflight NPS observed approximately 641 vehicles on the beaches north of Oregon Inlet; approximately 1,135 vehicles on the beaches of Hatteras Island; and approximately 292 vehicles on the beaches of Ocracoke Island. Only one area of beach became sufficiently crowded to trigger a temporary restriction on beach access. On Sunday afternoon, park rangers implemented a one-on, one-off restriction at Ramp 4 north of Oregon Inlet for about an hour when vehicle congestion reached the point that there was no longer room for additional vehicles to park on the beach while maintaining a safe width for two-way traffic. This occurred with approximately 700 vehicles on the beach. The level of congestion soon eased and unrestricted access to the open beach accessible from Ramp 4 was fully restored.

Overall, compliance by the majority of park visitors with park regulations and with measures implemented under the consent decree was very good. Park rangers dealt with the normal range of law enforcement incidents that occur on a busy holiday weekend, including a number of alcohol violations, unsafe operations, out of bounds camping and several driving under the influence arrests, but the total number of violation notices issued were less than in 2007. Five violation notices were issued for resource protection area violations (1 on Bodie Island, 1 of Hatteras Island, and 3 on Ocracoke Island).

"The beaches were busy, but not overwhelmingly crowded," stated Superintendent Mike Murray. "We greatly appreciated the high level of compliance and cooperation from the vast majority of park visitors."

National Park Service

Open house expo planned at Administration Building

The Virginian-Pilot

Dare County is planning an open house expo Friday at its new Administration Building with the theme "protecting our children."

Tours of the building will be from 2 to 6 p.m., and there will be exhibits showing programs and departments that are involved in protecting children.

There also will be a hurricane preparedness exhibit.

A special ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 5 p.m., when winners of the County Government Week Student Art Contest will be recognized.

Refreshments will be available.

The 43,098-square-foot building at the intersection of U.S. 64 and N.C. 343 next to the county's Justice Center houses several county departments and offices that had been scattered around Manteo. It cost just more than $13 million and opened for business in late March.

Story: The Virginian-Pilot

Hotel Bookings 75-80 Percent For Holiday Weekend

Despite steep gas prices and some beach closures on Hatteras Island, local officials predict a busy Memorial Day weekend with sunny skies and warm weather in the forecast.

Hotels and motels are at between 75 and 80 percent of capacity for the holiday weekend, according to Carolyn McCormick, managing director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

Following up on this story after going out to run a few errands this afternoon... Yep, the season is here. It's like somebody flipped a switch and the visitors appeared out of nowhere. Have a great summer everyone!

Full Story: Virginian-Pilot

New Starbucks Open For Business

They're here! The new Starbucks Coffee is now open at The Marketplace in Southern Shores. Since we were up in that part of town last night, we decided to drop in and check it out. Well... it's a Starbucks - not much to report. As always, I ordered my "large" coffee and had the barista repeat my order back to me, changing it to the proper "venti" coffee "with room". Ahhhhh - gotta love that corporate standardization.

The new store is open from 6am-9pm during the week and 6am-9pm Friday and Saturday.

More Vandalism of Shorebird Closure Fencing

A second vandalism incident to a signed resource protection area was discovered by Cape Hatteras National Seashore staff on Friday, May 16th, 2008. Park staff found over 1,500 feet of fence protecting an American Oystercatcher nest had been damaged. This closure area is located on the ocean side of Hatteras Island, about .8 of a mile north of Buxton in a pedestrian use only zone.

Full Story: National Park Service

Fisherman's Wharf Reopens

WANCHESE - A sense of community and local heritage has been saved with the reopening of Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant.

In recent years, many of the familiar, family-run restaurants on the Outer Banks have disappeared, whether they've been sold, razed or burned down. Each had its own personality: The Oasis, George's Junction, Quagmires, By George, Etheridge's, the Seafare, The Wharf, Queen Anne's Revenge, the Pilot House, even Mrs. T's Deli. With their demise went a bit of the charm and character of the barrier islands.

That's not something the Rev. David Daniels wanted to see happen to his family's restaurant, which his father, Malcolm Daniels, had located at the place where the fish were offloaded by the now multimillion-dollar business he started, Wanchese Fish Co.

Original Story at Virginia-Pilot

KDH police need help

The Kill Devil Hills Police Department is seeking information about this unidentified male.


On March 14 at 5:17 p.m., an unidentified white male entered K-mart in Kill Devil Hills with a young girl. The male made a purchase and took a credit card that was left by the previous customer. The credit card was then used approximately five to 10 minutes later to make a large gas purchase across the street at the Hess station.

Anyone with information can call Detective Solomon Mills at 252-449-5330. Caller may remain anonymous. Or call the Outer Banks Crime Line at 1-800-745-2746, OuterBanksCrimeline.org, where tipsters are eligible for a cash reward and do not have to testify in court. Story via Outer Banks Sentinel

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