Save Trestles - East Coast version

Surfers, fishermen, and off-roaders are among those who will gather at 6:30 tonight at Fessenden Center in Buxton, NC to discuss the threat to vehicle access on Outer Banks beaches.

Last Fall, the National Audubon Society, the Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed suit in Federal District Court to limit or ban access to many areas of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Irene Nolan, editor of the Island Free Press explains:

[The] lawsuit challenges the National Park Service’s interim plan to protect threatened and vulnerable species of shorebirds that nest on the seashore. The groups contend that the plan does not go far enough to protect the birds, which include the threatened piping plovers, as well as black skimmers, American oystercatchers, and gull-billed and common terns.

The request for the preliminary injunction, filed Feb. 20, asks that [U.S. District Judge Terrence] Boyle replace the interim plan with more restrictive measures until after the lawsuit is settled. Specifically, the plaintiffs are asking Boyle to stop ORV use year-round at the most environmentally sensitive areas of the seashore – Bodie Island spit, Cape Point and part of the South Beach, Hatteras Inlet, and the north and south points of Ocracoke. These are also the areas that are most popular for recreation, especially fishing.

If you've ever surfed the Outer Banks, you know that the beauty of it is being able to cruise for miles until you find the perfect break--which would be impossible on foot.

Because the Outer Banks is subject to such heavy storm activity, including hurricanes and Nor'easters, the sand bars are continually shifting. The break you enjoyed last fall may have turned to crap this spring, and there is a new sand bar a mile or two up the beach that's pumpin'.

A U.S. District Court hearing is set for April 4.