Beach driving is sharply restricted this year at Cape Hatteras National Seashore (see 7/15/12 story with reader comments), and park rangers continue to count the apparent benefits for sea turtles that build their nests in the Outer Banks sand.

Loggerheads, a few greens and a Kemp's ridley have buried their eggs in 186 nests so far this year along the 65-mile shoreline, according to this running count at seaturtle.org. That's 32 more than the National Park Service reported on July 11, when they broke their record of 153 sea turtle nests in a single year. (Records go back to 1970, when the annual counts began.)

Beach drivers have a nightly curfew of 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on the beaches where they are still allowed -- instead of the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. limit that was in place before this year.  That means two more hours each night without engine noise and headlights to distract female turtles that drag themselves out of the surf in the dark. ... [MORE]

Three environmental groups whose lawsuit led to restrictions on beach driving at Cape Hatteras National Seashore criticized legislation Friday that would roll back beach access restrictions aimed at protecting the nests of rare turtles and shore birds.

U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr of North Carolina are sponsoring a bill similar to legislation filed earlier by Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, to restore vehicle and pedestrian access that has been curtailed along miles of Outer Banks beaches. In a House subcommittee hearing Friday morning, Jones said the National Park Service beach access restrictions have hurt the Outer Banks tourism eonomy.

The National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed comments on Jones' bill with the House National Parks Subcommittee (attached to this blog post, below) and issued this statement on the Burr-Hagan Senate bill: ... [MORE]

North Carolina's two U.S. senators announced legislation Thursday to roll back limits on beach driving -- and walking -- at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and a House subcommittee planned a hearing Friday morning on a similar bill filed earlier by U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones.

This spring the National Park Service started requiring anglers and other Outer Banks visitors to buy permits ($50 per week or $120 per year) for driving at beach locations where vehicles are still allowed.  The new restrictions are the outgrowth of a lawsuit by environmental groups and a consent decree aimed mostly at protecting the nests of rare shorebirds.  In recent weeks, the park service has closed some beach areas to pedestrians as well as vehicles after bird nesting behavior was observed.

The Senate bill announced by Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan would restore less restrictive rules that were implemented in 2007. In a press release, Burr said:

“Restricting ORV use on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore has a negative impact on local communities and the local economy. We must ensure that our state’s residents have access to North Carolina’s scenic treasures, and I am confident we can come to a compromise that allows people to have access while at the same time addressing any potential environmental concerns.”

Witnesses at the House subcommittee hearing Friday will include Jones, a National Park Service official, John Couch of the Outer Banks Preservation Association, and Warren Judge of the Dare County commissioners.

New permits required for driving on the beach at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore will cost vacationers and surf-casters $50 for a week or $120 for a year,  the National Park Service says.

New restrictions on beach driving take effect Feb. 15 for the seashore, which includes the beaches from south of Nag's Head to Ocracoke.  Besides requiring permits for drivers, the park service now puts limits on the locations of beach routes that will be available -- some of them only from Nov. 1 through March 31 -- for off-road vehicles. (See 1/21/12 story and 2/2/12 story with reader comments.)

The permits will be available at three locations: Bodie Island at the north end of the Coquina Beach parking lot, Hatteras Island at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and Ocracoke at the National Park Service visitor center.

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New limits on beach driving will take effect Feb. 15 at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the National Park Service said today.  Off-road drivers will be required to buy permits that would add up to $50 to the cost of a week at the beach. [1/21/12 update: see today's story with reader comments.]

The park service had promised to develop new rules for off-road vehicle use along the seashore when it settled a lawsuit filed by environmental groups seeking protections for endangered turtles and shorebirds that nest on the beach.  Seashore visitors who take their cars onto the beach to fish, watch birds or get away from the crowds will be required to watch an instructional video and buy a permit. 

A park service spokeswoman said the fees, to be announced in the next week or two, will be set somewhere between $90 and $150 for a one-year permit and between $30 and $50 for a seven-day permit.  The park service will update online and printed maps to with new information about times and locations were beach driving will be allowed.

The new rules were praised by officials with three environmental groups that sued the National Park Service in 2007.

"The park service's rules are a compromise that provides protections for both pedestrians and wildlife while still allowing responsible beach driving," Julie Youngman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in a news release. Other parties in the lawsuit were Audubon North Carolina and Defenders of Wildlife.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore stretches for about 70 miles along the Outer Banks from south of Nag's Head to Ocracoke. The rules will be published Monday in the Federal Register (and are attached to this blog post, below, in a PDF file).

Documents:

The birds and sea turtles have rebounded since a lawsuit limited beach driving at Cape Hatteras National Seashore last year, but the restrictions may not be the only reason, according to a story in The Virginian-Pilot last week.

U.S. District Court judge Terrence Boyle held a status hearing last week where park superintendent Mike Murray told Boyle that the driving restrictions may not be the only reason bird and turtle reproduction has been more successful.