Superintendent Brown, at the meeting in Pineville, asked that the board
defer any action on the back road until a resolution regarding the
extent of maintenance could be determined.  Following is the rationale on
back road sensitivity prepared by Michael Rikard, Chief of
Resources Management:
"Closing portions of interior routes or "backroads" will prevent long term
scarring of the fragile dune/grassland/wetland habitat on Core Banks.
The interior routes were originally intended as a temporary bypass around
the ocean beach at times when the ocean beach is impassible due
to high storm tides and should not be considered as dependable everyday
routes of transportation.
Heavy vehicle traffic on these interior routes creates holes and ruts that
become difficult to pass, so vehicles tend to drive around these
places thus creating more disturbed areas.  Constant use of these routes
create the situation where the elevation of the routes is lower than
elevation of the surrounding terrain.  Because the interior routes parallel
the beach and are lower than the surrounding terrain, they act as a
ditch, catching water when storm tides go through the dunes.
Attempts to grade or scrape these routes have further exacerbated this
problem by creating a ditch-like situation.  When these roads are
closed, they are slow to recover and can be clearly seen on aerial
photographs of 20 years or greater.  ORV's also impact the beach route,
but these impacts are more quickly mitigated by daily tide cycles and storm
tides.  ORV users will have to be more aware of daily tide cycles
and be aware that the beach may be impassable at certain tides.
Closing the interior routes will allow dune/grassland/wetland habitat the
opportunity to recover and better able to withstand over wash from
storms.  Nesting birds that use this habitat, such as the American
Oystercatcher and Willet, will have a better chance for nesting success
due to fewer disturbances.  Shorebird and sea turtle activities occurring on
the beach will be protected by proactive management practices."
Comments regarding the back road are welcomed."

This is an excerpt of the ORV draft authored by Michael Rickard.  Karen
Brown has given permission to publish this excerpt. The total and final
draft is promised to be out by March 15.  Please think
about and accumulate your thoughts concerning this particular issue.

B.K.  Thanks for the kind words....the DIFF Club is ALWAYS helpful,
courteous, cooperative and supportive of this national park!  Following is
the rationale on back road sensitivity prepared by Michael Rikard, Chief of
Resources Management:
"Closing portions of interior routes or "backroads" will prevent long term
scarring of the fragile dune/grassland/wetland habitat on Core Banks.  The
interior routes were originally intended as a temporary bypass around the
ocean beach at times when the ocean beach is impassible due to high storm
tides and should not be considered as dependable everyday routes of
transportation.
Heavy vehicle traffic on these interior routes creates holes and ruts that
become difficult to pass, so vehicles tend to drive around these places thus
creating more disturbed areas.  Constant use of these routes create the
situation where the elevation of the routes is lower than elevation of the
surrounding terrain.  Because the interior routes parallel the beach and are
lower than the surrounding terrain, they act as a ditch, catching water when
storm tides go through the dunes.
Attempts to grade or scrape these routes have further exascerbated this
problem by creating a ditch-like situation.  When these roads are closed,
they are slow to recover and can be clearly seen on aerial photographs of 20
years or greater.  ORV's also impact the beach route, but these impacts are
more quickly mitigated by daily tide cycles and storm tides.  ORV users will
have to be more aware of daily tide cycles and be aware that the beach may
be impassable at certain tides.
Closing the interior routes will allow dune/grassland/wetland habitat the
opportunity to recover and better able to withstand overwash from storms.
Nesting birds that use this habitat, such as the American Oystercatcher and
Willet, will have a better chance for nesting success due to fewer
disturbances.  Shorebird and sea turtle activities occuring on the beach
will be protected by proactive management practices."
Something I meant to ask y'all about and forgot......how critical is it for
y'all to move/drive up and down the beach at night?  What sort of adverse
impact on the "fishing experience" would banning night driving have on DIFF
or others?
As I said at the meeting, I feel we have 15 (at least) different options
open to us for preventing or mitigating resource damage prior to last resort
management!  Y'all can probably think of 200 more!!!!
karren

Karren:  Thanks for the prompt response.  We would like to gather ideas and
opinions and study Michael Rikard's soliloquy before responding to the back
road issue.  So, give us a little time. May we have your permission to
publish Michael Rikard's rationale on the Diff webpage?

With regard to your question about night beach driving, my first response is
that until you have driven the beach at night, one cannot truly appreciate
all the beauty of our island.

Probably the most traditional (or sacred) experience of the island is drum
fishing at night at Drum Inlet or at the cape. Others include the beauty of
the stars, which never shine so bright anywhere else, the lights of Atlantic
or Morehead or the bombing range; the total darkness of a moonless night;
seeing the full eclipse of the moon while fishing at the cape; the moonbeam
on the surf; the phosphorus in the waves; the ghost crabs scurrying out of
the headlight's beams; the drive along the beach on a totally dark night
seeing nothing but what is in your headlight's beam, knowing you won't get
lost because you can travel only up or down the beach until you get to the
end.  There is no more memorable experience anywhere in the world.  I could
go on and on. Until you have experienced our island and driving on the beach
at night, you haven't lived.

The fishermen may fish until midnight or low tide or whenever before
traveling back to camp. So there is generally traffic on the beach on and
off most of the time.  Drivers at night will be more cautious because of
limited visibility, hitting pot holes, driving into slews or washes, getting
into poor sand, looking for ramps or turtle barricades, or making sure they
don't drive past the camp.

Often at high tide, low visibility, emergencies, and various other times it
is quicker, safer and more comfortable to drive the back road at night.
However, some vehicles just don't do well on the poorly maintained back
road.

Yours truly,

BK

Dear B. K.:
please feel free to post Michael's blurp about back roads....he took it directly
out of our draft ORV Plan.....I have received Michael's draft,.....added a whole
bunch of policy and reg propaganda and its recirculating through the
troops.....hope to have it out by March 15 now, cause I'll be gone from the 16th
to the 27th for fun and to DC for a week!

kb