2008 Consent Decree

Off-Road Vehicle Management Planning in Progress

For the past several years, the National Park Service (NPS) has been in the process of developing the first ORV management plan for Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The plan will provide for resource protection (including protected, threatened and endangered species), visitor access and safety, and address potential conflicts among various park users. 

The plan will also ensure that ORV use is managed to satisfy applicable laws and an executive order that has been in place since 1972, which requires the NPS to develop special regulations for parks that allow ORV use.

2008 Consent Decree

In October 2007, Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit against the NPS alleging inadequacies in management of protected species at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and failure of the park to comply with the requirements of the ORV executive order and NPS regulations regarding ORV use.

The species identified for protection included: the piping plover (federally-listed threatened), several species of colonial waterbirds (state-listed threatened and Species of Special Concern), the American oystercatcher (state-listed Species of Special Concern), and several species of sea turtles (federally-listed threatened and endangered). 

In April 2008, a U.S. District Court Judge signed a consent decree to settle the lawsuit. The consent decree was agreed to by the plaintiffs and the NPS; and by Dare and Hyde Counties and a coalition of local ORV and fishing groups (Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance) which participated in the lawsuit as intervenors. The consent decree, which is enforceable by the court, provides for specific species protection measures and requires the NPS to complete the ORV plan and required special regulation by Dec. 31, 2010 and April 11, 2011 respectively.

New ORV and Species Protection Requirements

To meet the legal requirements of the consent decree, the NPS must:

• increase the frequency and degree of monitoring and protection of certain shorebird and all sea turtle species;
• establish and enforce larger closures around nesting areas;
• mark, monitor and enforce pedestrian and ORV corridors along the shoreline; and
• enforce a prohibition of vehicles on beaches between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., May 1 - Nov. 15, and implement a permit system to be established for night driving Sept. 16 – Nov. 15. 

Protected species closure violations that disturb or harass wildlife, or vandalizes fencing, nests, or plants are mandated to expand 50 meters for the first violation, 100 meters for the second, and 500 meters or more for the third. These violations may have up to a $5,000 fine and/or imprisonment up to 6 months.

Planning Schedule

March 2010	Draft Plan / EIS Released
April 2010	Public Meeting on the Draft Plan / EIS
May 2010	60-day Comment Period Ends
Spring / Summer 2010	Comment Analysis
Fall 2010	Final Plan / EIS Released
Late Fall 2010	30-day Waiting Period
Winter 2010	NPS Decision