Chairman (Warren Judge) takes aim at Audubon
BY SANDY SEMANS | SENTINEL STAFF

During the Monday, Feb. 1, meeting of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, Chairman Warren Judge lambasted Audubon, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the two organizations that are asking for significant portions of the Cape Hatteras Seashore to be closed to both off-road vehicles and pedestrians.

"Dare County and Hatteras Island have suffered for a long time because of the misdeeds of North Carolina and National Audubon, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center," said Judge. "However, the latest act by the Audubon is despicable.

"The organizations have finally exposed their long-intended position and that is to close the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area to everyone forever. In a letter drafted by Audubon North Carolina to the National Park Service they have gone too far..."

Judge was referring to a letter drafted by Audubon which solicited signers to the document before submitting it to a long list of National Park Service officials. The Sentinel reported the existence of the letter in the Jan. 27 edition.

"Audubon North Carolina does not sign the letter; I am sure this is their attempt to try to remain anonymous or at least try to hide the author of the letter," said Judge. "They have 60 other people sign the letter. I can not speak to their credentials, but I am not afraid to say that there are those among the signers who know nothing about the Cape Hatteras Seashore Recreational Area. And there are others that have a bias against people using the park that has nothing to do with science."

Judge said that he found it interesting that the letter contained the phrase "best available science."

"I would like to ask Audubon, where was the best available science in the Consent Decree. Keep in mind and do not be misled, the Consent Decree was written by Audubon and Defenders with the SELC as their attorney, capitulated to by the Department of Interior. Again I ask, where was the best available science in this document? I tell you where it was, absent, the Consent Decree was punitive and designed by these special interest groups to hurt the men, women and children of Hatteras Island and to disrupt the way of life and commerce of the island."

And pedestrian beach-goers beware, said Judge.

"All the special interest groups speak and write as if the only people who use the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area are those that drive ORVs. When then speak and write they do not tell you that closures and restrictions apply to all people, whether they are pedestrians or accessing the beach by vehicle."

Judge also questioned Audubon's integrity.

"I would like to thank the author of the Audubon letter for bringing up the subject of integrity. Let's talk about the integrity of the National Audubon Society. Do you know that they own a 14-acre tract of land on the oceanfront which they purchased on Dec. 29, 1989 for $2.1 million for a bird sanctuary and today the property has a tax valuation just under $25 million. As we sit here today, Audubon is negotiating with a developer to sell this tract of land.

"The proposed development will be one of the densest developments on the oceanfront on the Outer Banks if not the most dense. Does this sound like integrity to you? How is this consistent?"

Judge said that the county is preparing a response to the letter and expects to deliver it to the National Park Service, Department of Interior, the North Carolina Congressional delegation, Gov. Beverly Perdue, NC Sen. Marc Basnight, and NC Rep. Tim Spear this week.

And, in the coming weeks, said Judge, the commissioners will again travel to Washington, DC to gather support for HR 718 and S 1556, which, if enacted would reinstate the Interim Management Plan that was in place before the Consent Decree was signed.

"If you study the statistics from the last three years, you will find that the Interim Management plan was more productive than the Consent Decree," said Judge, referring to the fact that since the Consent Decree took effect, the numbers of piping plovers have dropped.

"Also within the next couple of months, the National Park Service will hold public meetings on the DEIS and the Management Plan for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore; everyone needs to participate in this process. Tell your story at these meetings, give testimony in this public record NEPA process."