Special Report
The Road to Surfdom
Storied Hatteras Island is threatened with depopulation the modern way.
(Page 2 of 2)
Elsewhere in the curriculum, students are given reading assignments that include a pair of news articles from 2003. One describes a local state senator as “one of the state’s most powerful politicians,” with the audacity to work on behalf of his constituents. The second features a Duke University geologist explaining to children that, “Very powerful and very wealthy people live along the beaches. The politically correct thing to do is rush in and help these people who have suffered from an act of God.” (Pages 111-113)
It is true that many houses on the Outer Banks are owned by families who live out of the immediate area. It is also true that these beach homes generate roughly half of the $49.3 million in real estate taxes listed in the 2011 Dare County budget. Providing better schools and services to Hatteras islanders through taxes on people who don’t utilize them on a day-to-day basis constitutes a win-win for all concerned. As for repairs to Highway 12, villagers and contractors need it for work, school, emergency trips to the hospital and clearing the aftereffects of storms; not exactly the “very powerful” people described to middle school kids.
Placing Environmentalism Above
Humans
Geologists aren’t alone in targeting
Highway 12. The SELC, the Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife,
and other environmentalists have waged a lengthy campaign to close
or restrict access to the island’s beaches, prized attractions for
islanders and visiting tourists. So far, they have enjoyed
remarkable success in preventing people from using many of the
beaches on Hatteras. In some cases, strolling along the water’s
edge or reading a novel in a beach chair are now illegal.
Frustration with environmental activism is so acute, Dare County
Commissioner Jack Shea penned
a 2010 opinion piece lamenting “a forgotten and ignored
endangered species,” in the region: people.
The patina of ecological altruism dissolves as human consequences surface. Hatteras Island residents and business owners marked the first day of spring this year by staging a rally and protest march to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, drawing attention to the economic hardships they face as a result of environmental restrictions.
Among the newest restrictions is the requirement that anybody wishing to drive an off-road vehicle on Hatteras beaches — a decades-old pastime for picnickers, surfers and fishermen — must undergo a National Park Service (NPS) instructional program and pay a permit fee. The program is designed to protect bird habitat but the new restrictions have already proved frighteningly inflexible.
On April 4, 19 families found themselves trapped by a lunar tide along Cape Point. Caught between the rising ocean and a protected bird area with no place to drive, the NPS denied permission for the families to maneuver their off-road vehicles five feet inside a bird area. One father relayed the story of his harrowing escape from the tide while his two young children wept and vomited in fear.
The economic implications are no less fearful. Bob Eakes, owner of Red Drum Tackle in the village of Buxton, told the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper in January, “We have had a tremendously huge loss from the (National) Park Service rules.” How bleak is the future for Eakes’ and his tackle shop? “I just don’t know if I can stay in business.”
Unlike the questionable economic pronouncements of geologists, the plight of these villagers does not merit the attention of newspapers in New York or Los Angeles.
Life on a Sandbar; Not All It’s Cracked-Up to
Be
Hatteras Island rose from the sea
thousands of years ago and the Atlantic will likely reclaim it, and
Highway 12, at some point. Whether this reclamation occurs over the
next couple of decades or the next couple of millennia is anyone’s
guess. Professor Riggs and others are convinced that the island’s
geological clock is about to strike midnight, and their certitude
rivals that of a
Time magazine cover from April, 1977 which informed us
on how we may forestall the coming Ice Age. (Whatever it was they
wrote, it must have worked.)
But this belief in the imminent doom of Hatteras Island, whether by accident or design, gives aid and comfort to environmentalists promoting policies that are killing the island’s economy. The apparent target is Highway 12 but that is conveyance for a broader goal of forcing people from their homes without optics akin to those of Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II.
Those who live on Hatteras understand the sometimes tenuous nature of living on a barrier island, as well as the joy of being in one of America’s most unique and storied places, a joy reflected in part by the popular “Life on a Sandbar” memorabilia sold to tourists. Hatteras islanders also possess a deep knowledge of the sea and the skies and the shifting sand, which holds them in good stead when the winds stiffen and shift to the northeast. But it does them little good in confronting the array of political forces that are now bearing down on them and the road that takes them home.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (84) | Leave a comment
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Stilton A. Cheese| 4.26.12 @ 6:44AM
and there are the damned *deer flies* to worry about on Hatteras.
Monkey Overstreet| 4.26.12 @ 2:41PM
No one ever heard of a boat?
Wordmonger| 4.26.12 @ 6:57AM
What sort of high dungeon were the critics in that Mr. Hogenson mentioned? Was it something similar to the Tower of London? Rather a cramped place to be and write about high dudgeon.
albert constantine jr.| 4.26.12 @ 9:10AM
I couldn't focus on much that was written after I saw that on page 1.
Scott Hogenson| 4.26.12 @ 9:18AM
My apologies to the uninitiated. The term "high dungeon" is a noun expressing a feeling of intense indignation.
John McG| 4.26.12 @ 9:36AM
No, it's not. Wordmonger has it right. What appeared to be a typo is by your own admission a full blown solecism.
KyMouse| 4.26.12 @ 9:49AM
Apology accepted, Mr. Hogenson.
The phrase is "high dudgeon," as Wordmonger pointed out.
Perhaps you are among the uninitiated?
DTOM!| 4.26.12 @ 9:58AM
Could we re-form the firing line back into a line, a line facing Democrats and socialists, now? This circular arrangement seems to be particularly unhelpful to our side.
Sheesh.
Scott Hogenson| 4.26.12 @ 10:06AM
Perhaps indeed. The oversight has been addressed with my appreciation.
KyMouse| 4.26.12 @ 11:06AM
Mr. Hogenson, your "apologies to the uninitiated" crack set off a High Horse Alert ("triggered" might be a better term).
I love Hattaras, and I hope your good article will set off an alert that will keep it safe for everyone to enjoy.
Scott Hogenson| 4.26.12 @ 12:07PM
Horse? Trigger? Makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for the kind words.
The Big E| 4.26.12 @ 8:36AM
What we should all learn from (if we haven't already) is that our lives are meaningless to those who worship the earth as a god. We are nothing in their eyes, compared to the immense value of a bird, or a fish, or a mollusk.
Stuart Koehl| 4.26.12 @ 8:56AM
Only an idiot would live on a barrier island subject to annual hurricanes and storm surges. If the government ceased subsidizing flood insurance for these idiots, they would build their homes elsewhere, and two goals would be attained simultaneously: first, unique ecosystems would be protected from development; and second, the damage resulting from coastal storms would decrease dramatically.
R Martin| 4.26.12 @ 9:05AM
If you agree to stand on the docks at Hatteras Harbor Marina and share your view on the idiocy of living on a barrier island to the people whose families have done so for generations, I'll pay your way there. One way, of course.
A. Fox| 4.26.12 @ 9:24AM
Stuart, since you love every thing in nature so much such as birds, fish etc. why not say hello
to a dead fish wrapped in paper on your front
door!
PolishKnight| 4.26.12 @ 9:47AM
Tsk tsk folks! Undermining Stuart's free expression of speech and providing an alternative viewpoint.
This is a perfect example of conservatives love/hate relationship with socialism: You wanted public, socialist roads and now that there's a political movement underway to not fund one, you cry foul. If the cost is $700 a year for the road per capita, then have the locals fund it either via a private co-op or local taxes. Done.
Mike 3/505| 4.26.12 @ 9:59AM
Great idea....let the locals fund the road....They can do so, by withholding that portion of their taxes that put them in the "donor" level.
DTOM!| 4.26.12 @ 10:12AM
Good grief! Public roads are a far, far cry from socialism. Open roads represent a "public good" an economist's term for something which we all benefit from and there is no economic way to charge for its use. STATE governments are where public roads should be funded.
Ending the "public good" classification of roads quickly leads to the approach Britain is considering - monitoring the location of all private vehicles in real time using satellite technology or GPS technology and billing the vehicles' owners for all miles traveled. That is the end of freedom of travel in no uncertain terms.
Not going to happen here? Haven't our wonderful Congressmen just passed a requirement that by 2015 all new cars have onboard data systems to monitor the operation of the vehicle that the government will then be able to access? Yes, they have.
Are they using drone aircraft in 20 states to monitor un-named activities? Yes, they are.
Your freedom is under attack.
Romney may not be the best, but he's gotta be better than all this!
Besides, it is the nature of environmentalistas to use economic warfare on our own citizens to implement a change that conforms to their fact-free notions of what is "good" for their deity, the environment as they define it.
And another thing, a quick study of the wave-beach interaction will show that the formation of beaches and offshore sandbars is a continuous process- no beach is permanent, no sand bar is either. Barrier islands start as sandbars and come and go with tide and time and most notably storm events. Only optimists build on sand - even the Bible said so.
Sheesh, yet again.
Mike 3/505| 4.26.12 @ 6:49PM
DTOM,
My comment was tongue in cheek.
Regards,
Mike
c. j. acworth| 4.26.12 @ 9:53AM
To R. Martin and A. Fox;
Stuart makes a valid point about subsidised flood insurance. I'm assuming that most folks on this thread would call themselves conservatives and believe in limited government that keeps to very few, narrowly defined duties and leaves the rest to the market and other forms of free association. Where in the Constitution do you see a warrant for the Feds to be selling homeowner's insurance? Or any other insurance for that matter. Buy insurance in the private market. If it is not available or too expensive, that sends a signal about the wisdom of living on a sandbar. Remmber the parable of the wise and foolish men who built on a rock and on sand, respectively. The parable works for a reason.
DTOM!| 4.26.12 @ 11:17AM
Limited FEDERAL government. States should be free to do as they please - and we should be free to vote with our feet, when we please.
Anybody notice that the single biggest infringement on our freedom has been the destruction of the housing market? Basically in a country where the average family moved every seven years, for better schools, business opportunities, weather, political climes, neighbors, for what ever reason we damn well had; now nobody can sell their house so we are all stuck!
Think about it. This housing thing has got to get fixed! Could we just take the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac writedowns and get over this? Anybody remember how quickly we got past the S&L crisis in the late 80's? We bit the bullet and it wasn't half as bad as predicted.
Man, oh, man the OBummer has GOT to get out of the White House! Soon!
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 11:30AM
Banks caused the credit/housing crisis with credit default swaps. Fannie and Freddie only followed their mandate to buy loans from the underwriters. The underwriters were at fault as they did not properly qualify their potential borrowers. The effects of over valuing of real estate and the bad loans made will take several years to work out. It has nothing to do with the President. The S&L/Reagan/bush recession lasted for 3.5 years.
Cosmo| 4.26.12 @ 2:57PM
Not quite kemo sabe. Financial insititutions were responding to the federal legislation going back as far as 1977 forcing banks to lend to unqualified folks. Moral hazard has been rampant in the housing finance arena for 30 years. Blame Washington for setting the stage.
President Clinton supported this foolishness as well. Obama and his minions have done nothing to correct the Fed problem (surprise). As far as Fannie and Freddie go, they continue to loose money, so where is their fiduciary responsbility for the bailout money funded them?
1blumutt| 4.26.12 @ 10:26PM
Cosmo has it right, and the feds during last of Bush admin. into the force mode after Obama in office telling.....telling banks they had to make these obcene loans or else. Our community bank got hit flat. Greg Hamby do some research, for Pete's sake!
R Martin| 4.26.12 @ 12:37PM
c.j., Stuart does no such thing. He is saying people who live (live!) on the Outer Banks are idiots and would move if federal flood insurance were not available. The people who live there are decendants of sturdy folks who settled the island before flood insurance, before hwy.12 (they drove the beach at low tide) and before the Bonner Bridge was built in the 1960s. There is no chance the current residents are going to move. Authorities can't even get them to evacuate temporarily when a nasty storm is bearing down on them.
Wayne| 4.26.12 @ 11:28PM
First of all: Most of the residents of the Outer Banks DO NOT live in houses on the beach. They must occasionally have to deal with high water but so do many people on the mainland. The issue in the article is the attempt to close Route 12. It is an attempt to get people off the Outer Banks and keep them off. Several years ago National Geographic did a special on the OBX and claimed they were only three centuries old despite the facts that one of the first English settlements in early 1600's was on the Outer Banks.
Minuteman78| 4.26.12 @ 9:47AM
Yeah, and when you call for an ambulance after you get the tar beat out of you, they won't be able to reach you because the tree-hugging dirt-worshiping enviornmentalist wackos will have forbidden vehicles of that size to drive on the precious sand.
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 10:46AM
Just who is beating the tar out of someone and for what reason? The life guards have no problem rescuing folks even those who are the victim of a crime. The sheriff can also get there to arrest the attacker
DTOM!| 4.26.12 @ 11:18AM
And the federal government does not provide the ambulance or the sheriff. It is NOT in their job description - although they'd like to...
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 11:45AM
The county provides these services and receives assistance from the Federal govt to buy equipment.
We here in Dare Co.NC have an excellent EMS and Sheriff service. The Park Service also provides law enforcement on Federal park lands nationwide.
Linda| 4.28.12 @ 3:58PM
nooooo, please don't leave him here, we have enough problems!
The Big E| 4.26.12 @ 10:33AM
Stuart,
Only an idiot would suggest that the only reason people can live on Hatteras Island is because of the federal flood insurance program. People lived on Hatteras Island for CENTURIES prior to the existence of flood insurance.
Big Tony| 4.26.12 @ 2:35PM
People do all sorts of idiotic things that does not mean the government should encourage them by subsidizing their behavior. If they want to take the risk they should be free to do so, but my tax dollars should not be used to cover for someone else's risky behavior. And that includes the Gulf Coast and river valleys. And when you get right down to it this type of thing is unconstitutional.
MUCCI| 4.27.12 @ 7:44AM
What about people who live in places prone to getting hit by tornadoes? Earthquakes? We all know where natural disasters are "usually" going to take place....does that mean we shouldn't inhabit any of them?
DRA2010| 4.28.12 @ 4:48PM
If you would take the time to read the article, you would see that it is clearly stated that it is the residents of Hatteras Island that are subsidising the mainlanders, not the other way around.
And as far as not wanting to fund risky behaviour, I would just as soon not have to fund rebuilding over and over again the cliff-side houses and buildings destroyed by mudslides and earthquakes all along the California coastline.
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 10:42AM
Flood insurance also covers folks living on river floodplains {where there are cities, like St. Louis} as well as those living along the Gulf coast where flooding can reach 30 miles inland. The development there renders the development on Barrier Islands insignifigant in potential losses.
Big Tony| 4.26.12 @ 10:56AM
Excellent point and the writer made no mention of the fact that these people insurance is subsidised by all US taxpayers. And when a hurricane destroys the buildings we pay for them to rebuild over and over and over with no end in site.
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 11:40AM
If you are in a flood zone you have comply with certain construction rules concerning the elevation of the structure. Older structures below current elevation rules are grandfathered in. If you sustain damage you must bring your building into compliance with current rules. The flood insurance program is govt subsidized as no private insurer will write it. The buildings since 1980 approx on Hatteras are in compliance and for the most part avoided damage. You do not get paid for any damage below the base flood level. You are not allowed to build finished space below base flood level.
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 12:04PM
an addendum: If you have no loan on your property you do not have to have flood insurance. You can take your chances.
Big Tony| 4.26.12 @ 2:48PM
And the flood levels are calculated on the Army Corp of Eng. estimate of a 100 year flood and when the calculation or the army's WAG is off then the taxpayer pickup the tab. There is a reason no private insurer will write the policies and the taxpayers are easy dups where the private market is not so easily duped. All the people benefiting from government largess love the programs that they benefit from, what else is new?
David W| 4.26.12 @ 9:15AM
Oh come on, we all know that humans are a pestilence, a curse on the land. The sooner we can confine all of them to cramped towers in a cramped city then the better off mother earth will be (of course, the elites like Al Gore and Obamas will just move to their mansions on the now wide-open Hatteras.
Von Mises Jr| 4.26.12 @ 9:24AM
This is an example of Agenda21. You will be told where you must live and where you are not allowed to go. Environmentalist is code for socialist.
If it cost $90M in 30 years, that is $3M/yr for road repair. If 4,300 people live there, that is $700 yr in taxes, not counting the businesses being taxed. Money is not the issue. Ideology is the issue.
What confounds me is that liberals love nature. Do they not understand that they cannot go there either???
Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island are one of the most beautiful places on the East Coast. And socialist don't think you should live there or visit. Four more years of Obama and it may be for the birds (only).
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 10:48AM
horse manure
Von Mises Jr| 4.26.12 @ 11:32AM
I'm not interested in your breakfast. Did you wash it down with pee?
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 11:49AM
Your reply shows your lack of intelligence. You have no idea of what you are talking about. Today there are only 8.7 miles of shoreline closed in The Cape Hatteras national Seashore. 22.7 miles are open to ORVs
Von Mises Jr| 4.26.12 @ 1:04PM
I have written articles on Agenda21, hamby-pamby. Apparently you don't know what you are talking about. If you know so much grand master, tell me why it is not?
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 1:23PM
Paranoia plus, you should move to Somalia where you can do your own thing. You certainly are good at elementary school quips. You can go about "agenda 21" if you like. We here will continue to enjoy our lives in paradise. Signing Off , have a nice day
Von Mises Jr| 4.26.12 @ 2:31PM
Must be a troll if you can't answer a question. Please don't bother me again. The other trolls have figured out I don't humor them.
Die Limbeckity, Die!| 4.26.12 @ 5:00PM
Hey Von Mises, does your mama know you're on the computer unsupervised again? I can't wait for your elementary school caliber retort!!!
Von Mises Jr| 4.26.12 @ 10:07PM
I would talk grown up talk, but you trolls would not track with me. It would be like trying to teach calculus to your dog.
UpChuck.Liberals| 4.27.12 @ 1:10AM
Wow, ONLY 8.7 miles closed out of 31.4? Why heck that's ONLY 27.7% I'm sure that with a little effort it will soon be ONLY 50%. How about if we reduce your living space by 27.4% or your income by 27.4% or your body by 27.4%. Silly perhaps but heck it's ONLY 27.4%.
Von Mises Jr| 4.27.12 @ 6:46AM
Chuck, it is Walter E. Williams’s cigarette Nazi analogy. First you can't smoke in planes, then restaurants, then the office, then outside the office, then in the park, finally in your own house.
ncatty| 4.26.12 @ 9:27AM
Forget the bridge over Oregon inlet and increase the ferry service - the best of both worlds.
PolishKnight| 4.26.12 @ 9:44AM
I thought of that too, but if there's significant traffic and cargo, the environmentalists will freak out over a hundred ferry runs a day to shuttle over cargo including gasoline for the local cars to get around.
DTOM!| 4.26.12 @ 10:14AM
PK,
They're going to keep finding things to freak out about as long as there are humans around....
Bud Nelson| 4.26.12 @ 12:48PM
The sound is too shallow to allow for ferries large enough to handle the traffic carried by the bridge. When the road was out post Hurricane Irene, there was an emergency ferry that carried maybe 30 vehicles. The trip took about 2 hrs. Frequently that route was not working while the channel was dredged. And now due to protecting the Atlantic Sturgeon, dredging is in danger of being banned.
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 10:29AM
Greetings, As a resident of Dare co. for 36 years and surfing in Hatteras consistently since 1968. I find the comments by those who dont live here amusing. All in all there has been very little storm damage here over the past 40+ years. Some beaches are closed for two or three months per year to vehicles and a few small areas to foot traffic. There are miles and miles of beach open all year where you will not see another soul. The epicenter of the controversy is the Cape Point area where fishing is best. This is a five mile piece of beach. It is never completely closed. In the best fishing months of Oct,Nov,Dec, there are no closures as the birds have left. The one aspect of the off road vehicle controversy not discussed is the incredible increase in 4WD ownership and the massive increase in beach driving. This brings in drivers who do not have a clue of how to drive in sand who are getting stuck and even losing their vehicle to the surf. Hatteras now has a booming economy compared to even 30 years ago. Those of us who were lucky enough to enjoy it before the "invasion" can only remember the peaceful atmosphere. The reality is that there will always be a bridge to Hatteras and life will go on there as usual. The beach driving issue will be resolved with compromise on both sides.
The Big E| 4.26.12 @ 10:39AM
I had the great pleasure of visiting Hatteras in the summer of 1985 before I joined the Army. It's the only time I've been ther, but that week is burned into my mind as one of the gretest memories of my life.
You live on a little stretch of wonderful!
ncatty| 4.26.12 @ 10:53AM
Yeah, and Nags Head was a pretty place too. No more.
emilio lizardo, PhD| 4.26.12 @ 12:34PM
I am guessing you live in Manteo, or at least not on HI. No storm damage? You have got to be kidding. Tell that to the people who live in Rodanthe, Buxton, Frisco or Hatteras which routinely become archipelagos following storms. Dare, Tyrrell and Hyde Counties are in bad economic shape- as it the whole state thanks to Mike Easley and Bev Perdue- and the whole country thanks to BHO et al. Ferry service is next to be cut, there will be no more funds to repair the frequent washover and destruction of 12, and maybe that will be the end of Holiday Inns in Hatteras and movie theaters and shopping malls in Avon, and a cease in the pilgrimmage of schmucks from Pa and NJ to OBX
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 1:06PM
You obviously have not been here long. For our exposure Dare Co. has been fortunate with storms over the last 4o+ years. The last really devastating storm was Ash Wednesday in 1962 which caused damage from here to Long Island NY.
I sustained damage here in Kitty Hawk from Irene. I am not seeing any decrease in business here. Hatteras went through a bad time but the visitors will be back with their money and life will go on. Those visitors from all over the world are our livelehood. Manteo was flooded by Irene.
The President did not cause the credit crisis. Do some research. Banks and investment banks went out on the limb of greed beginning in 1998 with the repeal of the Glass Stiegel Act and began to make high risk bets which failed in 2007-2008 and we now live in the result.
Kathleen| 4.26.12 @ 3:15PM
Greg, who actually repealed the Glass Stiegel Act? If I am not mistaken it was Congress and I do believe that is the government. It is the government's fault for forcing all the banks to give loans to people who did not really qualify (everyone own a home mentality). The banks obliged and greedily so.
emilio lizardo, PhD| 4.27.12 @ 8:29AM
Kitty Hawk. Even better. Love those northern Banks, strip malls and pricks from the Northeast just like the dude above
Gazinya| 4.26.12 @ 10:56AM
May I offer a suggestion to the enviromental crowd who wait until all their arguments for 'no growth' who are now safely nested in areas that their arguments will not affect. There is a history of similar 'movements' that sought to change the behavior of a population and the government.
Ghandi used fasting and self deprivation to change the British. Some Buddists set themselves on fire in Viet Nam. The Arab Spring was started by 'just one individual' who set himself on fire. Look it up, there are many other examples. So my suggestion is quite complaining about how others live their lives and either starve yourself to death or set yourselves on fire or hang yourselves in protest. Stop gripping and get on with what has proven to work.
Hint: While fasting don't drink the water, could be floridated. If using self emmolation don't use gasoline, could make someone money. Don't use plastic rope, just natural homegrown hemp, if you plan on hanging yourselves. I hope these suggestions move you to 'be PRO ACTIVE'.
Ernie Foster | 4.26.12 @ 10:58AM
As someone 67 yrs of age who was born and reared in Hatteras Village and who has atleast 4 generations on both sides of my family burried on the Island I read this article with a very heavy heart.
I operate a charter fishing business created by my late father in 1937. I am considered the "liberal" in the fishing fleet and I am. That said, this article is the most honest, straightforward, unbiased piece I have read about what is happening to us.
As a citizen living among some of the most honest, self-sufficient and hard working people to be found anywhere it is difficult to listen to and be legally impacted by the extremist on both sides of the isle who wish to do away with not only me, but also all that my ancestors stood for, the dreams of our young and anyone else who wishes to visit a natural place so wild and "once" so free.
Thank you Mr. Hogeson for an honest article.
DTOM!| 4.26.12 @ 11:21AM
Ernie,
Maybe you're not a liberal any more.
The old saw was, 'a liberal is a conservative who hasn't been mugged yet.'
It's still true. Look around, you're being mugged and you better wake up and smell the coffee, citizen...
Welcome aboard!
Scott Hogenson| 4.26.12 @ 11:36AM
The pleasure is mine, Mr. Foster.
Dagny Taggert| 4.26.12 @ 11:09AM
So Greg beyond the beach access issue, what happens to your B&B business if the "invasion" is stopped by the overbearing EPA halting the ability for the county to repair Highway 12?
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 11:58AM
The invasion is done. Every piece of private land here in Dare co. has been developed. What makes this area attractive to visitors is that is not completely built over as say Myrtle Beach SC or Ocean City MD. The temporary bridge issue is in the hands of The Fish and Wildlife Service as it is in a wildlife refuge. This highway will always be open. It has been damaged before and will be again. It was breached in 2003 from Isabel and that inlet was filled in . Highway NC 12 is a State Highway.
ncatty| 4.26.12 @ 4:16PM
And by its very attractiveness becomes like Myrtle Beach. Look at Kitty Hawk and Nags Head, they are already at that stage.
Monkey Overstreet| 4.26.12 @ 11:39AM
We need more roads! Roads allow us to pave over that damned stupid green stuff and knock down dumb neighborhoods and allow us to be more rootless, because people are not plants and don't need no damn roots.
Petronius| 4.26.12 @ 12:06PM
Went there the first time with my dad in '72. Buxton was tine then; two little family motels and the usual hand full of necessary businesses. Sent my post cards with hand cancellation by the Post Master while telling him I'd like to have his job. Went back there ten years ago and the growth in between amazing. And the old Lighthouse Restaurant is gone. The ecodictators hate people who aren't in their camp. All of us. We are to be eliminated even if we do no more than sit in front of the surf with a jug of iced tea and a paperback. The prohibitions of activities within the bounds of the National Seashore aren't enough for them. They're fighting a war against the two things they hate the most: commerce and private property. These two institutions are what require the individual to work for a living. And That is their motive. They are really nothing but parasites.
Westie| 4.26.12 @ 12:13PM
I've lived on a Barrier Island for a long time and the only real problems we had was when the local commission became infested with the Green/Lefty morons. They were voted out in short order. Lesson learned.
Bill| 4.26.12 @ 12:27PM
I love my I-4, Jacsonville to Tampa via orlando.
Nick| 4.26.12 @ 4:39PM
"That nigger lover President Clinton had the pen and vetoed so many good bills passed by the Gingrich-led Congress."
- Written by Bill the Bigot, in the Time for Newt to Do the Honorable Thing thread:
http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403
You're a moron and a racist, Bigot Bill.
GO AWAY!
Ron| 4.26.12 @ 1:04PM
A couple of comments (if they are allowed) by someone who faces a similar living situation..
I live in Juneau, Alaska. The only way in or out is either via State ferry (called the Alaska Marine Highways) or by aircraft (of which we are basically held hostage to extremely high prices due to one common carrier flying in.) We have tried unsuccessfully to get a road into Haines or Skagway, which would link us to the outside world, but the enviro-wackos have always found excuses and big money to shut it down (See SEACC's website.) it would be so nice to be able to drive elsewhere for a change. The complaints are that the road cannot be made safe enough, or it might harm the "fragile coastline of the Lynn Canal" (as if giant ferries pumping diesel fumes would not?) or the huge pricetag to build it in the first place.
In addition, I do take umbrage at the "road to nowhere" comments...The road in question was to build a safe connection from the city of Ketchikan, Alaska to it's own airport. The airport sits on an island offshore (which provides the only decent landing space for large aircraft) and right now is only accessible by water taxis (which often make it close to impossible to be on time for a flight if they are behind due to weather.)
Yes, we live in Alaska for the scenery, and some like the perceived 9though not true) "lawless" characteristics, but those of us who do live in the larger cities would appreciate from time to time being able to afford to get out (via road) or safely make our way over to Ketchikan's airport when we are there, instead of simply hoping for nice weather....Something alo of folks seem to take for granted elsewhere...And by the way, these are our homes, not some summer cottages where we go to escape, or hunting lodges...We live and work here, so I can understand the folks in Hatteras' wanting to preserve their link and exit if necessary to the outside world.
Greg Hamby | 4.26.12 @ 1:16PM
The bottom line is that The Outer Banks has the best beaches,fishing and surfing on The East Coast. There is plenty of free parking to access the beach and there are miles and miles of beach that are in their natural state with clean water. I would also say that The Outer Banks are one of the best places to live, work and vacation.
Rhoetus| 4.26.12 @ 5:18PM
Un-constitutional Takings:
http://www.thefreemanonline.or.....egulation/
cicero| 4.26.12 @ 1:46PM
Let me begin by saying that I have rented houses on the islands on several occasions, and have fond memories. For those interested, the best times to go are in the spring and fall. The rental prices double between Memorial and Labor days. That having been said, it is obvious, again, that we should just let the market work. The same people who want to deny access to the barrier islands of N.C., are the same ones who have forced the rest of us to pay for the rebuilding of New Orleans, and the underwater areas along the Mississippi, the Missouri, and other riverine areas that routinely flood about every 7 to 10 years. This does not even begin to address the rebuilding of hurricane alley every couple of years, and the areas along the Pacific coast where the movie millionaires build their oceanfront palaces - that wash into the sea periodically.
In order to make sure that the favored few can live as they wish, the government periodically recaliberates the flood plane maps to bring more and more under its purview. As a result, more and more people, most of whom will never experience a flood, are required to pay for participation in a program they will never use. It is called spreading the risk (pain). That way the folks who really live in the flood plains, or in the hurricane prone areas won't have to pay the real cost. I happen to live on the shores of Lake St. Clair, in Michigan. While the actual elevation of my property is such that it will never flood, I am forced to have flood insurance now because the government redrew the evelation maps a few years ago. If the market place were allowed to work, those who lived in areas that were in danger of destruction would pay for the risk. If the places (Hatteras, etc.) were truly in danger of dissappearing into the ocean, they would either pay for insurance at its actual market rate, move out, or wait for the catastrphic tide to come in. What we have now is rediculous.
Rhoetus| 4.26.12 @ 5:09PM
We really do need a "velvet" Revolution to end the Progressive's oppression.
Jones | 4.27.12 @ 12:00AM
These environmentalists are despicable. Leave the people of the Outer Banks alone. Every part of America comes with its own hazards. Should we depopulate the midwest because of tornadoes? Should we keep people from living in areas where earthquakes are likely? What about blizzards on the northern plains? Should we move everyone out of the Dakotas? I could go on but hopefully you get my point.
Environmentalism is just another form of tyranny. Enviros just want control for control's sake, because they're convinced they know better.
Leave us alone, you goddam tree-hugging bastards.
POST American| 4.27.12 @ 2:13AM
--BTW
one and all should be aware that
getting people OFF the coasts everywhere
is a KEY feature of the genocidal capstone
'Agenda 21'.
We learn RUSSIAN troops are even in
joint exercises with American troops
in Colorado to 'root out American terrorists.'
CHECK IT OUT
'RIO + 20' is just a couple months away.
It's to set up and implement the hard power
for getting this done. Taxes and fines and
regulations are other instruments of this
tyranny.
DON'T believe us? --check it out for yourselves.
We ARE in the 11th hour of the
CFR--RED China handover, takedown,
TREASON, OCCUPATION and
FINAL EUGENICS OP.
IF you're NOT getting it yet
------------------------YOU are indeed ---an 'IT'.
YOU REALLY ARE
ksw4obx| 5.1.12 @ 12:19PM
Excellent read! Very informative and I will share this in depth look at the situation with others. Please help protect beach access America's first National Seashore RECREATION AREA! Sign our petition - Revert Back To Open Beach Access http://t.co/U2FcT4y9
Outer Beaches Realty | 6.11.12 @ 11:07AM
About time someone spoke up for the people, businesses, visitors of Hatteras Island. Environmental groups are destroying their names by putting blinders on and attacking EVERY situation without understanding both sides of the issues. When I see someone proudly wearing a symbol of one of these groups, I let them know they should be ashamed of the organization's actions....most do not know how destructive their organizations are....until they begin to look into it....and they will only do so if they are called out on it and realize the 'badge' they wear is not one of courage, but of destruction. Yet they keep supporting the lawyer coffers so they can insure more waste of government spending in defending the frivolous lawsuits they blindly bring against local communities and injure those same communities. Shame on them. Kudos to Scott Hogenson for calling a spade a spade.