New regulations await Lookout's ATV riders

Seashore aligns its rules with recent change in N.C. law

Cape Lookout National Seashore has opened to vehicles for 2006, and another spring surf-fishing season is under way.

However, anglers planning to carry their ATVs to the north or south Core Banks will find new regulations that will affect four-wheeling on the beach.

The most visible change with the March 1 opening is that all operators of all-terrain vehicles are required to wear eye protection and a helmet that meets U.S. Department of Transportation standards for motorcycle helmets.

In addition, no passengers are allowed except on models specifically designed by the manufacturer as "two-up" machines -- i.e., the ATV has a factory-installed seat specifically for the passenger.

Speaking from the National Seashore headquarters on Harkers Island, Chief Ranger Wouter Ketel said the changes have been made to bring the seashore's regulations into alignment with North Carolina law -- specifically N.C. Senate Bill 189, which went into effect in December (full text can be read at www.ncga.state.nc.us ).

"For some reason, people have expected us to have a lower level of safety consciousness," Ketel said, adding that this is not the case.

Other provisions of the state ATV safety law that will be enforced on the beach include:

* Every ATV must have brakes, an effective muffler system and a U.S. Forest Service-qualified spark arrester, all in good working order.

* An ATV operated at night -- from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise -- and at any time visibility is reduced because of insufficient light or atmospheric conditions must display a lighted headlamp and tail lamp.

Age restrictions, too

It is a national seashore requirement that all operators must be 16 or older and carry a valid driver's license.

This means that an angler's son or daughter under 16 will not be able to drive the 70cc and 90cc "youth quads" that remain legal elsewhere in North Carolina.

Under the new state law, children older than 12 may ride quads powered by engines of 70cc displacement and less; riders 12-16 are permitted to operate machines up to 90cc.

A disputed privilege

"The use of vehicles in the park has traditionally been for fishing," Ketel said. "We have not had use of RVs and ATVs for pure recreational use. We are not an ORV play area and don't want to be."

It is worth noting that all ATVs already are prohibited in Cape Hatteras National Seashore and have been for some time.

Whether done in ATVs or trucks, beach driving is an increasingly controversial topic. In November, the San Francisco-based Bluewater Network ( www.bluewaternetwork.org ), a division of Friends of the Earth, along with the National Parks Conservation Association ( www.npca.org ) and Wildlands CPR ( www.wildlandscpr.org ) filed a federal lawsuit against the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior, alleging that those agencies "have failed in numerous ways to protect the National Park System against the extensive damage caused by all-terrain vehicles and other off-road vehicles in America's national parks."

At Cape Lookout and in Washington, the National Park Service has begun working on an off-road vehicle management plan that will include an environmental assessment and environmental impact statement. Such a plan is necessary to ensure that the Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras National Seashores may continue to allow beach driving. The process may take up to five years to complete, Ketel said.

The chief ranger said he expects that effort to succeed, but he also said, "The only potential threat is if the Bluewater suit goes to court and a court puts in an injunction [against beach driving]. I can't speculate on what will happen with the court. Meantime, it's wait and see."

The park service seeks public comment on all of its management plans. Ketel said that the "user groups" he has been working with includes the Cape Lookout Mobile Fishermen.

In Dare County, the Outer Banks Preservation Association has organized to fight against the Bluewater Network and for traditional beach-driving rights. According to its Web site at www.obpa.org , the organization has more than 3,400 active members representing at least 20 states and Canada.