Cape Cod National Seashore; Off-Road Vehicle Use

The National Park Service (NPS) is revising the current regulation for off-road vehicle (ORV) use at Cape Cod National Seashore. Since the current plan (1981 ORV Management Plan, as amended in 1985) went into effect, new and unrelated measures have impacted the off-road vehicle corridor identified in the amended plan. These measures have resulted from the necessity to protect the federally listed threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus). Because of a lack of flexibility in the Amended 1985 Plan, there has been an inability to adapt it to changing natural resource concerns. The piping plover became a federally listed threatened species in 1986. In 1995 there were 83 pair of plovers nesting on the beaches of Cape Cod National Seashore. Thirty-three pair were within the eight and one-half miles of the ORV corridor. During the Fourth of July weekend (a period of peak use for ORV's) in 1994, eight-tenths of a mile of the ORV corridor was open. In 1995, only six-tenths of a mile was open. Because of the sand dune configuration on portions of the outer beach, it is expected that the birds will continue to nest here. Thus, Cape Cod National Seashore hopes to develop a more flexible and effective regulation governing ORV use that will accommodate the NPS's responsibilities for managing natural resources.