THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605090204
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 31 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letters
LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
I am a 13-year-old who goes to Manteo Middle School. I know it's not ``Earth Week'' anymore, but ever since our Earth Week celebration, I've tried to work a little harder on helping our home.
Lately, I have referred to the book, ``50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth,'' by the Earthworks Group. Ever since this year's Earth Day I have really wanted to help; because of reading this book, which I think you should read, I want to make some suggestions:
Carpool more, or please ride your bike to places if they're close by; start a compost pile; recycle; or even make a garden.
Please, watch out for the next generation!
Lindsay Saunders
Kill Devil Hills Help save osprey nests
On Route 158 from Point Harbor in Currituck County, to Martins Point in Dare County, you cross on the Wright Memorial Bridge. As you head east on the bridge looking north, you see 12 obsolete electrical transmission towers. On these towers are man-made wooden platforms. One of the three arms of towers is used for osprey nests.
These nests are more than 100 feet above Currituck Sound water. In 1995 spring, there were 9 osprey nests, and after a storm only two nests survived. The problem is the high winds; the osprey nests slide and fall into Currituck Sound, killing chicks and adult osprey.
What is needed is rails to keep nests from sliding during high wind storms and keep the osprey population going up instead of down. If you watched all the work the osprey have to do in building a nest, you would want to do all you can for the endangered sea eagle, as I do.
John Strautman
Grandy
The case for Oregon Inlet
Please let it be understood that no group of interested citizens continues to be more supportive of the stabilization of Oregon Inlet than the Oregon Inlet Users Association. The following questions are meant to create open discourse, public understanding and meaningful input.
1. What is the official charge of the OIWC?
2. In the last couple of years, what official actions has the OIWC requested of the Dare County Board of Commissioners in regard to the state's obligations pertaining to the stabilization of Oregon Inlet?
3. In a letter to Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. on June 15, 1993, the present Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, retracted previously issued land use permits. What official action has OIWC requested of the Dare County Board of Commissioners and of Gov. Hunt to offset this act, which appears to have been an illegal action?
4. As a result of the discussions held in Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr.'s office while in Washington, D.C., for the water resources congress, attended by the chairman and several members of the OIWC, it was made adamantly clear that should legislation be passed that would transfer ownership of the lands needed for the stabilization project, we could expect the president to exercise his veto power. What official action have the OIWC, the Dare County Board of Commissioners and the governor taken to obtain the cooperation of the president and his administration?
5. As pertains to the state's legal authority to protect its transportation corridor within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, what official action have the OIWC, the Dare County Board of Commissioners, and/or the state taken as relates to the jetty project? Keeping in mind that the recently released Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce survey results indicated a 74 percent approval, does the OIWC plan to officially ask the Dare County Board of Commissioners to officially request that the state invoke this legal right in order to clear the question of demands for land use permits from the Department of the Interior?
6. Please explain the theory behind the OIWC's recommendation that a north terminal groin should be constructed, and how that would protect N.C. 12 and the navigation channels (inside and outside) at Oregon Inlet, and reduce the robbery of sand from Hatteras Island and from Nags Head. Also, have you asked the Dare County Board of Commissioners to officially request that Gov. Hunt and Sen. Basnight get the federal and state departments of transportation to fund the complete stabilization project, due to the many and varied benefits that would be bestowed upon the department of transportation's investments in N.C. 12 and the replacement bridge?
7. Has the OIWC officially questioned the Dare County Board of Commissioners and the state as to why cooperation with the Department of the Interior continues on their part while the stabilization project continues to be held hostage? A recent example is the award of $30,000 to fish and wildlife by the Dare County Tourist Board.
8. Since the OIWC obtained emergency funding to continue the next measurement of the monitoring project of sand movement processes on the beaches north and south of Oregon Inlet, what official action has the OIWC and/or the Dare County Board of Commissioners taken to obtain longer-term funding for this project, whose data is most important to the long-term plans for beach nourishment, the protection of N.C. 12, the wildlife refuge, Oregon Inlet fishing center, and the beaches in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore park, and to the proper planning for the replacement bridge over Oregon Inlet?
9. What actions have the OIWC, the Dare County Board of Commissioners and the state taken to correct the incorrect teachings of professors from Duke and East Carolina universities, who allege that Oregon Inlet is an outlet rather than an inlet? And, do you remember when Sen. Basnight stood the professor from Duke down in public on that very point?
10. As relates to funding for the stabilization project, are you aware that the Corps of Engineers had about $300 million left over from projects that were not constructed last fiscal year? And, had you considered that federal funds would be the largest share, about 80 percent, if stabilization was constructed through NCDOT as protection for the bridge, N.C. 12, and our beaches for six miles north and south of Oregon Inlet? Is funding really the problem it is cited to be, or just another diversion?
11. Are you aware that Dare County only obtained 12 percent of the federal funds, while the Wilmington area received 71 percent from the North Carolina Water Resources Development Project Grant Program? And, as relates to the state's share of this program, Dare received 8 percent while the Wilmington area received 72 percent.
Thank you for this opportunity to openly discuss actions, inaction, and strategy concerning the stabilization of Oregon Inlet.
Willie Etheridge Jr.
President
Oregon Inlet Users' Association Cancer unit says thanks
We, the members of the Dare Unit of the American Cancer Society, wish to express our gratitude to the many citizens of Dare County who participated in and contributed to our first Relay for Life in April.
Your generosity - nearly $50,000 - will help to continue the crusade against cancer through research, education and patient services.
We also recognize the cooperation of Dare's school administration and the support of Manteo High School personnel.
The relay was an inspiring example of our community's camaraderie: We did it in the spirit of Dare County.
Jane Moran
President, Dare Unit
American Cancer Society Good medical attention
Because of a complication following knee surgery, I received a telephone call demanding that I immediately come to Chesapeake for an emergency medical procedure that was ``unavailable on the Outer Banks.''
Rather than accede to a directive without verification, I called the Outer Banks Medical Center. Nurse Shirley Bretenback took my call. Being sharp and on the ball, she took the bull by the horns. Immediately, things began to happen.
Within minutes, I received another call from Chesapeake that advised me to report to the Outer Banks Medical Center for treatment.
The expeditious and highly professional attention that I received from Dr. Mitchell Jenkins and Dr. Delana Philips, and also the entire staff, is admirable. It is not only a strong credit to their facility, but also to the Outer Banks Medical Center in general.
It can be done!
Bud Koehler
Kill Devil Hills by CNB