Post by Logan on Feb 8, 2016 2:07:07 GMT -6
Dare County board opposes expansion of Civil War shipwreck sanctuary
MANTEO, N.C. -- The Dare County commissioners oppose expanding the federal shipwreck sanctuary of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad that sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras in 1862.
The expansion plan was floated recently by the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But regulations within the milewide sanctuary already pose enough limits, said board chairman Robert “Bob” Woodard in a statement. Locals in the fishing and diving industry fear more federal control, he said.
“The Board of Commissioners strongly objects to any expansion of the sanctuary or the creation of additional marine sanctuaries,” he said in the statement.
Beach driving restrictions imposed in Cape Hatteras National Seashore four years ago are among federal actions that make locals wary, commissioner Allen Burrus said. If the sanctuary expanded, rules could be made to more severely restrict large areas of the ocean off the Hatteras coast, Burrus said.
Read more: pilotonline.com/news/military/dare-county-board-opposes-expansion-of-civil-war-shipwreck-sanctuary/article_21389680-60d6-51f5-8067-e680d82f20d2.html
MANTEO, N.C. -- The Dare County commissioners oppose expanding the federal shipwreck sanctuary of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad that sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras in 1862.
The expansion plan was floated recently by the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But regulations within the milewide sanctuary already pose enough limits, said board chairman Robert “Bob” Woodard in a statement. Locals in the fishing and diving industry fear more federal control, he said.
“The Board of Commissioners strongly objects to any expansion of the sanctuary or the creation of additional marine sanctuaries,” he said in the statement.
Beach driving restrictions imposed in Cape Hatteras National Seashore four years ago are among federal actions that make locals wary, commissioner Allen Burrus said. If the sanctuary expanded, rules could be made to more severely restrict large areas of the ocean off the Hatteras coast, Burrus said.
Read more: pilotonline.com/news/military/dare-county-board-opposes-expansion-of-civil-war-shipwreck-sanctuary/article_21389680-60d6-51f5-8067-e680d82f20d2.html