Please sign petition to allow kitesurfing at National Seashores and reverse ban in Massachusetts

[windwahine]

Bradford, with all due respect it doesn't sound like you understand the issue at all.

Those of us who make the Outer Cape our year round home also love & value the wildlife here. That is not the point. The point is CCNS is a park, not a wildlife refuge, and they didn't close a few miles to kiting, they closed the entire 40 miles of Atlantic facing shoreline to us while allowing ORVs, foot traffic, leashed dogs, bonfires, hand held single line kites, tents, wind screens, umbrellas, hunting, fishing, beach volleyball,...

With all that human activity going on on the beach, you can justify kitesurfing as being more of a disturbance even though it's a watersport?! And that there's no place for it, even in the areas where the beach looks more like a parking lot thanks to all the ORVs & tailgating going on?!

[Bradford]

windwahine...I'm glad you're pushing back, and I signed the petition. I felt compelled to share my opinion, one that is more supportive of the conservation efforts of the National Park Service. I also believe we as kiters should always take an honest look at our impact on the environment. We are "green" compared to many park activities, but we are not perfect. Also...I guess I wasn't very clear...I recognize that kiteboarding is banned along those 40 miles for all but 5 brutal winter months. I believe that CCNS can afford to give up a little bit more of that space and time.

[windwahine]

Thanks Bradford, we're actually on the same page. I would understand if an area were closed to all human activity, then we would respect that.

But saying kiteboarders (& fat tired bikers) can't safely share the beach with everyone else as long as they stay below the high tide line & respect all the other rules is just discriminatory to me. In a 40 mile wide public recreational area, & including March-May when it's deserted here.

[BWD]

We are "green" compared to many park activities, but we are not perfect

Are you attempting to imply that being "green" is a good thing?

It's just the political flavor of the decade... only problem is, that decade is the 1970's!
A "few miles" or 40 miles, your posts are so full of bad ideas and wrong information, you are dismissed from intelligent conversation!

plover are common as dirt on the whole east coast and nest all over it from the carolinas to maine.
The endangered status is a relic of past wack job crusades.
Like rats and mice, they are capable of periodic population cycles, but they never have been really scarce.
Maybe you should get a summer job commuting to nantucket to clean john kerry's toilets, that would be an even better contribution to the 1%er agenda than your political poosturing.

Perhaps the problem is nutritional; you may need more protein and animal fats to enable proper brain function:

6 slices bacon | 1 small onion | 2 cloves garlic | two stalks celery | 4 piping plovers or other tiny game birds, dressed and plucked | 1/2 cup Dry German Riesling or other white whine

Be careful when collecting piping plovers for this recipe. They're sneaky creatures filled with malice and shrouded with lurking evil.

De-feather and field dress piping plovers.

Brown bacon in saute pan until crisp. Remove, drain pan, retain 2 tablespoons fat.

Dice vegetables. Saute onion and celery over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add dressed piping plovers chest side down, gently brown sides. Add garlic, cook 1-2 minutes more and add white whine.

Cover tightly and place in 350 degree oven 30 minutes; or on low heat to maintain gentle simmer stirring a few times if cooking on gas stovetop in your RV.

When fully cooked, piping plover meat will fall off of the bone easily, and their bones will crackle in your teeth like delicious raw angel hair pasta.

[FLXKiters]

I signed. Good luck.

[NYKiter]

Sounds like you have some organization.

I signed the petition.

[cleepa]

Following the same logic, they should ban all Cape Cod residents from having domestic pets - these are endangering the poor little birdies too.

This may have been a flippant remark, but there's a lot of truth in it. Pets are a much more serious threat to seabirds than kites. As far as I know, there hasn't been any study that supports the claim that kites harm seabirds. However, there are plenty of studies that show that domestic pets (cats in particular) kill a lot of wildlife.

It is hard to believe a ban that is not supported by evidence is right, or even helping anyone or anything.

[longwhitecloud]

we had a study done in nz and kitesurfers did not disturb birds more than any other recreational user

they tried "they think its an eagle " think lol - the birds are pretty friendly to eagles then! lol

should be all good... land of the free :-0

[Kamikuza]

Following the same logic, they should ban all Cape Cod residents from having domestic pets - these are endangering the poor little birdies too.

This may have been a flippant remark, but there's a lot of truth in it. Pets are a much more serious threat to seabirds than kites. As far as I know, there hasn't been any study that supports the claim that kites harm seabirds. However, there are plenty of studies that show that domestic pets (cats in particular) kill a lot of wildlife.

It is hard to believe a ban that is not supported by evidence is right, or even helping anyone or anything.

Like. +1. Green thumb.

[windwahine]

LongWhiteCloud,

We've been scouring the internet looking for studies like the one you mention. We would bring it before a judge, along with the petition, to try and get National Park officials to grant us some access. Could you please send me a link or an email address where I could download it? You can PM if you prefer. Thanks, Holly