All,
Thank you again for your continued interest concerning the loggerhead critical habitat designation issue, and as mentioned a couple times in the past; the critical habitat designation is twofold – “on the land” is under the jurisdiction of the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the “in the water” designation is under the auspices of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The public hearing on August 8th concerned the “on the land” designation that was proposed on March 25th. However the “in the water” proposal was released later by the NMFS on July 18th and we since requested and have been granted a separate public hearing regarding this proposal. The official announcement from the NMFS regarding this public hearing was just listed today (see link above) and will be held on September 10th, 7 – 9 pm, with doors opening at 6:30 pm at the Crystal Coast Visitor Center. I thought the attendance and participation at the August 8th meeting was tremendous and would love to see a similar turnout on September 10th. This NMFS’s proposal could greatly impact the fishing community (commercial and recreational) and I really don’t run in those circles, so please pass this message along to anyone you may know in that demographic.
Likewise, I will pass along some notes for your consideration within the next few weeks, but in the interim; the following is a “one pager” concerning the proposed “in the water” designation – http://www.protectthebeach.com/newsletters/2013/Sept13.pdf; and attached is a presentation we provided to our County Board this past Monday that summarizes the entire critical habitat issue. Thank you and please don’t hesitate to call/email if you have any questions or comments. Cheers – rudi
Greg “rudi” Rudolph
Carteret County Shore Protection Office
P.O. Box 4297
Emerald Isle, N.C. 28594
252 393-2663
252 241-3264 (cell)
252 393-6639 (fax)
www.protectthebeach.com