20110023_Information Letter_20090925

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IN REPLY REFER TO:
L7621 (CAHA)
United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Wright Brothers National Memorial
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
1401 National Park Drive
Manteo, NC 27954
252-473-2111
September 25, 2009
Ms. Beth Smyre, P.E.
Project Planning Engineer
NC Department of Transportation
Project Development & Environmental Analysis Branch
1548 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1548
SUBJECT: B-2500 Draft Partnership Agreement
Dear Ms. Smyre:

The National Park Service (NPS) provides the following comments on the draft inter-agency
partnership agreement that was included in the Merger Team meeting materials dated September
17, 2009. NPS would not be able to sign the agreement as drafted, but offers these comments for
future reference.
General
We concur that an amended concurrence form is the appropriate mechanism for documenting that
apparent decision at the May meeting to move forward with Phase I of the project. In principle,
we can see the potential value for developing some sort of interagency agreement in the future, if
there are coordination functions that cannot be satisfactorily addressed under the Merger Team
process. Obviously, the objectives and intent of such an agreement would need to be clearly
defined and mutually agreeable. If the idea of an agreement is explored further, two key questions
we will ask are: What does the agreement provide that is not already a function of the Merger
Team process? If there is a need to be addressed, why can't it be addressed through the Merger
Team process?
Specific
Page 3, Section I. Agency Responsibilities, Item D: NPS would prefer the following description
of its agency responsibility:
TAKE PRI DE &X=, J.
IN Am ERICA-1?

The NPS is responsible for preserving unimpaired the natural and cultural resources
and values of each unit of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and
inspiration of this and future generations.
Note: We acknowledge that the original text in the draft came verbatim from the NPS
website; however, the language we have provided is a more accurately reflects the classic
expression of the NPS mission.
Page 4, Section II. Mutual Agreements, Item F: Add language as follows: "...to cooperate for the
purpose of preventing and/or mitigating any adverse impacts to birds, fish, wildlife, and their
respective habitats, caused by Phase 1 of the [project]...".
Page 4, Section 11, Item G: NPS questions the accuracy of the statement that a "public road'
predated the establishment of the Refuge, since there is considerable information to the-contrary.;,
We also recognize that the State's assertion of a pre-existing road is in dispute and, therefore, the
language used in any future agreement would need to be negotiated. NPS will defer to USFWS ,
and the DOI Office of the Solicitor on what the proper wording should be. NPS is aware of • •
several references that indicate that although people may have traveled by motor vehicle through
the area that would become the Refuge in 1937, there were no "roads" through the Refuge area in,
1937. For example:
In 1937, then NPS Assistant Director for Land Planning Conrad L. Wirth published an
eloquent description of the primitive qualities of the Outer Banks at a time when much of the
area could still not be reached by road. In fact, at the automobile service station at
Whalebone, which was a small shack distinguished by the huge skeleton of a whale propped
up nearby, the road south to Cane Hatteras simply ended. "Here," Wirth wrote, "the
pavement swings to the right and leads into the village of Manteo about six miles to the west.
Now you are at the point where the primitive begins. You drive off the road onto the sand,.
stop, and let about half of the air out or your tires, because the rest of the driving will be over
the almost trackless beach." (The Creation and Establishment of Cape Hatteras National
Seashore, NPS 2007, p. 131).
A similar description was written by Thomas W. Morse, Assistant in Charge of North
Carolina State Parks. In the 1937 Master Plan Report for Cape Hatteras State Park, Morse
stated that "...no major roads enter this area and it is reached by driving almost fifty miles
over the sands from the Whale Bone Filling Station, south of Nags Head to the park. This
trip involves crossing Oregon Inlet by ferry. While it is agreed that this method of entry is of
great aesthetic value, it should be pointed out that it also involves considerable destruction of
wildlife because of promiscuous driving" (North Carolina Department of Conservation and
Development, Forestry Division, State Parks Unit, 1937, p. 2).
Pages 5-6, Section III Commitments, Items A.I and 2: We have no specific comments on the
proposed monitoring since this section relates to the Refuge.

Page 8, Signatories: If such an agreement were to be developed, the approving official for NPS
should be the (NPS) Southeast Regional Director. I understand the same is true for FWS (i.e., the
FWS Southeast Regional Director).
We appreciate the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
7'w-rj? B.
Michael B. Murray
Superintendent