Study completed on 4WD access at Fort Fisher SRA
Click here for a pdf version of the complete UNCW study.
Click here for a pdf version of the UNCW study addendum.
RALEIGH - Although a minority of visitors to Fort Fisher State Recreation Area uses the four-wheel-drive beach access area at night, such use adversely affects rare and endangered species in the area, according to a study recently completed by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
A portion of the study which evaluated biological impacts of four-wheel-drive access reports that Fort Fisher is home to 10 species of federal or state significance, including loggerhead sea turtles and nesting shorebirds, and the beach is used throughout the year by one or more of the listed species. It recommends that either off-road vehicle access be prohibited for six months of the year or two miles of the four-mile strand permanently be made off limits to vehicles. The economic component of the study shows, however, that prohibiting four-wheel drive access would result in a significant negative impact on the local economy.
In light of the study results, officials of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources have determined the current management policy which restricts four-wheel-drive access to daylight hours for six months of the year should be continued as an effective way to balance recreation and conservation interests.
The intensive, three-month study was conducted by UNCW faculty at the direction of the N.C. General Assembly in response to public concerns about access restrictions at Fort Fisher imposed by the Division of Parks and Recreation in 2004. The team of researchers was directed to gauge the demand for vehicle access, the impact of vehicle access on sea turtles, nesting shore birds and other rare species and the economic impact of restricting access.
Although all beach areas at the state park are accessible to foot traffic 24 hours a day, the section of beach where four-wheel-drive vehicles are allowed by permit is closed at night from mid-March until mid-September under the current management policy.
As part of the study, public comments were sought at an October meeting in New Hanover County and written comments were collected during a 30-day period following. The study has been forwarded to the General Assembly's Environmental Review Commission. It is accompanied by DENR's recognition that the research team suggested additional study and by the agency's recommendation that no changes be made to the current management policy.
Drs. James Herstine, Jeffery Hill and Robert Buerger assessed the demand for four-wheel-drive access at Fort Fisher. They found that during September through February - which includes the peak sportfishing season - 73 percent of visitors driving onto the four-wheel-drive beach used it exclusively in the daytime. Daytime users account for 79 percent of total visits in other months. The results were compiled from surveys of visitors and from tallies made by a computer-controlled access gate installed at Fort Fisher last fall.
The research team also noted the study is limited in scope and should be continued for two years in order to fully support management decisions.
Dr. David Webster, in examining biological impacts, also suggested more study could fully determine Fort Fisher's importance to threatened shorebirds and colonial waterbirds in terms of migration, wintering and nesting. However, current research is conclusive that four-wheel-drive traffic adversely affects threatened species, he said.
"Off-road vehicle lights and tire ruts negatively affect nesting and hatchling sea turtles," wrote Webster, adding that traffic "in the beachfront and marsh intertidal areas compacts soil, thereby rendering it unsuitable for worms and other invertebrates used as forage by shorebirds and other consumers."
Economic analysis by Dr. Chris Dumas concluded the current restrictions on four-wheel-drive access have a limited impact on the tourism-based region. The analysis was modeled using information on vehicle counts and data from the 120 surveys conducted by other research team members.
Dumas reported unrestricted access likely would prompt 28,884 trips per year onto the four-wheel-drive access beach
Information from the surveys suggests mean direct expenditures of $388 per trip, which would directly contribute $11.2 million to the local economy. Dumas' model predicts that those direct contributions could have a total economic impact of $21.6 million in annual regional sales. The current park policy of daytime-only access for six months of the year is estimated to reduce the direct and indirect economic benefits by about 4 percent, supporting $20.7 million in annual regional sales.
The surveys indicate more than two-thirds of nighttime drivers are local residents (86 percent during summer months, and 71 percent in the fall and winter). According to the study, local users would presumably spend less for trips onto the Fort Fisher beach than visitors from outside the county who would have additional travel and lodging expenses.
"This study was professionally done and very thorough, given the constraints of a limited timeframe for research," said Lewis Ledford, director of the state parks system. "Our management decisions at Fort Fisher should take into account the best science and economic analysis available in order to strike a proper balance between recreation and the protection of a very fragile coastal environment."
The current access policy was implemented a year ago, along with a daily $10 vehicle access fee. Park visitors also have the option to pay $40 for an annual permit to allow an unlimited number of visits. There is no admission fee to the recreation area's other facilities, including the parking area, visitor's center, restroom facilities, trails and beach areas.
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