Hey folks,

Spring has finally sprung. I hope all of you have a chance to wet a line or two shortly, if you haven't already. Well ,here is your legislative update.

Here is what is happening in the OBX. The parties to a lawsuit over ORV use on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore filed a settlement the other day in U.S. district Court in Raleigh. The 23 page settlement was filed in the form of a consent decree that goes before the U.S. District Court Judge Terrance W. Boyle, who must approve the terms of the agreement.

The end result of the settlement is that management of seashore resources is now in the hands of Judge Boyle and the private, special interest groups that negotiated the terms of the settlement without input from the public. The role of the NPS will be to enforce the terms of the settlement until there is a long-term ORV regulation, perhaps in 3 years.

The headlines in the settlement are that buffers for nests and unfledged chicks are more precisely spelled out and larger in the case of unfledged piping plovers and that there will be a prohibition on night driving from May 1 until Nov. 15. There will be no night driving from 10 PM to 6 AM during these dates.

The environmental groups are entitled to "reasonable attorneys' fees and costs" to be paid by the federal defendants.

These are just some of the settlement agreements. The entire settlement agreement and maps on beach closures in the OBX can be seen on the following sites I encourage everyone to visit the following sites for more information. www.ncbba.org or www.obpa.org

Here are issues a little closer to home. Tonight I went to the first "Recreational Fisheries Funding Advisory Council" (RFFAC) meeting. This is the council DMS fought for when supporting the GFL. I feel great things will be accomplished from this council. The people I have met sitting on the council, truly have the best interest of all Delaware anglers in mind. While DMS will benefit the least from this council, everyone needs to know DMS did what we thought was right for all recreational anglers for generations to come. The councils next meeting will be in 2 months.

The other important issue to DMS was for the state to comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). This bill was signed into law by George Bush in Jan .1, 2007, requiring a national recreational angler registry. This potentially means a federal license to fish. The state is looking into a registry to comply with the MSA requirements. I commend Roy Miller and others in his staff to address this very important issue.

DMS has worked very hard for the last 50 years to fight for the rights of EVERY angler in the state of Delaware and will continue to do so for many years to come. I was very impressed by the respect DMS has gotten from our legislators and state officials. I am proud to represent DMS on this council and I thank all of you who supported me to have this seat to represent all of you.

Floyd T Morton III

1st Vice President

Legislative Liaison