THE GOVERNMENT NEWS DESKPERMANENT NPS STORY ARCHIVE
Organized by publication date and destination. Each story retains its permanent State & Nation address and official NPS source.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore experienced significant impacts from the recent coastal storm. Dare County has declared a State of Emergency for Hatteras Island. As a result, non-resident travel to Hatteras Island is currently prohibited.
Official NPS source
Beginning Sept. 24, Cape Hatteras National Seashore temporarily closed all off-road vehicle ramps as deteriorating coastal conditions continue to impact the area. The closures are in place due to hazardous driving conditions and risks that drivers will become stranded at high tides. Additionally, the beach from the northern boundary of Rodanthe to Atlantic Drive in Rodanthe, is closed to all access as multiple threatened oceanfront structures pose risks to public safety.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore is monitoring potentially hazardous coastal conditions expected from Tuesday, Sept. 22, through Friday, Sept. 25, as a strengthening offshore low-pressure system is expected to impact the Outer Banks.
Official NPS source
Beginning Aug. 17, Cape Hatteras National Seashore will close the Billy Mitchell Airport (HSE) to accommodate a runway pavement rehabilitation project. The closure will occur earlier than the previously announced Sept. 8 date, due to an accelerated construction schedule. The runway closure is expected to last until mid-November.
Official NPS source
Beginning Aug. 3, Cape Hatteras National Seashore will temporarily close a small section of beach and swimming area in Buxton. This closure will ensure public safety during a Dare County project to repair the southernmost groin near the former Cape Hatteras Lighthouse site. The Seashore expects to maintain the closure for the duration of the repair work.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore today announced significant progress in the ongoing restoration of the iconic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Crews have advanced major construction and preservation milestones designed to protect one of the nation’s most recognizable historic landmarks.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore reminds visitors and adjacent homeowners that it is illegal to detonate fireworks, or have fireworks in your possession, on all Seashore beaches, including the beaches on Ocracoke Island and all the beaches in Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village.
Official NPS sourceBeginning Sept. 8, Cape Hatteras National Seashore will close the Billy Mitchell Airport (HSE) to accommodate a runway pavement rehabilitation project. The project will provide full resurfacing of paved areas, new reflective paint, and new tie-downs and anchors, improving visitor safety and enhancing the overall visitor experience.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore has reopened more than a mile of beach between the south end of Buxton and off-road vehicle ramp 43, following an interim response action by the Army Corps of Engineers, soil testing, and consultations with the U.S. Public Health Service and Dare County’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore is pleased to announce the locations of its five lifeguarded beaches and offer tips to help summer visitors stay safe in and out of the ocean.
Official NPS sourceFrom May 18 through July 15, Cape Hatteras National Seashore will close the parking lot at off-road vehicle ramp 38, located south of Avon, N.C., to accommodate Dare County’s beach nourishment project.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore urges visitors to use caution from today to April 11 on east-facing beaches. There is the potential for multi-day, persistent northeast winds and breaking waves. This could cause coastal erosion and the partial or full collapse of one or more threatened oceanfront structures in Buxton and Rodanthe.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore issued a special use permit to Dare County for its upcoming project to repair the southernmost groin, located partially within the boundaries of the Seashore, in Buxton, North Carolina.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and its official non-profit partner, Outer Banks Forever, today announced an upcoming partnership project, funded by Outer Banks Forever, that will restore the interior of the Bodie Island Double Keepers’ Quarters.
Official NPS source
Ahead of an impending winter storm, all National Park Service visitor facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial will be closed this weekend and will remain closed through at least the morning of Feb. 2. The Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke campgrounds are closing at 12 p.m. today.
Official NPS source
The National Park Service continues to seek information from the public to assist in locating Christopher Lee Palmer, 39, who was officially declared a missing person by Arkansas authorities on Jan. 16.
Official NPS source
The National Park Service is seeking information from the public to assist in locating Chris Palmer, 39, who has been reported missing. Palmer is described as Caucasian, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, with blue eyes and strawberry-blond hair. He was last in contact with family members on Jan. 9, 2026.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) was notified shortly before 6 p.m. that an unoccupied house collapsed at 23047 G.A. Kohler Court in Rodanthe, North Carolina. Seashore staff are responding to the collapse and plan to begin initial cleanup efforts tomorrow, Oct. 4.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore will deploy about two dozen staff to Buxton tomorrow, Oct. 3, to contribute to the significant cleanup efforts associated with recent house collapses in Buxton.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) was notified this afternoon that five unoccupied houses have collapsed in Buxton, North Carolina. Seashore visitors are urged to stay away from the collapsed house sites and to use caution for miles to the south of the sites, due to the presence of potentially hazardous debris. This is an ongoing incident; further collapses are possible due to the ocean conditions.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore urges visitors to exercise caution this while while traveling and to stay out of closed beach areas and the ocean due to hazardous conditions.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore is urging its visitors to avoid the beach and stay out of the water near Buxton, due to a collapse of an unoccupied house at 46227 Tower Circle Road in Buxton, North Carolina.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore is urging visitors to use caution near the ocean and on beaches from today, Sept. 15 through at least tomorrow, Sept. 16, due to potential impacts associated with a low-pressure weather system
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore thanks the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association and local community for helping to clean beaches following the departure of Hurricane Erin.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will co-host a Sept. 3 public workshop on Ocracoke Island covering the behavior and biology of coyotes, a species of canine native to North America.
Official NPS source
A Dare County Water Department project to cover a 700-foot section of waterline with fill material near Haulover Sound Access, located at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, will result in intermittent travel delays on Sept. 3-4.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) invites public review and comments on a proposed Dare County project to repair the southernmost groin, often referred to as a jetty, in Buxton, North Carolina. Public comments will be accepted from Aug. 27 through Sept. 29, 2025. In addition to the comment period, the Seashore will hold a public meeting to discuss the proposed project from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore, in consultation with Hyde County, has postponed its co-hosted public workshop on coyotes, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 27.
Official NPS sourceWhile Cape Hatteras National Seashore will resume normal operations tomorrow, Aug. 24, be advised that there are a few safety closures that remain in effect.
Official NPS sourceThe National Park Service is continuing to conduct assessments of park facilities for impacts from Hurricane Erin, as the North Carolina Department of Transportation crews’ clear sand and water from the roadway from Oregon Inlet to Hatteras Village. As this work continues, Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) reopened facilities north of Oregon Inlet and is preparing for the return of visitors to Ocracoke Island tomorrow and Hatteras Island in the coming days.
Official NPS sourceThe National Park Service will delay opening Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial until 12pm on August 21, 2025 due to expected impacts from Hurricane Erin. The Bodie Island Lighthouse will remain closed on August 21st, and will reopen once post-storm assessments are complete. All other facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) remain closed until further notice.
Official NPS sourceConsistent with Dare and Hyde Counties issuance of a State of Emergency and mandatory evacuations of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) will be closing beach accesses and facilities
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will co-host a public workshop on Ocracoke Island covering the behavior and biology of coyotes, a species of canine native to North America. The public workshop is scheduled for 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27 in the Ocracoke Community Center.
Official NPS source
As a precaution, visitors should not swim or wade in the water at Cape Hatteras National Seashore from Old Lighthouse Beach to the northern boundary of Ramp 43. This advisory is a result of petroleum odors and sheens coming from the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore has implemented a three-tenths-of-a-mile precautionary closure of shoreline adjacent to the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site, due to the presence of petroleum odors and light sheens.
Official NPS source
A 32-foot vessel named Pura Vida grounded on the beach this morning at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, approximately one mile south of off-road vehicle ramp 38. There were no reported injuries to the person on board the vessel when it came to shore at some time after 4 a.m.
Official NPS sourceA 67-year-old male died this afternoon while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean near Frisco, North Carolina on Hatteras Island. Resuscitation measures were attempted on the beach near Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Ramp 49 but were unsuccessful.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) reminds visitors and adjacent homeowners that it is illegal to detonate fireworks, or have fireworks in your possession, on all Seashore beaches, including the beaches on Ocracoke Island and all the beaches in Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village.
Official NPS source
Parking lots at Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s off-road vehicle ramp 34 and Little Kinnakeet Beach Access, both located just north of Avon, North Carolina, will close from 11 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 through the afternoon of Friday, June 27 to support the removal of a large Coast Guard sea buoy from the beach. A safety closure of N.C. Highway 12 in this area, lasting no more than 10 minutes, will occur sometime between the hours of 8 and 11 a.m. Thursday, June 26.
Official NPS source
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) is urging its visitors to sign up for Dare County Emergency Management’s rip current forecast text alerts and swim at any of the Seashore’s five lifeguarded beaches.
Official NPS sourceCape Hatteras National Seashore law enforcement rangers are asking the public for information that may help to determine who may have forcibly entered the Bodie Island Lighthouse between the evening of Monday, May 5 and the morning of Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Official NPS source
The Bodie Island Lighthouse will be open for daily climbing from Friday, April 18 through Oct. 13, 2025.
Official NPS sourceFollowing multiple days of snow and ice removal from park roads and sidewalks, National Park Service visitor facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial will reopen at normal times on Friday, Jan. 24. Temperatures are expected to rise above freezing on Friday; however, visitors should use caution while driving and walking through the parks, particularly during the colder morning hours.
Official NPS sourceNational Park Service visitor facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Fort Raleigh) and Wright Brothers National Memorial will remain closed Thursday, Jan. 23. Fort Raleigh’s shoreline erosion public meeting, originally scheduled for Jan. 23, is postponed—a new date will be announced in the coming days.
Official NPS sourceAhead of an impending winter storm, National Park Service visitor facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore), Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Fort Raleigh) and Wright Brothers National Memorial will close at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21 and remain closed Wednesday, Jan. 22. Outdoor areas at the Seashore and Fort Raleigh will remain open.
Official NPS source