WELLFLEET – The Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission is challenging recent claims made by the Interior Department.
Legislation reauthorizing the commission, which advises the seashore superintendent and federal government, has passed through the House and is pending in the Senate.
The commission was created at the time of the formation of the Cape Cod National Seashore by the National Park Service as there was resistance from Cape Cod towns. The commission is made up of one representative from each of the six towns, two representatives from the state and two representing Barnstable County.
National Park Service Deputy Director Daniel Smith recently told a Senate subcommittee that the Interior Department wants to eliminate a clause that requires the Interior Department to consult with the commission on commercial uses and creating recreational spaces.
Richard Delaney, the advisory commission chairman, said Smith told the Senate subcommittee that the commission has the power to vote to deny commercial licenses that require reauthorization.
“That’s again incorrect. We do vote on them but we vote to recommend to the park superintendent,” Delaney said.
The Interior Department also cited costs as a reason why it did not want the commission reauthorized. They wanted to redirect the funding to maintenance and renovation costs.
“I think he sighted the figure $25,000. I don’t know where that came from but we are all volunteers,” Delaney said. “It costs the seashore virtually nothing except for maybe a stenographer’s time to record the minutes.”
Since the commission was placed under review in the spring of 2017, it has only been allowed to meet twice.
The first meeting in June came after a 15-month hiatus. The second meeting was in late September just days before the legislation authorizing the commission expired.
The reauthorization legislation has expired before. The previous 10-year reauthorization which expired on September 26, 2018 was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March of 2009.
It usually meets every other month except during the summer.
The commission is the oldest, continuously operating advisory commission of any National Park or Department of the Interior project in the nation.
Delaney said the commission has helped resolve issues with jet skis, dune shacks and off-road vehicles.
All of the National Park Service advisory commissions were banned from meeting in the spring of 2017 for review. The National Seashore Advisory Committee remains one of just three out of more than 200 similar commissions which have not been fully reinstated by the Department of the Interior.
The Boston Harbor Islands National Park Advisory Committee has also not been fully reinstated.
The third is the advisory commission for the Gettysburg National Park, which Delaney said is no defunct.
“So it certainly seems like a political vendetta against the two national park units in Massachusetts,” Delaney said.
Delaney said realistically the current legislative session will end without the reauthorization getting passed through the Senate.
“We’ll start all over again in the House with Congressman Keating and we’ll start at the same time with Senator Markey and Senator Warren, hopefully, and we’ll move forward,” Delaney said.
He expects several months or even a year delay in getting legislation passed.
They would then still need approval from the Interior Department to begin meeting again.
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