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cares about what happens on the island.
As do most of us in the DIFF Club. That's why the board of directors last year decided to spend up to $2,000 to provide a plan for the new camp. The Park Service seems determined to replace the current cabins at Great Island with duplexes that meet building and sanitary codes. In an amendment to the Cape Lookout management plan that's awaiting the approval of regional officials in Atlanta, the Park Service also is proposing to reduce the size of the camp by 75 percent.
DIFF board members agreed to provide a conceptual plan in the hopes of nudging park officials in a more reasonable direction. Karren Brown, the superintendent at Cape Lookout, said at the club's Annual Meeting in March that she would welcome the club's input.
B.K. noted that there's still a great deal of work that needs to be done. "We're still in the preliminary stages," he said, "but now we have plans to work with."
Another group of DIFF members, headed by Frank Long, is working on designs for the new cabins.

Willis needs state
OK on ferry fees

Alger Willis Fishing Camps Inc. will, for the first time, need state approval to increase its ferry fees after the N.C. Utilities Commission decided recently that it has jurisdiction over the fees.
The National Park Service had always successfully argued that it had sole authority over the fees because Willis has a concession from the Park Service to operate the ferry, said Annette Mitchum, a co-owner of Alger Willis. But the Park Service recently relented, she said, and Willis will need the approval of both the Park Service and the commission.
The commission, which also regulates electric and telephone rates, would hold a public hearing on any rate increase requested by Willis.
Though it has operated the ferry service for decades, Willis must apply to the commission for a permit to run the ferry. Annette will have to prove that her business is solvent and financially able to run the ferry on a continuing basis, that the business is capable of operating the ferry and that there is a need for the service.
To help Annette on that last item, the DIFF Club will write the commission in support of her application.

Alger Willis Fishing Camps will now need the approval of the N.C. Utilities Commission to raise ferry rates.

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camp near the lighthouse, replacing the cabins at the Great Island camp and building a camp at each location.
The DIFF Club, as did the majority of people who attended two public meetings last year, opposed any construction near the lighthouse. The club wrote letters and attended public meetings to oppose further development on the island. We also sponsored a petition that was signed by hundreds of visitors to the island.
"I hope everyone will be happy," Brown said. "People wanted us to leave the banks alone, and we listened.