A Half Century and a Full Century of Parks Carol's editorial

Wednesday, December 30

2016 marks the Centennial for the National Park Service, and coincidentally it is the 50^th anniversary of Cape Lookout National Seashore (CALO). On March 10, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation creating CALO. In his remarks at that signing, he said,

A few months ago I stated that the clear water and the warm sandy beaches of our coastline are our Nation's real treasure, but I also observed that this kind of a treasure is not always secure. The question that many times faces us is: Will it be owned by a handful of the wealthy people, or will we preserve it for the pleasure of every American?

Will it be strewn with broken glass and rusting cans and commercialized beyond recognition, or will we leave a part of it as God created it and as man found it? 

 

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. This "Organic Act" states that

the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations…by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

Clearly the intent of the national parks, whether here at Cape Lookout National Seashore, or any other of the 400+ scattered across the United States, is to “conserve” the environment to ensure a legacy for future generations. The irony of it all is that parks are faced with major challenges in their efforts to meet that intent. For example, more and more Americans are flocking to our national parks. “The number of recreational visits to national parks in 2014 – a whopping 292.8 million – exceeded 2013's total by more than 19 million” (Winter, 2015, issue of National Parks, the magazine of the National Parks Conservation Association). While park attendance is soaring, and that's terrific, funding for parks continues to slow, reducing staff and maintenance.

We see these effects on a day to day basis. But CALO staff, as staff at each of the parks we have worked, continue to work hard to ensure a good visit for all - “conserving” the environment to ensure a legacy for the future. Visit a national park this centenary year of 2016.

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A Day of Horsing Around

Monday, December 21

We had an incredible opportunity today to spend five hours on the Shackleford Banks, reached only by ferry, with Dr. Sue, the CAPO vet for the feral and wild horses living on the Banks. Our assignment was to collect fresh poop from various mares for pregnancy testing. Three scoops of poop per mare, with seven sealed bags by the time we finished.

Genetic research shows evidence of Spanish ancestry in the herd of 114. How? Why? Many theories abound, but no one is available to tell that story in fact. Within the herd of 114 there are about 25 harems (one stallion, one or more mares and their young) and 7 bachelor bands. Each dominant “alpha” stallion guards one harem, and based on observation over time, the harem population changes. The alpha stallion herds and protects his harem from other stallions or other dangers.

These horses are wild, neither fed nor watered by the Park. Plenty of fresh water and grazing vegetation is available all over the island. The task at hand for today was first to find the horses, observe them to identify them and then watch for a rising tail and falling poop. Timing became a factor in this work because the alpha stallion will on occasion mark the poop, thus invalidating any collected specimen. In the collection process, we watched carefully to stay safe from the stallion and other mares in the vicinity. Finding the poop once it's deposited isn't as easy as it sounds. We tried to stay at least 50 feet from the horses at all times and had to wait until it was safe to move in with a plastic bag. By the time we got to the spot we had to look carefully – first find it and then be sure it was the fresh one – kind of soft and a bit squishy, truth be told.

Dr. Sue left Carol and me to track certain mares while she went off in another direction to track a different one. At another time Dr. Sue and I went off, leaving Carol with two mares to monitor. In the meanwhile, those two had a bit of a tiff (the mares Carol was watching) over access to a fresh water hole. When the younger one got to close, the older one instigated a bit of a face fight so the younger strolled away. But she was impatient and returned, at which point the older one simply moved to block all access to the water hole.  Pictures are posted below.

The first shot is a rather typical Shackleford picture - a couple of the horses hanging out on the dunes.  The other three are of Carol on her way to collect poop, collecting three specimens, and on her way back to join Hillary and Dr. Sue - that's the middle one, I guess.  The top shot of those three could be entitled "Now where is that poop?" and the bottom one "Getting it"

After that set of activities was completed we happened along a mare in heat trot off in the direction of one of the bachelor stallions who had called to her. The alpha heard and came trotting out of the bushes at full speed to stop this engagement. He nipped at and reared the bachelor and then chased him out of his turf. Alpha Stallion returned to his mare and herded her back into the harem. What a sight!

A great book for those intersted in wild horses is Nobody's Horses: The Dramatic Rescue of the Wild Herd of White Sands by Don Hoglund.

"Ribbons of Sand"

Friday, December 18

“When I die I would like to become part of the salt marsh. Return me to these waters, to the gr asses and the tidelands, where there is no such thing as death, only the cycles sof life. Make my marker a lush stand of cordgrass. Watch it wave in the breeze, observe how it catches the light, and think of me.”

These words narrated by Meryl Streep and written by Curtis J. Badger in Salt Tide, his memoir and narrative on the last unspoiled barrier island ecosystem in the eastern United States, introduce the Cape Lookout Visitors Center film “Ribbons of Sand” and succinctly capture a sense of our daily 360 degree horizon. We are surrounded by waters and waves, grasses and sand dunes. Off in the distance on all sides we see the islands.

Hillary stands on a section of the beach just down from the black and white diamond patterned Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Instead of a snow fence, the sand fence has been erected to reduce the erosion from the powerful winds that lambast the beaches from all sides. A twenty minute powerboat ride delivered us to this island, and Carol marched all the way to the top of the lighthouse, 207 steps up. The view from the top is spectacular, 360 degrees including Shackleford Island to see the ponies, all the way to neighboring towns of Beaufort and Morehead City.

We are in a maritime culture, not "southern" in the classic sense of the word.  Someone said this is much more like the maritime regions of northeastern United States.  But this is OLD.  Dates can be found  since the 1500s of Spanish days.  The ports have been defensive and offensive sites including Civil War and World War II where about 100 boats were sunk of Fort Macon.  Cape Lookout Island, on which the lighthouse stands was a military base as late as World War II.  

Saturday night's visit to the Tyron Palace in New Bern, NC, only reinforced the "old-ness" of this area.  The palace was the home for the Carolinas governor, appointed by the King of England and built in the 1770s.  Even though parts were destroyed by fire, the entire three block area stands in tribute to the first colonial governors.  All this was going on down here while the fur trade industry was in its heyday in Grand Portage.  It's a helpful comparison! 

December Sunday on the Outer Banks

We arrived on Harkers Island on Friday afternoon after a rather exciting drive through West Virginia, a smidgeon of Virginia and kitty-corner across North Carolina down to Cape Look-out National Seashore.  We discovered that a 55 mph speed limit is only a suggestion and that 70-80 is much more appropriate, especially in construction zones and for the 18-wheelers bearing gifts for WalMart.  The hills of these states are lovely, and finally sloped out as we neared the coastline.

What a sight this site is.  Horizon view like you would not believe, sunrise to stun, green everywhere.  Such a context for Christmas carols that accompany us as we walked along the streets of Beaufort and Morehead City, North Carolina.  We have learned that Beaufort is pronounced "bow fort," not as we had been saying it.  We have much else to learn, we are certain.

The wild horses of Shackleford are but a 5 minute ferry ride from us and we are hoping to make that trek as well as out to the over-200 steps Cape Look-out Lighthouse on Monday or Tuesday.  This lighthouse will make our mere 98 step effort of Au Sable a breeze.  I've heard that the volunteers are positioned up the lighthouse by landings so no one has to make the full 200 steps on each tour, and that would be one-way! 

Today we went exploring the costal area with our housemate and went to discover a small grocery store that sells organic products which are few and far between down here.   We thought that was kind of him to take us there; he self describes as a conservative republican who has 6 guns and a confederate flag and lives in Florida with his wife but also years ago served in the Peace Corp.  After the grocery store we went to Fort Macon which was used off and on since 1820's until WW2 where they protected the coast from German attack.  There were actually over 100 boats sunk by Germans during WW2 off this coast.

On the way back to our cabin we ran into a Christmas parade complete with marching bands, the Lions Club doing wheelies in their toy boats and Jesus who also made the parade. 

Tomorrow we begin our work duties and will provide more insights into this region.  It is called Down East and that is where we are where it has been unusually warm, about 70 and the humidity drips off the trees.

Here are a couple photos of our new digs: