Cape Lookout National Seashore

Cape Lookout National Seashore
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse
Map showing the location of Cape Lookout National Seashore
Location Outer Banks, Carteret County, North Carolina, United States
Nearest city Harkers Island, NC
Coordinates 34°36′19″N 76°32′11″W / 34.60528°N 76.53639°W / 34.60528; -76.53639Coordinates: 34°36′19″N 76°32′11″W / 34.60528°N 76.53639°W / 34.60528; -76.53639
Area 28,243 acres (11,430 ha)[1]
Established March 10, 1966
Visitors 508,116 (in 2011)[2]
Governing body National Park Service
Website Cape Lookout National Seashore
Official National Park Service map

Cape Lookout National Seashore preserves a 56-mile (90-km) long section of the Southern Outer Banks, or Crystal Coast, of North Carolina, USA, running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southeast. Three undeveloped barrier islands make up the seashore - North and South Core Banks and Shackleford Banks. The seashore includes two historic villages on Core Banks, Shackleford's wild horses, and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, which has a black-and-white diamond pattern. A visitors center for the seashore is located on Harkers Island.

The National Park Service, as part of their Centennial Initiative celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016, is planning to rehabilitate the Lighthouse and restore the Cape Lookout and Portsmouth Village Historic Districts.[3]

History

The National Seashore was authorized on March 10, 1966. It was named a North Carolina Natural Heritage Area on May 23, 1986. The seashore was designated the Carolinian-South Atlantic Biosphere Reserve on June 16, 1986. Near noon on September 9, 2007, Tropical Storm Gabrielle made landfall at this exact point with winds of 60 mph (97 km/h). Damage was light but flooding and beach erosion affected this lookout. On August 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene made landfall near Cape Lookout as a Category 1 storm with 85 mph sustained winds. Hurricane Arthur also made landfall near Cape Lookout as a Category 2 storm with 100 mph sustained winds.

Laws

The Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act (H.R. 126;113th Congress), if passed, would take wild horses from herds on the Cape Lookout National Seashore and introduced them to the herds in the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge in order to ensure genetic viability.[4]

Wildlife

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ↑ "Listing of acreage as of December 31, 2011". Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  2. ↑ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  3. ↑ Bomar, Mary A. (August 2007). "Summary of Park Centennial Strategies" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  4. ↑ "H.R. 126 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved 5 June 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.