Foundation Document Cape Lookout National Seashore North Carolina October 2012 Foundation Document

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Foundation Document Cape Lookout National Seashore North Carolina October 2012 Foundation Document NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Cape Lookout National Seashore North Carolina October 2012 Foundation Document To Nags Head OCRACOKE Natural areas within Water depths 12 Cape Lookout NS Ocracoke D Lighthouse N y Maritime forest 0-6 feet Ranger station Drinking water r A r L e S (0-2 meters) I F r Picnic area Parking e Cape Hatteras Beach and More than 6 feet g Permit required n (more than 2meters) e National grassland s Picnic shelter Showers s HYDE COUNTY a Seashore P Marshland CARTERET COUNTY E Restrooms Sanitary disposal station Beacon I K O C A North Rock R Tidal flat Toll ferry Lodging Gas station C Shell Castle O Life-Saving Service Station (Historic) PORTSMOUTH VILLAGE (Historic) Casey Ocracoke Open seasonally Island Inlet Babb-Dixon Cemetery There are no roads within Some land within the park National Ocean Survey Methodist Church the national seashore; a remains private property; charts are indispensable Community Cemetery 4-wheel-drive vehicle is please respect the owner's for safe navigation in Schoolhouse highly recommended for rights. these waters. driving on the beach. Sheep Island Tidal flats may flood quickly at high tide— depending upon winds North 0 5 Kilometers and seasons. ) y r y r r e 0 5 Miles F r e e PORTSMOUTH FLATS F t a t e S l c a i n i h l e o r V a C h t r o N ( PAMLICO SOUND PAMLICO COUNTY Mullet Shoal CARTERET COUNTY Pilontary Islands Wainwright I Shell Island Harbor Island Chain Shot Island Cricket Hog Island Island Cedar Island y r Point of Grass a d C n eda u Roe r Is o la B nd e Ba r y o h s a Lola e S l Refuge a n o WEST BAY Headquarters i t a N d Long Pt e z i r o h NORTH CORE BANKS Cedar Island t u A CEDAR ISLAND C O R E S O U N D National Wildlife Refuge Lookout rry Pt Fe Long Point le 12 c Open seasonally are Bay i orof h Th e V Hall Pt y Turn a Old Drum Inlet aga B in B g a n y o L Atlantic Y A Steep 70 Pt New Drum Inlet B H N e l G s o I n Sealevel B E a Mill Pt y S Masontown L out h River A South R River Stacy C O R E S O U N D N Fortin I A V Davis ehicle Ferry Great I E Williston Great Island C Open seasonally O 70 Shingle Pt Goose I C J a I r r Guthries e t t Hammock T B a y Davis I N A In t L ra c o Smyrna a T s t Otway a l A Bells Island Core Creek Cowpen I W a Marshallberg SOUTH CORE BANKS te rw North River Corner a y Codds Creek 101 N o r Gloucester t h R Straits i Browns 70 v e Island r Visitor Center Park Headquarters Harkers Island Shell Pt ewport River N BACK SOUND Morgan I BEAUFORT Bottle Middle Run Pt Cedar Marshes Hammock Jacks I B a r d Whale e Creek n I Passenger n Passenger ferry landing MOREHEAD l ferry landing e B S Loo t ANK kout CITY e D B Big a Mullet FOR Zone ht Cape Lookout Lighthouse u LE erness Fort Macon f Pond CK ild o A sed W Power Squadron Spit Catfish Keepers’ Quarters open seasonally r SH opo t Pr Pt Morehead City I Jetty 70 nl to New Bern Fort Macon et 51 km/32 mi y ONSLOW BAY wa 58 State Park CAPE U.S. Coast Guard Station (Historic) r S te NK a BA Passenger ferries depart from Morehead l W LOOKOUT ta City, Beaufort, and Harkers Island to as ATLANTIC BEACH co Shackleford Banks and Cape Lookout. Cape Pt tra UE Check with the park for authorized ferry In G BO providers. 2 Cape Lookout National Seashore Contents Introduction 5 Part 1: Core Components 6 Brief Description of Cape Lookout National Seashore 7 Park Purpose 8 Park Significance 9 Interpretive Themes 10 Fundamental Resources and Values 15 Other Important Resources and Values 18 Part 2: Dynamic Components 19 Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 19 Assessment of Planning and Data Needs 20 Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values 21 Analysis of Other Important Resources and Values 43 Identification of Key Parkwide Issues 46 Prioritization of Planning and Data Needs 46 Part 3: Preparers and Meeting Attendees 50 Appendix A: Enabling Legislation, Related Federal Legislation, Regulations, and Executive Orders 51 Appendix B: Wilderness Character 53 Appendix C: Climate Change and Sea Level Trends for Planning at Cape Lookout National Seashore 56 Appendix D: Inventory of Past Planning Documents and Associated Resource Studies 62 Appendix E: Inventory of Proposed Wilderness Designation, Special Mandates, and Compendiums 64 Appendix F: Inventory of Agreements 65 3 Foundation Document Shackleford Banks 4 Cape Lookout National Seashore Introduction Every unit of the national park system is required to have a formal statement of its core mission that will provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. Increasing emphasis on government accountability and restrained federal spending demand that stakeholders are aware of the purpose, significance, interpretive themes, fundamental resources and values, and special mandates and administrative commitments of a park unit, as well as the legal and policy requirements for administration and resource protection that factor into management decisions. The process of developing a foundation document provides the opportunity to gather together and integrate all varieties and hierarchies of information about a park unit. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine what are the most important attributes of the park. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and stakeholders in identifying information that is necessary for future planning efforts. A foundation document serves as the underlying guidance for management and planning decisions for a national park unit. It describes the core mission of the park unit by identifying the purpose, significance, fundamental and important resources and values, interpretive themes, assessment of planning and data needs, special mandates and administrative commitments, and the unit’s setting in the regional context. The foundation document can be useful in all aspects of park management to ensure that primary management objectives are accomplished before addressing other factors that are also important, but not directly essential to achieving the park purpose and maintaining its significance. Thus, the development of a foundation document for Cape Lookout National Seashore is necessary to effectively manage the park over the long term and protect park resources and values that are integral to the purpose and identity of the park unit. This foundation document was developed as a collaborative effort among park staff and regional staff, with the assistance of staff from the National Park Service (NPS) Denver Service Center (DSC). A workshop to facilitate this process was held April 17–19, 2012, at Harkers Island, North Carolina. A complete list of attendees and preparers is included in part 3 of this document. The park atlas is also a part of the foundation project. It is a geographic information system (GIS) product that can be published as a hard copy paper atlas and as electronic geospatial data in a Web-mapping environment. The purpose of the park atlas is to act as a reference for park projects and to facilitate planning decisions as a GIS-based planning support tool. The atlas covers various geographic elements that are important for park management such as natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, and facilities. It can be developed as part of a planning project (e.g., general management plan, foundation document), although it can also be designed as an independent product. The park atlas is available at http://insideparkatlas.nps.gov/viewer/. 5 Foundation Document Part 1: Core Components All foundation documents include the following core elements: The park purpose is the specific reason(s) for establishing a particular park. A park purpose statement is grounded in a thorough analysis of the legislation (or executive order) and legislative history of the park, and may include information from studies generated prior to the park’s establishment. The purpose statement goes beyond a restatement of the law to clarify assumptions about what the law means in terms specific to the park. The significance statements express why the resources and values of the park are important enough to justify national park designation. Statements of park significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. Significance statements are directly linked to the purpose of the park and are verified by data or consensus that reflect the most current scientific or scholarly inquiry and cultural perceptions because the resources and values may have changed since the park was established. Interpretive themes connect park resources to relevant ideas, meanings, concepts, contexts, beliefs, and values. They support the desired interpretive objective of increasing visitor understanding and appreciation of the significance of park resources. In other words, interpretive themes are the most important messages to be conveyed to the public about the park. Interpretive themes are based on park purpose and significance. Fundamental resources and values are features, systems, organisms, processes, visitor experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other attributes of the park that merit primary consideration during planning and management because they are essential to achieving park purpose and maintaining park significance.
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