Who We Are
Everyone has stories about the wild horses of Shackleford Banks, and what they have meant to their lives. In fact, Carolyn Mason is fond of saying, “The horses have always been there. That’s what we always were told.”
That’s why a proposal by the National Park Service in the mid-1990’s to reduce the size of the herd to numbers that people believed would be detrimental to them was met with such resistance. Because you are talking about something that people identify with this place as much as they do the lighthouse or fishing or the beaches. The horses are an intrinsic part of this place, and this place is an intrinsic part of each one of us that loves it and calls it home.
As a result, a group of concerned Carteret County citizens formed the non-profit Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc., and worked for the enactment of legislation that ensured the preservation and protection of these beloved horses. The Shackleford Banks Wild Horses Protection Act amended the enabling legislation for Cape Lookout National Seashore to allow the herd of wild horses on Shackleford Banks, and charged the National Park Service and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc. with co-management responsibility. Since that time, the NPS at Cape Lookout National Seashore and the Foundation have worked together to monitor the health and progress of the herd, to make decisions regarding the management of the herd, and to educate the public about the herd and how it can work with us to help ensure its survival. The legislation establishes a target population of 120-130 wild horses. That kind of approach in legislation was unprecedented, and it was remarkable that it happened.
The citizens of Carteret County, the citizens of North Carolina, and all those who love the wild horses, owe a debt of gratitude to those who stepped up and exercised those basic rights, who believed in the justness of the cause, and who committed themselves to ensuring the survival of the wild horses for the benefit of future generations.