County to reduce number of Tour Vehicles

Larger vehicles, fewer trips under N.C. horse plan


By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 7, 2012

CAROVA BEACH

A colt about 6 months old pranced around while his mother and three other Corolla wild horses recently grazed in a meadow behind the dunes.

His spiked, immature mane looked like the Mohawk haircut of a rebellious teen, colored dark brown close to the neck with a golden tinge at the tips.

An open-cab Hummer with eight riders pulled up. Four heads popped up over the roll bar and began snapping photos. It was the perfect scene for a wild horse-tour driver giving his customers what they wanted.

County officials, however, are considering ways to limit such horse-viewing trips, and the disruption they cause, by having larger vehicles that make fewer trips.

Nine companies advertise the adventure of riding in a four-wheel-drive vehicle to the north beaches in search of wild horses. It is a booming business attracting about 3,000 people a day in the summer months. North Carolina made the wild horses a featured attraction in its tourism advertising this year, ramping up interest even more.

Many times a day, lines of vehicles rumble along the surf and then turn west, up and over the dunes.

The Currituck National Wildlife Refuge and privately owned meadows and forests offer thousands of acres of habitat. But the horses also frequent the lawns of the 600 to 700 homes built along the rough, unpaved roads.

Residents of the north beach communities often have complained about the traffic and the disturbance. Some tour companies do not obey the rule of staying 50 feet from the horses, said Karen McCalpin, director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

"Too many people are getting too close," McCalpin said. "The law says 50 feet. I don't think that's too much to ask."

Contention between residents and tour operators has smoldered for years while the demand to see wild horses has grown. Owners maintain that the tours attract business and jobs to Corolla, generate tax revenue, and reduce the number of people who would drive up there on their own.

Currituck County commissioners are considering an ordinance that could cut from 46 to 25 the number of tour vehicles permitted. Operators would be allowed to use larger vehicles with greater capacity that still would offer rides to the same number of customers.

Tour owners would have to buy a new license for close to $1,200 per vehicle, raising $29,960. That fund would cover expenses such as maintaining the county's public park and restrooms in Carova Beach and grading its main route, Ocean Pearl Road. None of the roads there are paved, and many have potholes nearly large enough to swallow a pickup.

"I think it's going to be a good thing," said Scott Trabue, owner of Back Country Outfitters in Corolla. "You've got to respect the locals and you've got to respect the authorities."

Richard Brown of Wild Horse Adventure Tours and Bob White of Beach Jeeps would see the number of vehicles they use cut from 10 to four, according to county statistics. Neither could be reached for comment.

Oblivious to the troubles, the Corolla wild horses are doing well, said Wesley Stallings, the herd manager.

An aerial count in September turned up 121 horses, just about the ideal population, he said. Corolla Wild Horse Fund officials await a vote on a bill in Congress sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones that would allow the herd to remain at 120 to 130 horses. An unenforced ordinance agreed to more than 10 years ago by federal and local officials calls for the herd to remain at 60 horses.

Using GPS technology, Stallings locates where the horses live and graze month by month.

The herd naturally divides into harems of four or five horses. Harems migrate according to the season.
Marsh grasses near the Currituck Sound and mast in the maritime forests are best in the winter, while sea oats on the dunes mature in the summer. In the spring and fall, horses graze in the meadows between the dunes and the marshes.

"I know where each horse's home range is," Stallings said.
He hopes his research can eventually help resolve issues of habitat versus development and tours.
On the beach, a harem led by a black stallion well-known for his long flowing mane trotted near a large oceanfront home. A foal left behind whinnied for his mother before trotting along the base of the dunes to where she waited.
An open vehicle from a different tour company was not far away, but more than 50 feet. People stood from their seats taking photos of another memorable scene of wild horses. More satisfied customers.