H. R. 765

One Hundred Fifth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight

An Act

To ensure maintenance of a herd of wild horses in Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MAINTENANCE OF WILD HORSES IN CAPE LOOKOUT

NATIONAL SEASHORE.

Section 5 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the establishment of the Cape Lookout National Seashore in the State of North

Carolina, and for other purposes’’, approved March 10, 1966 (Public

Law 89–366; 16 U.S.C. 459g–4), is amended by inserting ‘‘(a)’’

after ‘‘Sec. 5.’’, and by adding at the end the following new subsection:

‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary, in accordance with this subsection, shall

allow a herd of 100 free roaming horses in Cape Lookout National

Seashore (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Seashore’): Provided, That

nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude the Secretary

from implementing or enforcing the provisions of paragraph (3).

‘‘(2) Within 180 days after enactment of this subsection, the

Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Foundation for

Shackleford Horses (a nonprofit corporation established under the

laws of the State of North Carolina), or another qualified nonprofit

entity, to provide for management of free roaming horses in the

seashore. The agreement shall—

‘‘(A) provide for cost-effective management of the horses

while ensuring that natural resources within the seashore are

not adversely impacted; and

‘‘(B) allow the authorized entity to adopt any of those

horses that the Secretary removes from the seashore.

‘‘(3) The Secretary shall not remove, assist in, or permit the

removal of any free roaming horses from Federal lands within

the boundaries of the seashore—

‘‘(A) unless the entity with whom the Secretary has entered

into the agreement under paragraph (2), following notice and

a 90-day response period, fails to meet the terms and conditions

of the agreement; or

‘‘(B) unless the number of free roaming horses on Federal

lands within Cape Lookout National Seashore exceeds 110;

or

‘‘(C) except in the case of an emergency, or to protect

public health and safety.

‘‘(4) The Secretary shall annually monitor, assess, and make

available to the public findings regarding the population, structure,

and health of the free roaming horses in the national seashore.
H. R. 765—2

‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require

the Secretary to replace horses or otherwise increase the number

of horses within the boundaries of the seashore where the herd

numbers fall below 100 as a result of natural causes, including,

but not limited to, disease or natural disasters.

‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as creating

liability for the United States for any damages caused by the

free roaming horses to property located inside or outside the boundaries of the seashore.’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.