In 1965, after two years of discussion, heated debate, and political maneuvering, President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill creating Assateague Island National Seashore. The federal government began buying private land. Each year, about two million people visit Assateague. They camp, collect shells, fish in the surf, canoe the bay, watch the gulls and terns that wheel overhead. In the fall, hunters search for deer and waterfowl.
Scientists also treasure the unspoiled environment.
In 1983, they were studying peregrine falcons, ghost crabs, beach erosion, and brackish ponds. Plant hoppers, least terns, and fish were also under scrutiny. A team of Army researchers was monitoring tethered goats for mosquito-borne diseases, and one behavioral scientist was said to be running a motorized toy tank, draped with a raccoon skin, up and down the beach, noting the response of nesting birds. Penn State researchers are busy on Assateague, too. Ron Keiper works on wild horses, Bill Dunson studies snapping turtles, and Al Guber and Rudy Slingerland explore barrier beach geology.