Page 6

Hurricane Bonnie
breaks windows,
flattens sand dunes

Karren Brown named
new superintendent
of Cape Lookout park

Karren Brown, who had filled in for the departed Bill Harris, will be the new superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore. She expects to take over in mid-October.
"I'm just thrilled to pieces, and I'm looking forward to it," she said. "Thank everyone who was praying for me and keeping their fingers crossed for me."
One of 50 applicants for the job, Karren was named superintendent earlier this month.
She is a 19-year veteran with the National Park Service and is currently superintendent at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace in Hodgenville, Ky. She has worked in national parks in Texas, Arizona, and Washington.
Karren was interim superintendent at Cape Lookout for a few months earlier this year after Harris was relieved of his duties.

High surf and two days of pounding seas devoured much of the beach.

Hurricane Bonnie broke windows and peeled back roofs at the Great Island Camp, scoured the beach and generally wrought about $135,000 worth of havoc at Cape Lookout National Seashore.
Though she had to close for a few days to fix things, Annette Mitchum of Alger Willis Fishing Camps said the hurricane, which raked the island for two days in late August, did no major structural damage. By the busy Labor Day weekend, the windows and roofs were fixed, and Annette was back in business.
An overhead camper on a truck parked at the camp was overturned by the high winds, but that was the only vehicle damaged.
The National Park Service lost some shelters near the lighthouse, said Chuck Harris, the park's interim superintendent, and the old Coast Guard Station was slightly damaged. But the lighthouse and the old keeper's house made it through intact.
High surf and two days of pounding seas devoured much of the beach. Many dunes are gone, and the beach has narrowed significantly in spots. The overwash, though, has compacted the sand, and even the high beach is as hard concrete.
A huge steel buoy broke loose from a fishing reef near Drum Inlet and on the Labor Day weekend was bobbing in the surf near the 30-mile marker. The Coast Guard is supposed to fetch it and return it to Drum Inlet.

Weir

  Continued From Previous Page

longed to them.  The government was taking their cabin without acknowledgingthat they had legally constructed it and without offering any compensation. 
Raymond, H.M., Mike and I fished Hatteras through 1979. We returned to the Davis in 1980 to begin what I refer to as the modern era. By then, there were fewer cabins, fewer junk cars and a new generation of fishermen and fisherwomen. I found the remains of dad's cabin that year. I am sad that he never returned with me to fish on the island. But I understand why he holds to the good memories of the days on the island haven with his relatives and friends that have now gone on to fisherman's heaven.
I will always cherish the memories of the old era on Davis Island. But I do so recognizing that the island is now a better place. I do believe the fishing was better in the '60s, but the island itself is better today. The vegetation and overall environmental qualities are better than they have been for at least 50 years or more. The facilities and services have improved ever year. The improvements have been accomplished by the Park Service, AWFC and responsible users lead by DIFF.