This article originally appeared in the Virginian-Pilot on Saturday, September 10, 1994 on Page B1 of the North Carolina Edition. Article was written by Lane DeGregory, Staff Writer.
Dateline: Carova Beach
Virginia Tech Libary Archive Article
Currituck County’s cowboy commissioner promised to herd his 100 cattle off U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service land in August.
But throughout last week, refuge workers continued to count up to 40 free-ranging cows on their federally protected property.
So officials at Mackay Island and Currituck national wildlife refuges did something they have never done before: They charged the cowboy with cattle trespassing.
On Sept. 21 [1994], County Commissioner Ernie Bowden either will have to pay a $250 “collateral” fine – or show up in U.S. District Court in Manteo.
If he pays the fine, he will not have to go to court.
If the 69-year-old rancher is convicted of allowing his cattle to trespass on federal land, he faces imprisonment of up to one year and fines of up to $100,000, U.S. Fish & Wildlife law enforcement official Jack Baker said Thursday.
Ken Merritt, who manages both the Mackay Island and Currituck refuges, said, “We charged him under the public entry statute. It’s a minor offense that carries an initial $50 fine per citation. We issued five citations because there were five days we counted the cows out there.”
“But the problem has been going on now for years.”
Bowden’s family has been raising cattle on the northern stretch of Currituck County’s Outer Banks for five generations. His ranch is between Corolla and the Virginia state line, about a half-mile north of the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge. Bowden said earlier that he signed a lease for his stock to graze on the current refuge lands 42 years ago – when the property was owned by the Swan Island Hunt Club.
“When the government took it over,” Bowden said, “no one terminated my lease.”
Merritt said he never gave anyone permission to graze livestock on the 1,800-acre Currituck refuge. The federal preserve was established 10 years ago to offer ducks, geese and other migrating waterfowl a place to perch safe from hunters. But the government contends roaming cows and wild horses have stamped out areas meant for the fowl – or for fowl food.
Last summer, a cow trampled one of four nests that piping plovers, a threatened species, had built on the northern barrier island beaches. Refuge managers decided it was time to corral the cattle. They called Bowden, who removed his cows from the government land.
But the commissioner refused to pen his cattle once they had been driven away. A 1.5-mile long fence along the southern boundary of Bowden’s 1,300 acres of leased grazing lands needs major repairs.
So the cows keep coming back.
“We called him, we met with him, we wrote him letters,” Merritt said of his contact with Bowden. “But we just weren’t getting any response. This citation was the next step.
“If between now and the date of his court appearance Ernie doesn’t get his cows off the refuge, we could impound them any time.”
Bowden was out of town this week and unavailable for comment. In early August, he complained about “too much government” interfering with his beef business. He said he didn’t want to put up with the hassles any more.
“Within two weeks, I’m going to disperse my entire herd,” Bowden said Aug. 11 [1994]. “The last of the Outer Banks cattle will be gone.”
As of Friday, cows were still there. Court records did not show whether Bowden had yet paid his cattle trespassing fine.
On Aug. 11 [1994], Currituck Commissioner Ernie Bowden said he planned to remove his cattle from federal lands. But cows still roam along the shoreline near Carova Beach.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DREW C. WILSON, Staff
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