Title 36

SECTION 7.65

7.65 Assateague Island National Seashore.

§ 7.65 Assateague Island National Seashore.

(a) Hunting. (1) Hunting, except with a shotgun, bow and arrow, or by falconry is prohibited. Hunting with a shotgun, bow and arrow, or by means of falconry is permitted in accordance with State law and Federal regulations in designated hunting areas.

(2) Hunting, or taking of a raptor for any purpose is prohibited except as provided for by permit in § 2.5 of this chapter.

(3) A hunter shall not enter upon Service-owned lands where a previous owner has retained use for hunting purposes, without written permission of such previous owner.

(4) Waterfowl shall be hunted only from numbered Service-owned blinds except in areas with retained hunting rights; and no firearm shall be discharged at waterfowl from outside of a blind unless the hunter is attempting to retrieve downed or crippled fowl.

(5) Waterfowl hunting blinds in public hunting areas shall be operated within two plans:

(i) First-come, first-served.

(ii) Advance written reservation.

The superintendent shall determine the number and location of first-come, first-served and/or advance reservation blinds.

(6) In order to retain occupancy rights, the hunter must remain in or near the blind except for the purpose of retrieving waterfowl. The leaving of decoys or equipment for the purpose of holding occupancy is prohibited.

(7) Hunters shall not enter the public waterfowl hunting area more than 1 hour before legal shooting time and shall be out of the hunting area within 45 minutes after close of legal shooting time. The blind shall be left in a clean and sanitary condition.

(8) Hunters using Service-owned shore blinds shall enter and leave the public hunting area via designated routes from the island.

(9) Prior to entering and after leaving a public hunting blind, all hunters shall check in at the registration box located on the trail to the blind he is or has been using.

(10) Parties in blinds are limited to two hunters and two guns unless otherwise posted at the registration box for the blinds.

(11) The hunting of upland game shall not be conducted within 300 yards of any waterfowl hunting blind during waterfowl season.

(12) Hunting on seashore lands and waters, except as designated pursuant to § 1.5 and § 1.7, is prohibited.

(b) Operation of oversand vehicles - (1) Definitions. In addition to the definitions found in § 1.4 of this chapter, the following terms or phrases, when used in this section, have the meanings hereinafter respectively ascribed to them.

(i) Oversand vehicle. Any motorized vehicle which is capable of traveling over sand including - but not limited to - over-the-road vehicles such as beachbuggies, four-wheel-drive vehicles, pickup trucks, and standard automobiles.

(ii) Self-Contained vehicle. Any towed or self-propelled camping vehicle that is equipped with a toilet and a permanently installed, waste, storage tank capable of holding a minimum of 2 days volume of material.

(iii) Primary dune. Barriers or mounds of sand which are either naturally created or artificially established bayward of the beach berm which absorb or dissipate the wave energy of high tides and coastal storms.

(iv) Dunes crossing. A maintained vehicle accessway over a primary dune designated and marked as a dunes crossing.

(2) Oversand permits. No oversand vehicle, other than an authorized emergency vehicle, shall be operated on a beach or designated oversand route in the park area except under an oversand permit issued by the Superintendent.

(i) The Superintendent is authorized to establish a system of special recreation permits for oversand vehicles and to establish special recreation permit fees for these permits, consistent with the conditions and criteria of 36 CFR part 71.

(ii) No permit will be issued for a vehicle:

(A) Which is not equipped to travel over sand and which does not contain the following equipment to be carried at all times when traveling on a beach or designated oversand route in the park: shovel, jack, tow rope or chain, board or similar support for the jack, and low pressure tire gauge;

(B) Which does not conform to applicable State laws having to do with licensing, registering, inspecting, and insuring of such vehicles;

(C) Which fails to comply with provisions of § 4.10; and

(D) Which does not meet the following standards: On four-wheel-drive vehicles and trailers towed by any vehicle:

On two-wheel-drive vehicles, in addition to the six items listed immediately above: Minimum width of tire tread contact on sand, 8 in. each wheel. Tires with regular mud/snow grip tread, not acceptable. Provided, That the Superintendent may issue a single trip permit for a vehicle of greater weight or length when such use is not inconsistent with the purposes of the regulations.

(iii) Before issuing a permit, the Superintendent may check the vehicle to determine whether it complies with the requirements of paragraphs (b)(2)(ii) (A) through (D) of this section.

(iv) Oversand permits are not transferable and shall be carried by the operator of the vehicle for which it has been issued while traveling in the park. It shall be displayed as directed by the Superintendent at the time of issuance.

(3) Authorized and prohibited travel. (i) Except as otherwise provided in this section and in applicable sections of parts 2 and 4 of this chapter, travel by oversand vehicles is permitted south of Assateague State Park, daily throughout the year at any time, on a designated oversand route bayward of the primary dune and on designated portions of a beach seaward of the primary dune.

(ii) Travel by motorcycles is permitted only on public highways and parking areas within the park area.

(iii)(A) Travel by self-contained vehicles is permitted under paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section provided that no overnight parking is allowed on a beach seaward of the primary dunes at any time.

(B) South of Assateague State Park such vehicles may use designated self-contained areas bayward of the primary dunes for overnight parking. Except, That towed travel trailers may travel no farther south than the northern limits of the Big Fox Levels.

(iv) Travel by oversand vehicles, other than authorized emergency vehicles, is prohibited on the following portions of the park area subject, however, to existing rights of ingress and egress.

(A) Between the Assateague State Park and the Ocean City Inlet.

(B) On the beach seaward of the primary dune within designated portions of the North Beach public use complex.

(C) Provided, however, That the Superintendent may establish times when oversand vehicles may use a portion of the beach in a public use complex by posting appropriate signs or marking on a map available at the office of the Superintendent - or both.

(4) Rules of the road. (i) Oversand vehicles shall be operated only in established tracks on designated portions of the park area. No such vehicles shall be operated on any portion of a dune except at posted crossings nor shall such vehicles be driven so as to cut circles or otherwise needlessly deface the sand.

(ii) Oversand vehicles shall not be parked so as to interfere with the flow of traffic on designated oversand routes. Such vehicles may not park overnight on a beach seaward of the primary dune unless one member of the party is actively engaged in fishing at all times. Towed travel trailers used as self-contained vehicles in the off-road portion of the park area may not be parked on a beach seaward of the primary dunes.

(iii) Upon approaching or passing within 100 feet of a person on foot, the operator of an oversand vehicle shall reduce speed to 15 miles per hour. Speed at other times on any designated oversand route shall not exceed 25 miles per hour.

(iv) When two vehicles approach from opposite directions in the same track, both operators shall reduce speed; and the operator with the ocean on his right shall pull out of the track to allow the other vehicle to pass.

(v) Passengers shall not ride on the fenders, hood, roof, or tailgate, or in any other position outside of a moving oversand vehicle; and such vehicles shall not be used to tow a person on any recreational device over the sand or in the air or water of the park area.

(vi) During an emergency, the Superintendent may close the park; or he may suspend for such period as he shall deem advisable any or all of the foregoing regulations in the interest of public safety; and he may announce such closure or suspension by whatever means are available.

(c) Personal Watercraft. (1) Personal Watercraft (PWC) are allowed in Assateague Island National Seashore within the following locations and under the following conditions:

(i) Ocean City Inlet: PWC may operate, transit, launch in water or beach on land between the north shore of Assateague Island and the south margin of the established Ocean City Inlet channel, between Lighted Buoy #10 at approximate latitude 38.19.30N, longitude 75.05.30W and Lighted Buoy #11 at approximate latitude 38.19.16N, longitude 75.09.0W

(ii) Chincoteague Bay: PWC may operate, transit or launch in waters between the established Park boundary and the western shore of Assateague Island, from Assateague Point north to that portion of Horse Marsh located due east of the Memorial Park boat ramp on Chincoteague Island.

(iii) Oceanside: PWC are allowed to beach along the ocean side of the island only in the case of personal injury or mechanical failure.

(2) The Superintendent may temporarily limit, restrict or terminate access to the areas designated for PWC use after taking into consideration public health and safety, natural and cultural resource protection, and other management activities and objectives.

[35 FR 45, Jan. 3, 1970, as amended at 39 FR 31633, Aug. 30, 1974; 41 FR 15008, Apr. 9, 1976; 48 FR 30295, June 30, 1983; 52 FR 10686, Apr. 2, 1986; 68 FR 32375, May 30, 2003]

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