RALEIGH – The state Department of Environmental Quality announced Tuesday that Permuda Island Reserve is now open to visitors but Bald Head Woods Reserve remains closed due to significant damage to trails and potentially hazardous conditions caused by Hurricane Florence.
Eight of the 10 Coastal Reserve sites reopened Sept. 24, 2018, shortly after Hurricane Florence hit the North Carolina coast, but Permuda Island Reserve near Topsail Island and Bald Head Woods Reserve have been closed since due to damage.
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Updates on the status of Bald Head Woods Reserve are available on the Coastal Reserve’s website and via its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The other eight sites reopened to visitors on Sept. 24, 2018. Visitors should exercise caution when visiting the open reserve sites and be aware of the risk of potentially hazardous conditions associated with storm damage.
Created in 1989, the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve Program, which has preserved more than 42,000 acres of coastal environments at the 10 sites, protects natural areas for education, research and compatible recreation.
The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve is a program of the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, a division of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve is managed through a federal-state partnership between NOAA and the N.C. Division of Coastal Management.
