After more than two years of trying to get the Area of Environmental Concern reinstated for Jockey’s Ridge, a designation that was stripped away in October 2023, the Coastal Resources Commission has finally received the Rules Review Commission’s approval, much to the relief of the nonprofit Friends of Jockey’s Ridge support group.
The Friends’ board of directors wrote in a letter dated Dec. 30, 2025, that it “welcomes the recent decision” by the Rules Review Commission made during its regular meeting Dec. 18 to restore the area of environmental concern designation for Jockey’s Ridge State Park.
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Jockey’s Ridge, what is often called the “tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast” was saved from development in 1973. In 1974, the geographical feature was declared a National Natural Landmark. A year later, in 1975, the General Assembly allocated funds matched with federal funds to create what is now a 420-acre state park in Dare County, with the sand dune system as the centerpiece, according to NCpedia, a resource managed by the state government and N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Development activities in and around the state park boundaries have been regulated by the administrative rules of the Coastal Resources Commission since the designation of Jockey’s Ridge as a unique geologic feature area of environmental concern in 1984, according to the Division of Coastal Management, which serves as staff to the Coastal Resources Commission.
The to and fro between the two commissions began Oct. 5, 2023, when the Rules Review Commission removed from the North Carolina Administrative Code language that designated Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern and established its use standards, and then returned the text to the Coastal Resources Commission. Removing the rule from the administrative code also removed the rule’s legal authority.
After the Rules Review Commission returned the text in October 2023, the Coastal Resources Commission adopted emergency rules to reestablish the area of environmental concern and use standards that went into effect Jan. 3, 2024, and then on April 25, 2024, approved moving forward with permanent rulemaking. The temporary rules expired May 13, 2024, when the Rules Review Commission objected to the text.
The Coastal Resources Commission then adopted the permanent rule on Nov. 14, 2024, but the next month, on Dec. 19, 2024, the Rules Review Commission objected to the rule “on the basis of failure to comply with the public noticing provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act,” which staff said the necessary steps were taken to satisfy this objection, the division explains in past meeting materials.
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The Coastal Resources Commission adopted permanent rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concerns with use standards which are nearly identical to the original 1984 standards on Aug. 27, 2025.
“The proposed rule was written in three parts,” staff said in meeting documents. The first is a description, which describes the Jockey’s Ridge and its importance. Second describes the area of environmental concern boundary and where a map of the boundary can be found, and last, use standards.
The Rules Review Commission objected to the language Oct. 27, 2025, “stating that paragraph (a) ‘Description’”’ is unnecessary and is not the same as a ‘“’designation’”’ as required under” general statute.
The Coastal Resources Commission took up the revised language during its Nov. 18, 2025, meeting, ahead of the rules commission’s Dec. 1, 2025, deadline.
The final rule reads: “Given the status of Jockey’s Ridge as a State Park, State Nature Preserve, complex natural area, and an area containing a unique geological formation as identified by the State Geologist, the Coastal Resources Commission hereby designates Jockey’s Ridge as an Area of Environmental Concern pursuant to” general statute.
“After years of uncertainty for this important protection, we are in full support of this decision which aligns with our mission to protect Jockey’s Ridge,” the Friends board wrote.
