The deadline to apply for a standard commercial fishing license is fast approaching.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries standard commercial fishing license, or SCFL, eligibility board is to meet Oct. 14 to consider license applications that are deemed complete and submitted by the Sept. 21 deadline.

The division, under the state Department of Environmental Quality, acts as staff to and carries out the rules and regulations mandated by the Marine Fisheries Commission.

The standard commercial fishing license is issued annually to an individual or business that allows the commercial harvest of fish, shrimp, crab and other marine species from state coastal waters and the sale of that harvest to a licensed dealer. The SCFL Eligibility Board meets two to three times a year to consider license applications.

For directions on applying for a commercial fishing license, visit the Division of Marine Fisheries website and click on the Eligibility Pool Application link.

For more information on the meeting, contact division License Eligibility Clerk Ann Bordeaux-Nixon at 910-796-7261 or Ann.Bordeaux-Nixon@deq.nc.gov.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s water quality committee is to hold a special virtual meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday to consider proposed amendments intended to clarify existing rules for the Division of Mitigation Services.

The Environmental Management Commission oversees and adopts rules for several divisions of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, including the divisions of Air Quality, Land Resources, Waste Management and Water Resources.

If the committee approves the draft language, the changes are to go before the entire commission at its next meeting sometime in September.

The Division of Mitigation Services is a DEQ initiative that “restores and protects wetlands and waterways for future generations while offsetting unavoidable environmental impacts from development projects,” the website states.

As part of the rules review process, which is required by statute every 10 years, staff recommend minor technical and administrative changes to “improve clarity, consistency, and update references to URLs and rules in other subchapters. This should make understanding the rules easier for program customers who elect to use the DMS (in-lieu fee) programs, without imposing new costs, rates, or substantive requirements,” documents state.

The in-lieu fee is the division’s appropriate stream or wetland rate multiplied by the total number of stream or wetland compensatory credits.

Meeting information, including the link to join, agenda and supporting documents are on the commission website. An in-person listening station will be set up in the Archdale Building in Raleigh for those unable to view the water quality committee meeting online.

Celebrate the strength and resiliency of Hatteras Islanders at this year’s annual Day at the Docks, a free, two-day event in September.

Now in its 23rd year, Day at the Docks showcases the traditions of Hatteras Island watermen and those who live in the community by sharing with visitors how the fishing industry works. The event highlights the community’s recovery from Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

The “Spirit of Hatteras” celebration is set to kick off Friday, Sept. 18, with Seafood Under the Stars, a chef prepared, five-course dinner with optional wine pairings featuring locally sourced seafood. This year’s dinner includes an nonseafood option for those who don’t fancy seafood.

Seafood Under the Stars is $60 or $80 for those who prefer to add a wine pairing. The dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Hatteras Civic Center and is limited to 120 seats.

Reservations and tickets for the dinner may be purchased online. Anyone with dietary concerns may email hatterasuninterrupted@gmail.com.

On Saturday, Sept. 19, the celebration begins at 10 a.m. where festivalgoers are invited to witness the Blessing of the Fleet, tour boats, see exhibits and competitions, sample local seafood, and shop for unique gifts for sale by vendors. Kid-specific activities include a fishing tournament, games, crafts and a bounce house areas.

Participants may register for the Fishy 5K Fun Run, which begin at 8 a.m.

The festival will be held at Oden’s Dock, 57878 N.C. Highway 12.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District has issued a public notice of a proposal to establish a wetlands mitigation bank and site in the Cape Fear River Basin.

The Northeast Cape Fear Umbrella Mitigation Bank – Quinn Farm Site in Duplin County would be used to offset unavoidable environmental damage to natural wetlands associated with Department of the Army permit authorizations.

The Quinn Farm site consists of historically farmed land with an extensive ditch network that has effectively removed characteristic wetland hydrology across much of the site, according to the notice. The network of ditches directly discharge into the Northeast Cape Fear River.

According to the applicant, Cal Miller of Shaw Highway Properties, LLC, the proposed project would restore 59.7 acres of riverine wetland habitat and 3,380 linear feet of zero-order stream valley.

“Restoration activities will involve the backfilling and/or plugging of the existing drainage network, re-contouring of a zero-order stream valley, and planting of characteristic wetland trees and shrubs in select areas of the tract,” according to the notice.

The project will reestablish natural wetland hydroperiods associated with headwater forest, bottomland hardwood and riverine swamp forest communities, the notice states.

The nonprofit Broad Water Innovations will serve as a long-term steward for the mitigation property, which will be placed under conservation easement in perpetuity.

The proposed project initially went out to public notice in March 2025, but was withdrawn due to processing delays. It was resubmitted March 31 of this year.

About a tenth of a mile of beach and swimming area in Buxton will be temporarily closed to the public starting Aug. 3 while the southernmost groin is repaired.

The work is taking place in conjunction with a beach nourishment project in the Hatteras Island village expected to begin this week.

Dare County commissioners, during a special meeting June 15, voted to award $8.6 million to repair the groin to SJ Hamill Construction Co. “which has the experience, resources and project history necessary to successfully complete this type of coastal construction,” according to the county. The marine and heavy civil contractor is based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials said Monday that the 600 feet of beach flanking the site where the work is taking place, as well as the adjacent ocean area to the east, will be closed until repairs are complete. The county anticipates that to be by the end of the year, but if weather or material lead times cause delays, the contractor must have the project fully completed by June 1, 2027.

The groin being repaired is one of three the U.S. Navy constructed in 1970 in response to coastal erosion adjacent to Naval Facility Cape Hatteras, now known as the Buxton Beach Access or Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site. Two groins were built to the north of the former location of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and one just south.

The park service granted the permit in April for the permitted repairs that include the removal of deteriorated materials and installation of new steel sheet piles, with stone scour protection at the base to help prevent erosion.

For the beach nourishment project intended to protect N.C. 12 from ocean hazards, the Houston, Texas-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. is to begin this week the roughly three-month project to place 2 million cubic yards of sand along Buxton’s beachfront, according a county July 14 update.

An advocacy organization created to improve transportation access to Ocracoke Island and the Outer Banks is urging state lawmakers to the North Carolina Ferry Division’s deadline to begin collecting tolls on all of its ferry routes by one year.

In a July 23 email to members of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, Ocracoke Access Alliance Executive Director Justin LeBlanc wrote that the Jan. 1, 2027, deadline to implement tolls is less than six months away.

“Initial analysis suggests that this deadline is unrealistic and is neither technically nor operationally feasible,” LeBlanc wrote. “The Hatteras-Ocracoke route and several other ferry routes have never been subject to tolls. Unlike the Ferry Division’s existing tolled routes, the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry operates on a high-volume, first-come, first-served basis. The current reservation and toll collection system is not designed to accommodate these operations. Implementing tolls on these routes will require the development, testing, and deployment of a new collection system – potentially utilizing E-ZPass or comparable technology – to ensure efficient operations and minimize disruptions to residents, businesses, and visitors.”

Legislators included the new tolls in Senate Bill 257, the first state budget to be passed since 2023. Gov. Josh Stein signed the long-awaited budget on July 7. The law does not set fare amounts.

LeBlanc stated in a release Friday that the organization is not requesting the General Assembly reconsider its decision to authorize the tolls of all seven ferry routes.

Extending the deadline to Jan. 1, 2028 would give the Ferry Division sufficient time to build the infrastructure needed to implement tolls and the Board of Transportation time to “complete a transparent public process, and ensure that the toll collection begins in an orderly and efficient manner,” LeBlanc stated.

“Rushing implementation benefits no one and increases the likelihood of operational problems for residents, businesses, and visitors alike,” he said.

Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, and, and Sen. Norman Sanderson, R-Pamlico, expressing their opposition to the tolls, initially voted against the budget. Both men voted for the budget in the final tally.

Hanig plans to seek legislative language to delay the tolling implementation date and other ferry provisions.

Recent rainfall over much of North Carolina has not been enough to make up for double-digit precipitation deficits counties are experiencing throughout the state.

Some parts of the state are suffering rainfall deficits of more than 20 inches, according to North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council officials.

“The big concerns are the reservoir levels,” Klaus Albertin, the council’s chair and water resources engineer with the N.C. Division of Water Resources stated in a release. “Forecasts have called for 3 to 5 inches of rain in the next week, and we’ve seen some areas get significant accumulations already on Thursday. It’s not going to bring everything back up to full, but it’s going to make a difference. Even if areas get 4 inches of rain, some will still be a dozen inches behind. Some of the water will be captured by reservoirs, and some won’t. It’s going to take a while to really get out of this one.”

As the advisory council’s July 23 drought conditions update, the state’s southernmost coastal county, Brunswick County, remains in exceptional drought, which is the highest drought classification.

All of New Hanover and portions of Pender and Onslow counties are in severe drought. The remainder of the state’s coastal counties are classified under moderate drought or abnormally dry.

Rain that fell between July 14-21 improved drought conditions in some parts of the state, but all 100 counties are experiencing drought or abnormally dry conditions.

In all, 32 counties are in extreme drought, 48 are in severe drought, seven are in moderate drought and 11 are classified as abnormally dry. Rockingham County is under exceptional drought.

Reservoirs and groundwater levels across the state are below normal.

The recent precipitation trend may be bringing more regular rains and significant precipitation, Albertin said in the release, though he cautioned that water is typically used more this time of year through the hot summer.

“All of our reservoirs are still challenged,” he said. “The last few weeks have really helped them stabilize, but we’re not seeing improvements yet. It’s a good thing, but we’re going to need more rain for them to start filling up.”

North Carolinians are encouraged to conserve water and check with their local water supply system for information on water use restrictions that may be in place. Those systems may also have tips for conserving water, including washing only full loads of laundry.

Water systems in counties in exceptional or extreme drought are advised to follow their water shortage response plans, adhere to water use reduction measures, and are required to report weekly water use and conservation status at the Water Use Reporting website.

The Drought Management Advisory Council is a collaboration of drought experts from government agencies in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia organized by DWR. Council members meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher is “looking for out-of-the-box exhibits that inspire wonder and curiosity” to take part in its annual daylong program that highlights science, technology, engineering and math fields.

The eighth annual “Femme in STEM” program is taking place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, in the aquarium’s temporary location in Independence Mall in Wilmington. Leaders in STEM fields are encouraged to apply as exhibitors at Femme in STEM.

“This event is special to us and the community for so many reasons, especially because of the immediate connection and excitement that happens when children engage in the immersive hands-on exhibits curated by the exhibitors,” said Karissa Bearer, Fort Fisher aquarium’s education curator.

While the existing facility just south of Kure Beach is undergoing a yearslong renovation and expansion, the aquarium has opened “Discovery Bay” in the JC Penney wing of the mall across from the arcade. The mini-aquarium features poison dart frogs, a carnivorous plants ecosystem, seahorses, lionfish and scorpionfish, an aquaculture habitat with blue-striped grunts and copper sweepers, and an environmental education corner.

“Now that we’re hosting Femme in STEM at the mall, we anticipate that we will have more exhibitors join us and they will engage in meaningful ways with even more children and families,” said Fort Fisher aquarium Director Joanna Zazzali.

The NC Aquariums are a division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Part of an ongoing series on coastal North Carolina’s observance of America’s 250th.

The State Archives of North Carolina will explore the historical events and archival records that inspired the North Carolina storylines in “Outlander.”

“Outlander,” a television show based on a series of books by Diana Gabaldon, is about a World War II nurse who travels through time to 18th-century Scotland, where she meets a young Highlander. The historical fiction series follows the couple through time and on their travels, starting in 1740s Scotland and eventually to the colony of North Carolina in the 1760s, where the pair take part in the American Revolution. The first episode of the show premiered in 2014 on Starz and the finale for the eight-season series aired in May.

In recognition of the series conclusion, archivists Josh Hager and Alison Thurman will discuss their 25-part blog series, “Documenting the World of Outlander,” which highlights historical documents that reveal the real people, places and events behind episodes set in North Carolina during an hourlong webinar scheduled for noon Tuesday, Aug. 5.

Participants must register for the free program through Zoom.

“Intended as a ‘bonus feature’ for fans of Outlander who want to explore more of the world of Jamie and Claire, it expands on the historical context of the show through original documents housed at the State Archives of North Carolina,” according to the blog that began in 2018, when the Frasers first set foot on North Carolinian soil in Season 4 of Outlander.

During the webinar, Hager and Thurman will examine topics including the Committees of Safety, the flight of Royal Governor Josiah Martin and the Battle of Kings Mountain using colonial maps, criminal trial records, Revolutionary-era newspapers and other primary sources.

Published on the State Archives’ “History For All the People” blog from 2018-23, the 25-part series connects memorable scenes and plotlines from Outlander to original records preserved by the State Archives.

The State Archives is a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which has coordinated America 250 NC, the state’s official commemoration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.

For more information, contact Outreach Coordinator Adrienne Berney at adrienne.berney@dncr.nc.gov or 919-814-6863.

The Multistate Environmental Response Trust is hosting a community meeting Tuesday, July 28 to provide updates to ongoing and upcoming work at the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. – Navassa Superfund Site.

Topics to be covered at the meeting include the removal of contaminated soil temporarily staged in an area of operable unit 4, or OU4, of the former wood treatment facility. The pile of contaminated soil is expected to be removed and disposed of in a federally approved landfill by November, according to a release.

During the meeting, which is being held in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency and N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, officials will also discuss upcoming OU4 cleanup work, the proposed cleanup plan for OU3, updates on the proposed Moze Center land donation and conservation easement, local contracting, and other site updates.

The contaminated soil is being removed because it could potentially impact groundwater. The pile staged in OU4 also contains soil that does not pose a risk of leaching into groundwater. That soil will be consolidated in the on-site former fire protection pond disposal unit. A copy of the staging pile remedial action workplan is available online.

After the EPA finalizes the plan for cleaning up OU3, which is the 32-acre southern marsh, the agency will schedule a public meeting and update the site’s profile page.

The meeting will be held 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in-person at the Navassa Community Center, 338 Main St., or online by Zoom or by typing tinyurl.com/Navassameetings into a browser, or by telephone at 301-715-8592, meeting ID 946 584 8922, passcode 664564.

An in-person only drop-in session will be held 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the community center.

Elevated levels of a federally deemed likely cancer-causing substance were detected in a sample collected earlier this month from a municipal wastewater treatment plant that discharges into the Cape Fear River Basin.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources announced Wednesday it had been notified that elevated 1,4-dioxane levels were discharged from Asheboro’s wastewater treatment plant into Hasketts Creek, which empties into the Deep River.

A sample collected by the plant July 10 detected a concentration of 2,010 parts per billion, or ppb, of 1-4 dioxane, an industrial chemical used for a variety of purposes.

For downstream water supplies to remain safe, DEQ has determined the Asheboro plant should keep its monthly average 1,4-dioxane discharge at or below 22 ppb. DEQ uses U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toxicity calculations for lifetime exposure to determine safe levels of 1,4-dioxane discharges.

State water resources officials have taken additional sampling since July 10 and are awaiting to confirm the results of those samples, according to a release.

The Division of Water Resources has notified several downstream drinking water utilities about the elevated levels. Those utilities include Bladen Bluffs Water System, Brunswick County, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, the city of Dunn, Fayetteville Public Works Commission, Harnett Regional Water, International Paper Co., Pender County, Pilgrim’s Pride Water System and the city of Sandford.

“DEQ continues to monitor the levels of 1,4-dioxane discharged by wastewater treatment plants in the Cape Fear River Basin,” according to a release. “Significant reductions have occurred at one wastewater treatment plant through a collaborative effort with municipal operators. DEQ continues to work with the remaining municipal operators.”

Asheboro and division officials are in an ongoing court battle over the division’s inclusion of 1,4-dioxane discharge limits in city’s August 2023 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit.

In early February, a Wake County Superior Court judge ruled that the limits set by the state were properly included in the plant’s discharge permit. Asheboro appealed and the limits are stayed until the case is heard by the Court of Appeals.

Officials with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor announced Tuesday that the organization had recently received $150,000 in funding from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

The money will be used to support the organization’s hiring of a preservation director for a two-year term.

“The Director will be instrumental in creating the infrastructure needed to preserve The Corridor’s cultural heritage and lands,” according to the announcement.

The corridor, which stretches from Florida up the East Coast to North Carolina, is one of 27 sites granted $3 million in funding to advance ongoing preservation activities for historic sites, buildings, and landscapes that represent African American cultural heritage.

Congress established the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor as a National Heritage Area in 2006. The corridor includes 12,000 miles of area recognizing the unique culture of the Gullah Geechee, descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and brought to the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida to work on coastal rice, cotton, and indigo plantations.

The corridor includes 437 distinct coastal communities in the four states.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the largest U.S. resource dedicated to the preservation of African American historic places.

Dare County officials are asking residents, property owners and visitors to help shape safer streets.

County officials are asking for suggestions on locations where crosswalks or other pedestrian crossing improvements are needed as it explores opportunities to apply for funding through the N.C. Department of Transportation’s 2026 Pedestrian Safety Project Call.

The state transportation department’s Pedestrian Safety Project Call supports pedestrian safety improvements in smaller urban and rural communities. Municipalities within the state may also apply for funding for projects within their jurisdictions.

Eligible projects must be on state-maintained roadways within unincorporated areas of the county and may include marked crosswalks, curb ramps, visibility enhancements, traffic control improvements at crossings, pedestrian signal enhancements and improved crossings at unsignalized or midblock locations.

Suggestions may be submitted through an online survey through Aug. 14, which will give Dare County staff sufficient time to review them before the department’s Aug. 28 application deadline.

Feedback submitted to the county will help Dare officials identify and prioritize potential pedestrian safety improvements that address community needs.

The Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District has awarded a multimillion project to address severe shoreline erosion along Snow’s Cut in New Hanover County.

The project to stabilize the bank along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was awarded to heavy civil marine construction and highway bridge construction firm Cape Romain Contractors Inc. of South Carolina for $7,015,897.42, the district announced Tuesday.

“This project addresses ongoing, severe shoreline erosion along Snow’s Cut, a vital engineered waterway that connects the Cape Fear River to the sound waters of the AIWW,” Corps officials stated. “Erosion poses long-term risks to local infrastructure, navigation safety, and neighboring parklands.”

The shoreline will be stabilized through targeted measures designed to prevent the bank from failing further, protect public property, and “ensure the continued resilience” of the channel.”

Work is expected to begin in the heavily trafficked maritime channel in the coming months. The Corps said it will manage project oversight and quality assurance.

The National Weather Service‘s Newport office continues to host hurricane preparedness forums along the coast over the coming months.

Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30, with August, September and October typically being the most active for tropical systems in North Carolina.

Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson and National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Erik Heden are scheduled to host forums at 6:30 p.m. July 28 at Hatteras Civic Center, 10 a.m. July 29 at Kitty Hawk Town Hall, and 2 p.m. July 29 at Dare County Emergency Operations Center.

Forums are also scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 30 at Havelock City Hall and 6 p.m. Aug. 17 at Oriental Town Hall.

Individual links to register for the forums as well as recordings of past presentations are at weather.gov/mhx/hurricanecommunityforums.

These public discussions include a presentation from a meteorologist on hurricanes and the impacts on eastern North Carolina. 

“We will go over why you should never just focus on just the category of the storm, what the hurricane path track means, the various impacts tropical cyclones can bring and why you should NEVER let you guard down, even after the storm passes,” organizers said on the website. “We will also cover the hurricane outlook for the year while emphasizing that it only takes one storm to make an impact on your life.”

This is the eighth year this office has offered the program, which has already been offered this summer in Ocracoke, Pine knoll Shores and Washington.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has announced opening dates for the 2026 commercial flounder season in internal coastal and joint fishing waters.

Opening dates for pound net management areas are as follows:

• Tuesday, Sept. 15 in waters north of Pamlico Sound.
• Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Pamlico Sound and its tributaries.
• Wednesday, Sept. 30 in waters from Core Sound to the South Carolina line.

Trip limits will not apply to pound net management areas.

The opening date for commercial fishers who use mobile gears, which are all gears other than pound nets, is Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Mobile gear management areas are split between the northern coast and the southern coast. The northern management area runs from waters south of the North Carolina/Virginia border to a line in Core Sound that runs approximately from the Club House on Core Banks west to a point on the shore at Davis near Marker 1. The southern management area extends from waters from the line in Core Sound described above the south to the North Carolina/South Carolina border.

For large-mesh gill nets, waters in both of those management areas will open for the harvest of flounder one day per week beginning Sept. 30 and every Wednesday thereafter while the quota remains available. Nets may be set no sooner than one hour before sunset on the prior Tuesday.

Waters for all other mobile gears will open seven days a week beginning on Sept. 30 in both the northern and southern management areas.

Division officials will announce closings by proclamation as necessary during the season. Harvesting periods for each management area and gear category will close “when the allowable landings are approached to maintain harvest within the landings sub-allocation,” according to division officials.

The size limit for flounder is 15 inches total length. Commercial flounder landings, including fish kept for personal consumption, must be reported on a trip ticket through a licensed fish dealer, who must report landings daily to the division.

These management measures follow requirements under Amendment 4 to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan. Additional information will be available in a forthcoming proclamation.

N.C. Department of Transportation contractor crews are set begin relocating utilities starting Monday for the project to replace three Wrightsville Beach bridges.

Officials announced that, starting Monday, July 20, crews will begin moving power poles near the West Salisbury Street, aka U.S. 74, bridge over Lee’s Cut. Most work is to occur outside the travel lanes and is not expected to impact traffic.

“Should minor lane closures be required, they will be scheduled at night, and the public will be notified,” officials said.

The department called utility relocation a “critical step in preparing the area for the replacement of the bridge.” Work is expected to be complete by mid-August, weather permitting. Drivers should slow down and watch for crews working in the area, officials advised.

To receive updates regarding the Wrightsville Beach Bridge Replacement project, residents, media and local partners are encouraged to sign up via the project webpage.

Driving to the coast in the hopes of witnessing freshly hatched sea turtles crawl their way to the ocean? Looking forward to sitting on the water-view porch of your beach rental to watch the birds?

If so, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is requesting five minutes of your time to complete a survey about your experience viewing birds and sea turtles on your visit to the southern coast.

The online survey is part of an ongoing study in which state wildlife officials hope to learn how wildlife viewing contributes to coastal communities and the state economies.

About three-quarters of roughly 3 million in North Carolina who identify as “wildlife viewers” take trips to experience the state’s wide array of animal species, according to the agency.

“We want to determine economic contributions from visiting bird watchers, folks who visit our coast during sea turtle nesting season, and other wildlife enthusiasts,” Wildlife Resources Commission Social Scientist Elizabeth Pratt stated in a release. “Results could shed light on the importance of wildlife-related tourism to coastal communities and the need to continue to conserve these species.”

Information gathered from the survey will be used in a study that will aid the agency in developing stronger wildlife conservation policies on the coast. The agency is also collecting resident feedback and collaborating with partners to gain a better understanding of coastal wildlife issues to act as a guide for future protection initiatives.

The agency has posted signage and placed postcards with QR codes at different wildlife viewing locations and visitor centers. The survey will be available through the fall.

“Whether visiting a waterbird colony, witnessing a sea turtle nest excavation, or seeing less common birds that only visit the state during migration, we know that the public values the wildlife viewing experiences available along the coast,” Eastern Wildlife Diversity Supervisor Hope Sutton said in the release. “This study will help us understand the importance of wildlife viewing and ensure future visitors continue to benefit from our wildlife conservation efforts.”

The N.C. Department of Transportation anticipates shifting traffic patterns on N.C. 211 between N.C. 133 and Woodedge Way in Brunswick County this week.

On Thursday night, weather permitting, all traffic will shift onto the newly constructed future westbound lanes of N.C. 211.

Other traffic pattern modifications that evening include:

• Westbound N.C. 211 travelers will use a new ramp and traffic signals to access N.C. 906 (Midway Road or Middleton Boulevard). Westbound traffic will not access the existing signal.
• Eastbound N.C. 211 travelers will access N.C. 906 at the existing signal.

After the traffic shift, the Regency Crossing entrance to St. James will close for 30 days. St. James traffic should detour to the St. James Drive entrance.

DOT will place signed, temporary access points for residences and businesses south of the highway between Pinetop Drive and Pine Plantation Parkway, and West Trace Drive near N.C. 133.

Drivers are urged to use caution when traveling through work zones. For real-time traffic information check DriveNC.gov.

A wildfire that spread more than 280 acres in Brunswick County over the weekend was ignited by a lightning strike, fire officials confirmed.

The Quarry Road fire that started on Friday in Shallotte is 50% contained, according to the latest information from the North Carolina Forest Service.

Firefighters are continuing to reinforce fire lines and complete mop-up operations, which involve extinguishing or removing material near control lines, felling snags and trenching logs to prevent them from rolling after an area has burned.

Residents in areas near the fire are urged to remain alert and prepared if evacuation orders become necessary.

For up-to-date information on potential road closures due to the wildfire visit the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office social media and download or check the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Mobile App.

The fire has resulted in one minor injury, which was reported on Friday and involved a firefighter who was treated on the scene, and has damaged a commercial self-storage building, a residential storage building, and some commercial work trucks and heavy equipment, according to the latest update.

Fire containment updates may be traced using the Forest Service’s Wildfire Public Viewer.

Brunswick County remains under exceptional drought and its largest water provider, Brunswick County Public Utilities, recently implemented further mandatory water restrictions prohibiting automated outdoor irrigation.

A burn ban also remains in effect for the unincorporated county, where residents are prohibited from burning within 100 feet of a structure. Residents in municipal limits should contact their local officials related to the burn ban.

State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office released its performance audit of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Pre-Regulatory Landfill Program on Monday, revealing what the report called a shortfall in the statewide monitoring of former landfill sites.

The report found that 78%, or 534, of the 688 identified landfill sites where municipal solid waste disposal occurred without regulatory oversight have never been investigated under the DEQ program. Eleven of the list of top 100 of 629 program sites prioritized for investigation because of risk are in coastal counties.

The audit noted that, for most of the pre-regulation sites, it’s unknown what contamination may be present, whether it has spread to nearby properties or water supplies, or whether current conditions pose a risk to nearby residents. More than 80% of the landfill sites are within 1,000 feet of what are described as “vulnerable areas,” which includes homes, schools, daycares, churches, or drinking water wells.

“The Pre-Regulatory Landfill Program is a complex issue that creates challenges from a regulatory, legal, funding, and administrative standpoint,” said Boliek in the news release accompanying the audit. “But the bottom line is there are hundreds of potentially hazardous landfill sites across North Carolina, and despite tax dollars supporting a program meant to investigate these sites, 78% haven’t been examined. This audit lays out the facts, giving taxpayers a reliable update on a longstanding government issue.”

The program was established as part of the Division of Waste Management in 2007 to identify, assess, and remediate sites that accepted a wide range of waste prior to 1983. That’s before when modern environmental regulations were adopted. The list includes public and private sites near homes, schools and drinking water sources that could contain hazardous materials that pose health and environmental risks.

The risk ranking reflects scoring as of April 2025. In addition to the risk ranking, the audit includes an appendix listing all landfills alphabetically by county, then by risk priority rank within each county, if applicable. Another appendix identifies sites where issues related to property access have prevented or delayed investigation or cleanup and shows how long those delays have persisted in years.

The average estimated cost to investigate, assess and remediate a site is about $1.9 million. That would put the total cost, if applied to the remaining sites, at close to $1 billion. According to the report, of the 97 sites investigated since the program started, DEQ has secured 370 acres of waste, sampled 1,642 water supply wells and provided an alternate water supply to 30 homes.

According to the announcement, the DEQ Division of Waste Management agreed with the findings and the auditor’s recommendations. The audit lists all landfill sites, including sites pending access permission and sites that have been addressed, prioritized according to risk.

Among the ranked priority list’s top 100 sites in coastal counties are the following:

• No. 5, Jacksonville Wastewater Treatement Plant Landfill at Sturgeon City in Jacksonville, Onslow County.
• No. 9, Burnt Mill Creek Landfill in Wilmington.
• No. 11, Buxton Dump in Dare County.
• No. 30, Belltown Road Dump in Craven County.
• No. 44, Winnabow Landfill in Brunswick County.
• No. 53, Bolivia Refuse Disposal in Brunswick County.
• No. 67, Otway Community Refuse Dump in Carteret County.
• No. 73, Pantego Refuse Disposal in Beaufort County.
• No. 84, Rural Garbage Service in New Hanover County.
• No. 92, Ray’s Rural Dump in Onslow County.
• No. 98, Carolina Beach Refuse Disposal in New Hanover County.

Oceanographer Dr. Reide Corbett is pausing this week during his transition from East Carolina University’s Outer Banks campus to the main campus in Greenville to give a talk on how the state’s coast is changing and why those changes matter for low-lying communities like Down East Carteret County.

Corbett, who is leaving his leadership roles on East Carolina University’s Outer Banks campus to act as interim dean of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences, is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island, one of the 13 unincorporated communities making up Down East.

Core Sound Executive Director Karen Willis Amspacher said that his talk is “an important conversation for all of us who live with a rapidly changing coastline.”

The talk is part of the organization’s five-part Water/Ways speaker series, an extension of the Smithsonian’s traveling “Water/Ways” exhibit on display until Aug. 9.

Related: Two speaker series to look at relationships of people, place

A coastal oceanographer and geochemist whose work focuses on coastal change, Corbett has most recently served as dean of East Carolina University’s Integrated Coastal Programs and executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus in Wanchese.

“Barrier islands, sounds, inlets, wetlands, and shorelines have always been dynamic, but rising sea level, storms, erosion, flooding, and expanding development are changing the risks we face and the choices available to us,” Corbett said in an email. “The talk will focus on the science behind coastal change, what we are seeing along the North Carolina coast, and the tradeoffs involved in how communities respond. The goal is not to offer a single solution, but to help frame the decisions ahead with a clearer understanding of the processes, risks, and long-term consequences.”

Corbett announced his departure in the Outer Banks campus spring 2026 newsletter and the Outer Banks Voice confirmed his plan in mid-June.

Dr. Mike Muglia will serve as interim director at Coastal Studies Institute while plans are formed to search for the next permanent executive director, expected to be in late summer or early fall, a CSI representative told Coastal Review.  

Muglia’s research focuses on Gulf Stream variability and its effect on the complex confluence of different water masses that occur off of the state’s coast. He leads the Coastal Studies Institute’s Gulf Stream resource assessment for the Renewable Ocean Energy Program, and has managed field research project design across disciplines in the marine environment of the Outer Banks, according to CSI.

Eastbound lanes on the Causeway Drive bridge over Banks Channel in Wrightsville Beach will be closed nightly beginning Monday.

Contract crews will close both eastbound lanes of Causeway Drive from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday-Friday while they drill through the bridge deck for testing.

Drilling operations are expected to be complete by July 22, according to a North Carolina Department of Transportation news release.

The testing is part of the Wrightsville Beach bridge replacement project, an estimated $105 million endeavor that entails replacing all three bridges that connect the New Hanover County beach town.

The North Carolina Museum of History has launched a 20-part educational film series exploring the people, places and events that shaped the American Revolution, with a focus on North Carolina’s role in the war for independence.

Designed for students, educators, families and lifelong learners, “It’s Revolutionary!” premiered online July 3 and can be streamed online from the museum’s website.

The film series is part of the museum’s broader effort to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence through exhibitions, educational resources, public programs and partnerships.

The Raleigh-based museum, part of the state’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, describes the series as a combination of documentary storytelling, primary sources, animation and historical reenactments to help audiences learn in the Revolutionary period from colonial times through the early years of the United States.

The series follows a voice actor narrating a documentary about revolutionary times. When he makes a mistake, he is interrupted by a person from the past who provides corrections and insights. Topics range from Indigenous histories and colonial life to the Halifax Resolves, the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, the Treaty of Paris, and North Carolina’s role regarding the Bill of Rights.

Sally Causey Bloom, curator of education at the museum, said in a release that the hope is the series brings history to life in a way that is both engaging and educational.

“By combining documentary storytelling with immersive narrative elements, we invite viewers to develop a deeper understanding of this pivotal chapter in our nation’s history and reflect on the ongoing outcomes of those time,” she said.

Episodes feature both national events and North Carolina-specific stories, and explore topics such as the French and Indian War, the Declaration of Independence, Black Patriots and Loyalists, American Indian experiences during the Revolution, the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Yorktown, and the creation of the US Constitution.

View the series and learn more about the museum’s America 250 initiatives at BTE250.com.

Nearly a dozen North Carolina counties, including Brunswick County, are experiencing exceptional drought, according to the latest update of the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.

Exceptional drought is the highest drought classification.

Nine counties around the Triangle and eastern Triad remain under exceptional drought, 46 are in extreme drought, and 31 are in severe drought, according to the DMAC update posted Thursday. Most of the state’s coastal counties are under moderate drought.

Localized heavy rainfall in parts of the state in recent days “did not lead to substantial improvements” in drought conditions throughout North Carolina, according to a North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality release.

“Parts of the Triangle saw more than 4 inches of rain or more this past week, but to substantially improve our drinking water supplies, it has to rain upstream of the reservoirs,” Linwood Peele, supervisor DEQ’s Division of Water Resources Water Supply Planning Branch, stated in the release. “It matters where the rain falls, and how fast it falls. The rain helped conditions here, but we need the lakes and reservoirs to fill back up, the groundwater and aquifers replenished and soil moisture restored.” 

Reservoirs in the state remain below normal and rainfall totals are significantly down in localized areas of the state, including Wilmington, which has a rainfall deficient of more than 23 inches, compared with historical averages for the same period, according to the North Carolina Climate Office.

Peele said that while rainfall in parts of the state have recently received helps reduce demand for irrigation or outdoor water use, reservoirs need to refill, “and that will take time.”

“We’re in a huge deficit,” he stated.

More than two weeks have passed since Brunswick County’s largest water utility provided implemented mandatory water restrictions in response to drought conditions there. 

“If a water system is asking people to cut back on non-essential water use, they should listen,” Peele said. “The more people do it, the longer the water should last. This is something we have to conserve our way out of.”

The DMAC is a collaboration of experts from government agencies in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia organized by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources.

Members of the council meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Fans are available for adults living with disabilities or are 60 and older through their county’s aging agency.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Aging, area agencies on aging and local service providers are partnering to distribute fans through Operation Fan Heat Relief. Assistance began May 1 and ends Oct. 31.

Operation Fan Heat Relief has been providing fans since 1986 to those eligible to help reduce heat-related illnesses and make their living environment more comfortable.

The state’s Division of Aging received $85,000 in donations, allowing for the distribution of 3,627 fans and 23 air conditioners in 93 counties last year. Donations are through Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, and Dominion Energy.

“It is important to keep cool in extreme heat, especially for older adults with chronic medical conditions who are less likely to sense and respond to changes in temperature, and they may be taking medications that worsen the impact of extreme heat. The relief program helps vulnerable adults at risk for heat-related illnesses stay safe during the warmer weather months,” state health officials said.

In addition to using electric fans, the following hot weather tips for seniors should be observed to reduce heat-related illness:

• Increase fluid intake.
• Spend time in cool or air-conditioned environments regularly.
• Reduce strenuous activity during the afternoon.
• Speak with a physician before summer about how to stay safe while taking medication that can affect the body’s ability to cool itself such as high blood pressure medications.

For more details on Operation Fan Heat Relief, individuals should contact their area agency on aging or the NCDHHS Division of Aging at 919-855-3400.

More information about Operation Fan Heat Relief, including tips on preparing for extreme heat and a list of local agencies distributing fans, is available on the NCDHHS website. 

The Two Rivers Saponi-Occoneechee Association is hosting this month an Indigenous-led conversation on environmental justice.

The three-hour webinar set to begin at 11 a.m. July 18 “centers Indigenous knowledge systems, lived experience, and community-led solutions to environmental justice,” organizers said. The program is being offered at no charge but attendees are asked to register for the webinar through an online form.

The Two Rivers Saponi-Occoneechee Association is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the Saponi and Occoneechee Indigenous American community in Southside Virginia, specifically Mecklenburg, Brunswick and Greensville counties, all of which border North Carolina. The Saponi and Occoneechee peoples have a long history in the region of North Carolina, Virginia and surrounding areas.

The webinar is to explore uplifting Indigenous knowledge and stewardship practices, examine environmental injustices impacting land, water and communities, create space to identify projects and systems that have caused harm, and highlight the original inhabitants of organizers continued.

The following panelists are included:

• Dr. Crystal Cavalier, founder of 7 Directions of Service, Occoneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.
• Hannah Jeffries, North Carolina Climate Justice Collective Fellow, Meherrin Indian Tribe.
• Toniekia Poole, owner of Native Roots Farm, LLC, Occoneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Meherrin Indian Tribe.

More information is available on the organization’s Facebook page.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Flood Resiliency Blueprint program has scheduled a public information session on draft flood resilience plans for two North Carolina river basins.

During the July 20 virtual session, officials will provide information and gather feedback on draft plans for the Lumber River Basin Action Strategy and the Tar-Pamlico River Basin Action Strategy.

The Webex session will begin at 6 p.m. using meeting number/access code 2424 744 7031, password blueprint (25837746 when dialing from a phone). To join by telephone dial +1-415-655-0003.

River basin action strategies tailor flood resilience plans to each basin’s unique characteristics and needs, and outline actionable steps to empower communities to proactively reduce flooding impacts.

The strategies were developed using data from the Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool with input from local Blueprint partners and the River Basin Advisory Groups.

DEQ is accepting public comment through a public feedback form on the draft river basin strategies through July 27. Comments may also be submitted by emailing the Blueprint Program at blueprint@deq.nc.gov with “RBAS Feedback” in the subject line.

The North Carolina General Assembly tasked DEQ with developing the Flood Resiliency Blueprint in 2021 to support the planning, evaluation and implementation of flood resilience strategies.

The Blueprint is designed to equip local governments, the state and supporting organizations with data, tools and processes to better understand flood risk, identify community needs and guide strategic investments to reduce the risk of floods and strengthen resilience.

DEQ has awarded more than $43 million for 84 Blueprint projects in six of the state’s 17 river basins.

The Lumber and Tar-Pamlico river basin action strategies are to be delivered to the General Assembly later this summer.

Elizabeth City State University announced Tuesday plans to create “new pathways for students seeking flexible, career-focused educational opportunities” by expanding its academic programs this fall.

The university is adding a Bachelor of Science degree in data science and entirely online bachelor’s degree options in history and social work.

ECSU’s announcement framed the new Bachelor of Science in Data Science program as setting students up for success in a booming industry.

“Data science is one of the fastest-growing fields in the world. It is the practice of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data to help organizations make data-driven decisions for real-world problems,” stated Dr. Mohamed Elbakary, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and coordinator of the university’s Engineering Technology Program.

The new degree will cover programming, statistics, machine learning and data visualization tools to uncover trends and findings from large amounts of information, according to the announcement. “Graduates will be prepared for careers as data scientists, data analysts, data engineers, artificial intelligence specialists, quantitative analysts, healthcare analytics specialists and business intelligence analysts. Those career opportunities span industries including technology, healthcare, finance, government, education and nonprofit organizations.”

Elbakary touted the new program’s affordability, location, mission and strengths in coding, statistics and machine learning.

“Data Science could position ECSU as a leading institution for solving challenges facing rural, coastal and underserved communities,” he said.

In addition, ECSU said it is expanding access to two existing programs through fully online learning options.

The university’s history program will now offer students the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree completely online. “The program combines the strengths of a liberal arts education with modern teaching methods and digital skills, encouraging students to apply historical inquiry to contemporary challenges and opportunities. Students can pursue concentrations in digital and public history and race, gender and ethnicity studies. The online option provides greater flexibility for students balancing education with professional and personal responsibilities,” according to the announcement.

ECSU’s Bachelor of Social Work program will also be available as a fully online degree option beginning this fall. Officials said the program emphasizes addressing the needs of rural and developing communities.

As one of four North Carolina Promise institutions, ECSU provides affordable access to higher education. In-state tuition is $500 per semester, while out-of-state tuition is $3,500 per semester.

Students interested in the history program may learn more online at https://ecsu.edu/academics/programs/history/ or contact Dr. Charles Reed, chair and associate professor of history, at cvreed@ecsu.edu for additional information.

Questions about the social work program may be directed to Dr. Kim Downing, professor and program director, at ksdowning@ecsu.edu, or visit the Social Work website.

Information about the new data science degree is available online. Students interested in the program should contact Mohamed Elbakary at melbakary@ecsu.edu.

Forecasters and health officials warn that this Fourth of July weekend the “feels like” temperatures of between 100 and 110 starting Friday can be dangerous to your health.

Inland highs are expected to be between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit through Monday with a real feel of 105 to 110. Highs for beaches are projected to be 85 to 90 degrees.

National Weather Service’s Wakefield, Virginia, office, which covers the state’s northeastern counties, said on social media Thursday that along North Carolina beaches, heat index values will be around 100°F, due to the cooling influence of the ocean.

“This heat wave is predicted to be prolonged and expected to have major to extreme impacts for the majority of Eastern NC this weekend into early next week, coinciding with the 4th of July celebrations,” the service’s Newport office, which monitors most of the state’s coastal counties, explained in an update Thursday morning.

Forecasters with the service’s Wilmington office warn that heat advisories are possible for the southeastern part of the state beginning Friday, and some areas may require an excessive heat warning for dangerous conditions early next week.

Meteorologists project that the HeatRisk for most of eastern North Carolina will be moderate Friday, the second of four levels, and increase to major by Sunday, with some areas west of Interstate 95 experiencing extreme heat. HeatRisk is an experimental index that “provides additional information that can be used to better identify those days of the year when heat may be at levels that pose a risk to certain populations or economic sectors.”

These heat waves are associated with increased hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders. Signs a person is overheating include nausea, muscle cramping, unusually heavy sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches and weakness.

“Extreme heat can make everyone uncomfortable, but heat commonly affects certain groups, typically identified as heat-sensitive, at lower thresholds than other populations,” the National Weather Service states.

While everyone is at risk from the dangers of extreme heat, the weather service warns, the elderly, very young and people experiencing homelessness are among the groups most susceptible to heat, as well as those:

• On certain medications and/or have preexisting conditions that make them more sensitive to heat.
• Working outdoors, especially if they are new, temporary or returning to work after a week or more off.
• Working indoors in a non-cooled space.
• Exercising or doing strenuous activities outdoors during the heat of the day, especially if they’re not used to the level of heat expected, are not drinking enough fluids, or new to the type of activity.
• Without a reliable source of cooling and/or hydration, including otherwise healthy individuals attending outdoor activities that are exposed to the heat and may not recognize the early symptoms of heat stress.
• Not acclimated to the level of heat expected, especially if they’re new to a much warmer climate.
• Sensitive to poor air quality that can be exacerbated by heat waves.
• Living in low-income communities.

The weather service also warns that some economic sectors can be affected by increasing levels of heat, such as energy and transportation.

The CDC recommends for those spending time outside and the HeatRisk is red or above to stay in the shade as much as possible, take breaks whenever possible, and do outdoor activities during the coolest parts of the day or evening, if possible.

When indoors, use air conditioning and/or fans, but only if indoor temperatures are less than 90° Fahrenheit. If temperatures are above 90° indoors, a fan can increase body temperature.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission will hear about the progress to update the state’s plan that outlines strategies to protect and restore critical ecosystems coastal fishery habitats.

The 15-member commission is to hear an update on the 2026 amendment to the N.C. Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, or CHPP, from N.C. Department of Environmental Quality staff. The commission is responsible for adopting rules that protect, preserve and enhance the state’s air and water resources implemented by several divisions within DEQ.

The plan, adopted in December 2004 by Environmental Management, North Carolina Marine Fisheries and Coastal Resources commissions, provides information on coastal habitat distribution and abundance, ecological functions and importance to fish production, status and trends, threats to the habitat, and recommendations to address those threats. The CHPP is updated every five years.

The full commission is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. July 9 in the ground floor hearing room of the Archdale Building in Raleigh. The meeting will be livestreamed. The meeting number is 2439 266 6247 and password ncdeq. The meeting may also be accessed by telephone at 1-415-655-0003, password 62338.

Commission committee meetings are planned to begin the day prior at 9 a.m. July 8 in the Archdale Building and available to stream using Webex and by phone using the same telephone number, meeting number and passwords.

Agendas for the committees and the full commission are available on the EMC’s website.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management is offering competitive grant funds to support projects that will help the public access coastal waters.

Applicants eligible for fiscal year 2027 funding through the North Carolina Boating Infrastructure Grant, or BIG, Program include public and private marina owners and operators, local governments, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education and other entities that own or operate boating facilities in the state’s 20 Coastal Area Management Act counties.

The BIG Program is funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, which provides funding for public access through constructing, renovating and maintaining boating infrastructure that serves transient recreational vessels 26 feet or longer.

Eligible projects may include transient docks, piers, gangways, mooring buoys, breakwaters, wave attenuators, utilities, restrooms, showers, pump-out facilities, dinghy docks, signage and other boating infrastructure. 

Applicants may apply for one of two funding opportunities. Federal funding of up to $300,000 is available through Tier 1 awards that apply to projects within North Carolina. Tier 2 awards are nationally competitive and provide funding up to $1.5 million.

Applicants are encouraged to review eligibility requirements, applications instructions, submission information and additional program information on the North Carolina Boating Infrastructure Grant Program website. Applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. Friday, August 28.

Division officials will evaluate and rank eligible applications then submit the highest-ranked proposals to the Fish and Wildlife Service for consideration.

The division, which is under the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, is scheduled to host an informational webinar from 3-5 p.m. July 15 to review the application process, eligible projects, program requirements, evaluation criteria and answer questions. Those who would like to attend the virtual meeting may register online.

Questions about the BIG Program and the application process may be directed to NCBIG@deq.nc.gov. 

The Center for Biological Diversity announced Wednesday plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for “failing to designate critical habitat for red knot shorebirds in a timely manner.”

Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014, red knots are known to make a 19,000-mile round trip migration from the southern tip of South America to their breeding grounds in the Arctic, stopping in the United States along the way in both directions.

“However, the Service failed to designate and protect critical habitat as required by law. An April 2023 revision proposed to designate 683,405 acres of critical habitat but has not been finalized. The Service is now more than 10 years overdue on its red knot critical habitat designation deadline,” the center said, and the designation of critical habitat is an important step in any species’ recovery.

The nonprofit conservation organization said in a press release Wednesday that the federal agency had been provided the required 60-day notice about the expected legal action for not securing “lifesaving protections” for the migratory species.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay in protecting the wild coastal areas that red knots call home is pushing them closer to extinction,” Danny Waltz, a senior attorney at the center, said in a statement. “The federal government must protect the delicate Eastern shores that the red knot needs to survive.”

Red knots have suffered one of the steepest population declines among shorebirds in North America over the last four decades. Experts have calculated the species has seen a 94% decline in abundance. Red knots depend on coastal stopover sites along the Eastern Seaboard where they can rest and gorge on food like horseshoe crab eggs to fuel the remainder of their migratory journey.

A center study found that plants and animals with federally protected critical habitat are more than twice as likely to move toward recovery than species without it, the center added.

Arrgh you ready to paddle in search of treasure?

Cape Fear River Watch is offering to lead the hunt July 18 on an out-and-back paddle to Shark Tooth and Keg islands, undeveloped riverine islands where an abundance of shells and the namesake shark teeth are sure to shiver your timbers.

Participants must meet at River Road Park in Wilmington no later than 8 a.m. on the morning of the paddle. This event is weather-dependent and, if strong winds are a’blowin, paddlers may not complete a full circle around Keg Island.

Cape Fear River Watch has a limited number of single kayaks available to borrow. The organization suggests anyone who uses one of its kayaks to donate $25 for boat. Donations will include personal flotation devices, which must be worn by anyone who uses the organization’s kayaks, and paddles.

Those who prefer to borrow a kayak from Cape Fear River Watch should notify the organization when registering for the event.

To help Cape Fear River Watch continue to offer programs, including its paddle series, water quality programs, and educational seminars, those who plan to attend the July 18 paddle are asked to make a $10 minimum donation either online when registering or by bringing cash or check to the event.

Participants should check their emails the night before and the morning of the July 18 paddle to ensure the even has not been canceled.

Participants are encouraged to bring sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, water, snack/lunch and water shoes. Anyone with severe allergies should bring their epi-pen or medication.

Surf City’s long-awaited 50-year beach nourishment project is moving forward with federal funding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District announced Tuesday.

The district has been given the green light to use previously appropriated Disaster Relief Act of 2019 construction funds for the project, which entails placing about 6.5 million cubic yards of sand along the town’s roughly six-mile shoreline. The project also calls for building a new dune and an estimated 50-foot-wide beach berm.

“This approval represents an important milestone for the Surf City Coastal Storm Risk Management Project and allows us to begin the final steps necessary before construction can begin,” Wilmington District Commander Col. Brad Morgan stated in a release. “We appreciate the continued partnership with the Town of Surf City as we work together to deliver a project that will provide long-term coastal storm risk reduction for the Surf City community.”

The approved funding allows the Corps to execute a project partnership agreement with Surf City, complete final engineering and design activities, and begin preparations for construction of the federally authorized coastal storm risk management project.

“Today’s announcement marks a major milestone for Surf City and the future of our coastline,” Surf City Mayor Teresa Batts stated in a release. “The approval to move this project forward reflects years of hard work, collaboration, and a shared commitment among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and our federal, state, county, and local partners. We’re grateful to everyone who helped bring us to this point, and we look forward to beginning the construction phase. This project will help protect our shoreline, preserve our beaches, strengthen our community, and ensure Surf City remains a place that residents and visitors can enjoy for generations to come.”

More than 20 years has passed since Surf City and North Topsail Beach initiated a feasibility study to evaluate long-term beach restorations efforts. North Topsail Beach in 2021 withdrew from the project, which required additional federal review and approvals.

In 2024, Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., secured language in the Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, 2024 directing the Corps to expedite a report for Surf City’s coastal storm risk management project.

The Corps finalized that report in July 2025.

“The Town of Surf City, after years of work, now has the federal approval and funding it needs to strengthen its coastal resilience and better safeguard the community’s homes, businesses and infrastructure from future storms for decades to come,” Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., stated Tuesday in a release. “I am proud to have been a part of this effort, and I thank all who have been involved for their great work to make this a reality, including the critical work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Trump Administration.”

Under the recently released WRDA 2026, the North Topsail Beach portion of the project is deauthorized and Surf City’s project will receive $362.3 million in federal funding for future beach renourishment.

Visitors to Masonboro Island are being reminded to act responsibly this upcoming holiday weekend on the research and dedicated state nature preserve.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management and New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office officials are working together to boost public safety resources and public awareness of responsible visitor behavior of the island and surrounding waters.

The island nestled between Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach is a big draw for visitors throughout the summer, and particularly during the July 4 holiday.

Visitors are urged to carry proper supplies, use reliable transport, practice safety on land and on the water, and take all trash with them when they leave the preserve.

“Masonboro Island Reserve is a vital coastal resource that provides important wildlife habitat, supports research and education and contributes to the health and resilience of North Carolina’s coast,” Division of Coastal Management Director Tancred Miller stated in a release. “As you enjoy Masonboro Island or any of our Coastal Reserve sites this July Fourth, we encourage you to act responsibly, respect wildlife and leave no trace. We’re grateful for our partnership with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, whose support helps ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for the many visitors who explore Masonboro Island Reserve each year. Together, we can help protect these special places for future generations.”

Visitors should not attempt to swim across Masonboro Inlet, limit the impact on natural resources and avoid prohibited activities, including using fireworks.

Those who plan to visit this and the state’s other reserve sites are encouraged to review visitor guidelines and safety information.

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center is rolling out this week a new speaker series that delves into the relationship between people and place.

A similar format to its annual Parlor Talks offered every Thursday afternoon in the summer, the “Water/Ways” speaker series set to launch at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the museum on Harkers Island is an extension of the Smithsonian’s traveling “Water/Ways” exhibit on display until Aug. 9.

The exhibit “explores the centrality of water in our lives including its effect on the environment and climate, it’s practical role in agriculture and economic planning, and its impact on culture and spirituality,” organizers said.

Geoffrey Adair, an area historian from Beaufort, is to give the first talk this week on waterfowling traditions. Other topics for the series include water and the arts with Connie Mason July 8, water and a changing coast with Dr. Reide Corbett July 15, water as recreation with Frank Tursi July 22, and water as a way of life with Wayne Davis and Staci Davis Basden July 29.

The museum began its fifth year of Parlor Talks, which focus on the history, heritage and the research taking place in Carteret County, earlier this month.

Next on the schedule is Dr. Nathan Hall who will focus on “Our Amazing Seagrass.”

Hall is a research assistant professor and director of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment’s Morehead City Field Site at UNC Institute of Marine Sciences. His primary research focuses on understanding the factors that control microalgal biomass and community composition in lakes, rivers, and estuaries.

His talk Thursday afternoon will highlight why seagrass matters and why it need lots of light, what factors determine how much light reaches the seagrasses, and why scientists are worried about the current state of seagrass. Hall plans to wrap the talk up with what data exists on water quality where there are seagrass beds, and new efforts led by the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership to improve understanding of water quality.

Parlor Talks summer schedule:

• July 9: “The Wit & Wisdom of Ordinary People of Harkers Island” with Joel Hancock.
• July 16: “Opening Season for the Krakens” with Carteret Community College.
• July 23: “Everyone Has a Story” with Wayne and Staci Davis.
• July 30: The Atlantic Hotels of Morehead City with Geoffrey Adair.
• Aug. 6: Cape Lookout Foundation’s restoration of the U.S. Coast Guard Station with Bud Doughton, Mason Williams and Garry Brown.
• Aug. 13: “Coastal Heroes: An Old Newsman Looks Back at Those Who Fought to Make a Difference” with Frank Tursi.
• Aug. 20: “Growing Up in the Promise Land and the Inevitable Changes” with Promise Land friends.
• Aug. 27: “100 Years of Shark Research off Cape Lookout” with Dr. Joel Fodrie, who is moving from his role as UNC-IMS director to director of Duke University Marine Lab.
• Sept. 3: “Songs & Stories We Love the Best” with Connie Mason

State and local law enforcement officials will be ramping up water patrols through the upcoming holiday weekend.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Law Enforcement Division is once again participating in Operation Dry Water, a national campaign that aims to reduce impaired boating incidents year-round and heighten enforcement on the water during the July 4 holiday.

Alcohol use is the lead contributing factor in recreational boater deaths, according to the agency. It is illegal to operate a recreational water vessel with an alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, or under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other impairing substances.

Last August, 10-year-old Brooklyn Carroll and a family friend were cooling off in the waters of Shearon Harris Lake in Chatham County near their anchored boat when they were struck by the propellor of another vessel being operated by an impaired driver. Carroll died from her injuries. The other victim had a leg amputated due to the severity of their wounds.

WRC Law Enforcement Division Sgt. Claude Smith investigated the case.

“If individuals choose to drink, that is their decision, but they must ensure a sober, responsible adult is designated to operate the boat,” Smith said in a release. “And if someone chooses to operate a vessel while impaired, our officers will take every necessary action to prevent a tragedy like this from occurring again.”

During last year’s Operation Dry Water campaign, the agency deployed 153 officers and removed 43 people from the water who were boating while impaired.

Boating incidents in North Carolina resulted in 26 deaths in 2025.

This year, 62 boating incidents, including nine that were fatal, have occurred in North Carolina.

Operation Dry Water was developed through the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and the U.S. Coast Guard. The campaign is supported by The Governor’s Highway Safety Program’s Operation Firecracker Booze It & Lose It campaign, which includes the N.C. State Highway Patrol, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, and the North Carolina Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch.

Brunswick County Public Utilities customers must restrict the times and days in which they use irrigation systems or face possible fines.

The county is now under extreme drought conditions, according to the most recent update from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council. Drought conditions are “contributing significantly” to rising irrigation demands and “the availability of source water from the Cape Fear River,” according to a county release.

To prevent the need for additional water restrictions, particularly as the Fourth of July holiday weekend approaches, the county announced it has moved to a stage 2 mandatory water conservation alert.

The alert applies to residents in unincorporated areas of the county, Boiling Spring Lakes, Bolivia, Calabash, Carolina Shores, Caswell Beach, Navassa, Northwest, Sandy Creek, Shallotte, Southport, St. James, Sunset Beach, and Varnamtown.

Customers of Bald Head Island, Holden Beach, Oak Island and Ocean Isle Beach utilities, which receive their water from Brunswick County Public Utilities, are under the same restrictions.

“Brunswick County asks these customers to diligently use water wisely,” according to a county release. “Demand for water has exceeded 90% of the available production and distribution capacity. As Independence Day approaches, water demands are expected to increase.”

Water customers may not use their irrigation systems on Mondays. Customers with odd address numbers and non-addressed facilities may irrigate on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Those with even address numbers may use their irrigation systems on Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays.

Irrigation systems may only be used between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. This includes irrigation for residential lawns, landscaping, athletic fields, and golf courses that do not use private groundwater wells or reclaimed water.

A complete list of prohibited uses of water is available online.

Brunswick County Public Utilities will notify properties that may be out of compliance with the mandatory irrigation schedule “or other required actions” through the ReadyBrunswick notification system or contact information associated with the property’s utility account.

Calls or messages through the BrunswickReady system will be made from 910-253-1977.

Those who do not comply may be assessed with fees up to $300 and disconnection of their water service. Habitual offenders of the alert may receive penalties of up to $5,000 and water disconnection.

County officials will continue monitoring drought conditions and water usage to determine whether to move to the next water shortage warning stage. A stage 3 water shortage warning prohibits the use of automatic sprinkler systems for residential and commercial lawn and landscapes.

The alert does not apply to customers of Brunswick Regional – H2GO, private groundwater well users, or those using highly treated reclaimed wastewater.

Residents may directly contact their water service provider with questions or Brunswick County Public Utilities at 910.253.2657 or utilityadmin@brunswickcountync.gov.

Additional information and updates may be found at brunswickcountync.gov/WaterWise.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, the nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting and restoring the North Carolina coast and the publisher of Coastal Review, is set to honor stewards of the environment and others during 23rd annual Pelican Awards in Morehead City.

The event slated for Saturday, Aug. 1, at Joslyn Hall on the Carteret Community College campus at 3505 Arendell St. will pay tribute to the individuals, organizations, businesses and partners whose dedication and achievements have made a lasting difference for the North Carolina coast.

“For more than two decades, the Pelican Awards have recognized exemplary leadership, stewardship, and service that help protect and enhance our coast for future generations,” according to organizers.

Doors to the event will open at 3:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony set for 4 p.m. and a reception planned for 5 p.m.

Seating is limited. Advance registration is appreciated.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for individuals, businesses, and organizations interested in supporting the Coastal Federation’s work.

Warning sirens around Duke Energy’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant outside of Southport will be tested next week.

The quarterly test, done in coordination with emergency management officials in Brunswick and New Hanover counties, is planned for Wednesday, July 1 between 10-11 a.m. Sirens will be sounded anywhere between 5 to 30 seconds.

Some sirens may be tested more than once and additional testing may be held after 11 a.m. following siren maintenance.

The network of 38 sirens Duke Energy owns and maintains within 10 miles of the plant are routinely tested to ensure they are functioning properly.

The test will not interrupt regular programming to broadcast emergency alert messages, which are aired on local radio and television states in real emergencies.

Additional information about outdoor warning sirens and nuclear emergency preparedness are available at duke-energy.com/NuclearEP.

The maker of weed killer Roundup, with a supporting amicus brief from the Trump administration, has won a Supreme Court case that shields the corporation from liability from users who alleged the company failed to warn consumers that it could cause cancer.

The case involved a Missouri man named John Durnell who in 2019 sued Monsanto, which is now owned by Bayer, in state court, alleging his use of Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, over about 20 years caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Durnell asserted that Monsanto should have included a cancer warning on the Roundup label.

A jury awarded Durnell $1 million, and he won on appeal, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision, with Justice Brett Kavenaugh writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas filing a concurring opinion and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing the dissent, which Justice Neil Gorsuch joined. The majority held that the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of the product label meant that Roundup could only be sold with the label exactly as the EPA approved it. The opinion held that, “if third parties (like Durnell) want to bring new information to EPA’s attention or if they believe that EPA has failed to consider relevant information, those third parties are free to petition EPA to modify, suspend, or cancel a pesticide’s registration.”

“Because EPA has repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer, the agency has not required a cancer warning on Roundup’s label,” Kavanaugh wrote. “Importantly, EPA’s regulations require a pesticide manufacturer such as Monsanto to use the EPA-approved pesticide label—here, the Roundup label without a cancer warning—unless and until EPA approves or requires a different label.”

Monsanto had argued, and the majority agreed, that a provision of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, “expressly preempts Durnell’s failure-to-warn claim,” meaning that

The majority opinion “departs from the near-unanimous view of the many state and federal courts that have rejected this preemption argument,” Jackson wrote in her dissenting opinion.

“In my view, the majority should have joined that chorus,” Jackson wrote. “Durnell’s failure-to-warn claim is not “in addition to or different from” FIFRA’s mandates; it is equivalent to FIFRA’s key labeling requirement—the misbranding prohibition.”

New Bern’s colonial-era Tryon Palace is commemorating 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a special Fourth of July celebration.

“Tryon Palace Glorious 4th: An A250 NC Event” is a family-friendly celebration taking place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 4.

“As our country commemorates the Semiquincentennial, Tryon Palace is proud to host our community for Glorious Fourth,” Executive Director Chrystal Regan said in a statement. “We welcome everyone to join us on Independence Day to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and honor all those who have worked for the 250 years since then to further the promises of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness for all.”

Construction on the original Tryon Palace building, the Governor’s Palace, was completed in 1770 and served as North Carolina’s first colonial and first state capitol, which was moved to Raleigh in 1794. Philadelphia held the first commemoration of independence on July 4, 1777, while Congress was still occupied with the ongoing war. New Bern first celebrated Independence Day in 1778, according to the state.

At 10 a.m., Maj. Seth Allen with the U.S. Marine Corps will read the Declaration of Independence just outside the Tryon Palace front gates. After the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the North Carolina Continental Line interpreters will fire a volley in celebration.

The Tryon Palace Fife and Drum Corps is to perform several songs before joining the New Bern Fourth of July parade along Pollock Street as it reaches Tryon Palace. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Fleet Street area and end on Craven Street.

After the parade, visitors can see a guided demonstration of a cannon firing on the South Lawn.

The grand opening of the site’s America 250 NC exhibit, “Freedom and Identity: Symbols of a New Nation” in the N.C. History Center is set for July 4 as well. The exhibit on display until Jan. 10, 2027, showcases the ways that style, craftsmanship and iconography were used in the earliest days of the United States to show patriotism.

The public can visit the palace grounds and gardens at no charge until noon that day.

A special tour of “Discovering Tryon Palace: Caswell’s Capital tour” is set for 3:30 p.m. July 4. Serving as a sequel to the regular Tryon Palace tour, visitors will be guided on a journey through North Carolina’s role in the days before and during the American Revolution, organizers said. Tickets, $20 for adults and $15 for ages 6 to 14, can be purchases online.

The standard 50-minute palace tours are offered Monday through Saturday at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are on the website.

The existing structure is a replica of the 18th-century Georgian mansion. The original home of the colony’s British Royal Governor, William Tryon, was mostly destroyed during a 1798. In the 1930s, an effort was initiated to restore the palace, and the project was completed in 1959.

Now under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, palace grounds includes historic buildings, gardens, and the North Carolina History Center, according to the nonprofit foundation that supports the state-managed historic site.

America 250 NC is the state’s official commemoration of the United States’ 250th anniversary, also under the natural and cultural resources department.

The Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry route is back to its full summer schedule now that “a critical dredging operation” is complete at one of the ferry’s terminals, state transportation officials said Wednesday.

The alternate schedule was put in place May 30 when nighttime dredging began of Sloop Channel, which provides the entryway to the route’s South Dock terminal on the north end of Ocracoke Island.

The schedule is as follows:

Hatteras-Ocracoke: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m.,11:30 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m., 11 p.m., and midnight.

Ocracoke-Hatteras: 4 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., and midnight.

For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins.

The State Capitol will highlight North Carolina’s original constitutional documents as part of a Fourth of July celebration.

A State Archives of North Carolina “One-Day Wonders” traveling exhibit, “To Preserve the Blessings of Liberty”: State Constitutions of North Carolina, will be on display in the historic building in Union Square as part of the family-friendly Capitol 250: NC Freedom Fest set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 4 in downtown Raleigh.

Featuring materials that commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, the exhibit to be displayed on July 4 will showcase the first North Carolina Constitution, ratified on Dec. 18, 1776, the state’s Declaration of Rights, and John Adams’s “Thoughts on Government” letter to William Hooper, one of North Carolina’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence.

“Adams’s guidance in March 1776 profoundly influenced the new state government. Exhibit panels and staff will discuss ways the North Carolina Constitution has changed over time including the current constitution, third in the state’s history and ratified in 1971,” organizers said.

Visitors will also be able to view as part of the one-day only exhibit:

• The 1868 North Carolina Constitution, written during Reconstruction with the state’s first “Black Caucus” of 13 African American delegates at the Constitutional Convention.
• A 1777 draft broadside of the Articles of Confederation, the document that established the United States’ federal government.
• A 1787 broadside edition of the U.S. Constitution, debated in the state’s General Assembly.

The Capitol 250: NC Freedom Fest July 4 is an “all-day festival is a celebration of the arts, history, nature, and culture that define North Carolina’s role in the nation’s story,” according to celebration organizers, that begins at 9:30 a.m. with a parade organized by the North Carolina Department of Labor.

Headlining the freedom fest are North Carolina-based singer-songwriters Tift Merritt and Rissi Palmer. Also scheduled to perform are Nest of Singing Birds, 82nd Airborne All-American Brass Quintet, Wake & District Raleigh Pipe Band, N.C. Governor’s School Choir, Poet Zack Zachary, and Poetry Fox.

There will be an Independence Day ceremony, trolley tours of historic downtown Raleigh, living history and special exhibits, historic fashion show, more than 50 vendors and food trucks, a Hurricanes KidZone, sponsored by the Carolina Hurricanes, and storytime.

The city of Raleigh has scheduled fireworks to wrap up the day at 9:30 p.m. that day at Dix Park.

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources manages more than 100 sites that preserve and promote arts and culture, history, and natural areas, including the State Archives.

For more information, contact State Archives Outreach Coordinator Adrienne Berney at adrienne.berney@dncr.nc.gov or 919-814-6863.

A controversial provision that would allow state tax dollars to fund coastal terminal groins has been stripped from legislation moving through the North Carolina Senate.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday passed an amended Senate Bill 1001, omitting a section that would permit Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Funds to be used for terminal groin permitting, construction, or repairs.

A terminal groin is a type of hardened erosion control structure that is built perpendicular to a shore at an inlet to trap sand. North Carolina law prohibits the allocation of state funds for these structures, which were banned for decades until 2011 when legislators repealed the law to allow a handful of beach towns the option to explore building them.

“We’ve worked with our partners, and we resolved any concerns to date,” Sen. Michael Lazzara, R-Onslow, said Tuesday morning.

The amended bill will now go before the Senate Rules and Operations Committee.

Lazzara indicated last week in a meeting of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Energy, and Environment that the language in the bill might be revised.

Lazzara is one of the primary sponsors of that bill and Senate Bill 1009, which aims to overturn the state’s 40-year prohibition on hardened coastal erosion control structures, including breakwaters, bulkheads, seawalls, jetties, revetments, and terminal groins.

Hardened erosion-control structures have long been controversial because they capture sand that travels down the beach nearshore, depleting the sand supply to the beach immediately downdrift of the structure, stripping land that is natural habitat for, among others, sea turtles and shorebirds.

Senate Bill 1009 advanced last week to the Senate Appropriations Committee one day before the Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel released its draft report examining the effects of hardened erosion control structures on ocean coastlines.

The 47-page report, which was presented to the CRC last Thursday, was created to provide scientific and technical information for policymakers, regulators and legislators.

Science Panel Chair Dr. Laura Moore, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor in the Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, explained to commission members that the report covers the physical and adverse effects, and ecological impacts, of hardened structures.

The Ocean City Jazz Festival welcomes music lovers to another rhythmic and harmony-filled weekend by the sea.

This year’s festival will be held July 3-5 and marks the 16th year talented jazz musicians will take the stage in Ocean City, a storied community founded in 1949 on Topsail Island that was the only place African-Americans could buy coastal property in North Carolina before the Civil Rights Act.

The annual event will kickoff on July 2 at Waterline Brewing Co. in Wilmington and feature a performance by Billboard artist D.S. Wilson. The kickoff party will be hosted from 6-8 p.m. Tickets for this event are sold separately.

This year’s festival artist is Rene Dickerson, a nationally acclaimed, self-taught artist who captures the richness of life through painting characters from all cultures and scenes.

Gates for the festival on the lot across from 2649 Island Drive in North Topsail Beach will open daily at 4 p.m. July 3-5 with musical performances beginning at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 8:30 p.m. Shuttle service will begin at 3:45 p.m. each day at 2950 Island Drive.

There will be food and beverage vendors, and merchandise booths.

An optional, ticketed learn-and-hike event is being hosted from 8-10 a.m. July 4. Tickets are also available for purchase to a reception that day from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Hampton Inn in Sneads Ferry.

July 5 will begin with the Ocean City jazz mass worship service starting at 11 a.m. A jazz prelude to that service, which will feature the Rev. Robert Jemonde Taylor, will kickoff at 10:30 a.m.

For a full lineup of performances visit the website. Digital tickets for the rain or shine event are available for purchase online.

The North Carolina Forest Service’s annual tree seedling sale will begin next month.

The state agency will begin accepting Wednesday, July 1, orders for young conifers and hardwoods. A genetically improved stock is available for Fraser fir, loblolly, longleaf, shortleaf, eastern white pine and Virginia pine.

With an average annual production of 10 million seedlings, and a reliable supply of more than 40 tree species, the Forest Service said that its nursery program produces enough native and genetically improved tree seedlings to plant roughly 18,700 acres.

“Our nursery program continues to provide affordable native tree seedlings that are geographically suitable for the state’s diverse forestlands,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement. “By offering seedlings in different quantities, the program can help customers of all sizes whether the need is as few as 10 seedlings, or as many as several thousand. The annual seedling sale is just another way that the forest service strives to keep North Carolina’s woodlands healthy, growing and thriving.”

Order from the online seedling store at buynctrees.com, by phone at 1-888-NCTREES (1-888-628-7337) or 919-731-7988, or fill out and mail the order form in the FY26-27 Nursery Seedling Catalog to Seedling Coordinator, 762 Claridge Nursery Road, Goldsboro, NC 27530.

The catalog will be available in area Forest Service offices starting next month, and a user-friendly online catalog is expected to be available on the website soon, Forest Service officials said Monday.

Within the catalog, landowners can find information about the types of tree species, quantities and cost to order. Each species description includes information about ideal planting locations and whether a species is typically used to benefit wildlife, restore forest habitats or as marketable timber.

Seedling orders can be shipped to one of 13 distribution centers statewide for a small fee or via UPS for a charge. Seedling orders are also available for pickup from the N.C. Forest Service Claridge Nursery in Goldsboro or the Linville River Nursery near Crossnore in Avery County.

Most containerized seedlings are available and used November through March while most bare root seedlings are available and used January through March.

For information on planting trees, customers are encouraged to contact their county ranger. Contact information is available at www.ncforestservice.gov/contacts.

Historic Bath will be bustling with activity in July as Revolutionary era-inspired reenactors representing the colonial navies of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina Saturday for “Patriots at Sea: An American Seaport Prepares for War.”

During the living history event scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 25, visitors will be able to speak with the ships’ surgeons and sailors, and visit the Tavern to hear mummers about the simmering war and outrage over British impressment of sailors.

“The formal navy of the colonies was small, by 1776 there were just 27 colonial warships, but the number of support vessels operating as privateers was over 1,600 and became an important factor in our victory,” according to the site.

Benjamin Schaffer is scheduled to give a talk at 2 p.m. in St. Thomas Church on his new work, “The First Fleets: Colonial Navies of the British Atlantic World,” which delves into the little-known and misunderstood provincial navies established by North American British colonists.

Visitors will have a chance to see what a day in the life of a sailor looks like, meet colonial townspeople teaching children’s games, boatmen will show how to use pitch to caulk a boat hull, and there will be genealogists with local information and on the seaman’s legacy group: Order of the Sea and Sail.

Throughout the day, living history reenactors will give demonstrations on sailmaking, scrimshaw, navigation, ropemaking, ship’s carpentry, spinning and weaving, and open-fire cooking. Representatives from America 250 NC, the state’s official 250th celebration program under the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, will be on-site as well.

Now a state-managed historic site, Europeans settling near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the founding of Bath, North Carolina’s first incorporated town, in 1705. By 1708, the small community had 50 people and 12 houses, and soon became North Carolina’s first port. “While its early years were marked by political rivalries, Indian wars, and piracy, by 1746 Bath was considered for the colony’s capital. However, when county government moved away in the late 1700s, Bath lost most of its importance and trade. Its original town limits encompass a historic district today,” according to the website.

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission’s Habitat and Water Quality Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet this week to discuss proposed changes to a plan that guides habitat decisions related to fisheries.

The committee will review the draft 2026 amendment to the North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection Plan on Thursday, June 25, at the state Division of Marine Fisheries Central District Office, 5285 Highway 70 West in Morehead City.

Discussion will include formulating comprehensive options to protect identified submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV and more broadly as known as seagrass, habitat. SAVs are rooted plants that grow beneath the surface of fresh, estuarine and marine waters. These plants are vital to coastal and riverine habitats that support aquatic life and water quality.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. The meeting will also be livestreamed via Webex. The agenda is available online.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has made each of 15 anglers $100 richer with the latest winners of its annual drawing of Multi-Species Tagging Program tag numbers announced Thursday.

The randomly selected tag numbers were from 496 fish tags that were turned in by participants in 2025. Three tag numbers were selected from each of the five species that are tagged by the program.

The $100 winners who turned in tags found on cobia were Joshua Bourne of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Mike Lintzenich of Williamsburg, Virginia; and Katie Daniel of Toano, Virginia.

The $100 winners who turned in tags found on red drum were Brad Smith of Maysville, Nicholas Stanley of Four Oaks, and Josh Whibley of Charleston, South Carolina.

The $100 winners who turned in tags on striped bass were Robert Tipton of New Bern, Scott Pope of New Bern and Anthony Richards of Wilmington.

The $100 winners who turned in tags on southern flounder were Jaxon Row of Wilmington, James Cone of Wilmington and Tyler Barnes of Hubert.

The $100 winners who turned in tags on spotted seatrout were Jamie Bright of Jacksonville, Chris Cobb of Hampstead and David Bishop of Belhaven.

The Multi-Species Tagging Program began in October 2014 and is funded by a Coastal Recreational Fishing License grant. Each year, staff and volunteers attach a yellow or red tag marked with “NCDMF” on thousands of fish in North Carolina’s coastal waters.

When a tagged fish is reported, along with the required information, participants receive a letter and personalized certificate with information about their fish, including days at large and distance traveled, as well as a reward. Those who return a yellow tag receive either a tagging program hat, fish towel or fish pin. Those who return a red tag marked “$100 REWARD” receive a $100. Those who return a tag are automatically entered into an annual drawing for $100.

Bourne, Lintzenich, Daniel, Pope, Richards, Rowe, Barnes and Cobb all received $100 when they turned in red tags for their respective fish and another $100 from the drawing, making their total rewards $200 each.

Information required when reporting a tagged fish includes the species, tag number, date, location captured, total length of the fish, fate of the fish (released or harvested) and the type of gear used to capture the fish. Tags may be reported by phone at 1-800-682-2632 or through an online form. Red tags must be cut off the fish and returned to the division for the participant to receive the $100 reward.

Information gathered from tag returns helps researchers determine species migration patterns, mortality, population structure and habitat use, which can be used to better manage the fisheries. Click for more information about the Multi-Species Tagging Program or contact John Mohan at 252-948-3913 or john.mohan@deq.nc.gov.

Currituck County is looking for public input on a nearly 200-page draft beach management plan that officials said will guide management, protection and restoration of the county’s 22.6 miles of oceanfront beaches and dunes, and address coastal hazards such as long-term erosion, storm impacts, and sea level rise.

The draft document can be viewed on the county website.

“The Plan provides a long-term vision for Currituck County to sustain the beaches that support a significant portion of their local economy and maintain the tax base located along the County’s beaches,” officials said on the website. “The Plan recognizes that beaches are a critical economic asset, supporting tourism, property values, and the County’s tax base. The overarching goal of the Plan is to preserve tourism-driven revenues while improving coastal resilience.”

The document features an evaluation of coastal hazards and vulnerability, introduces general management concepts that could be implemented, and a feasibility analysis detailing four separate reaches, or sections of coastline, along the Currituck County oceanfront that were identified for active beach management.

The feasibility analysis was applied to the North Corolla Reach, the Spindrift Reach, the South Pine Island Reach, and Central Reserve/Refuge Reach, which includes beachfront for the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge and the Currituck Banks Estuarine Reserve. Several alternatives were developed and evaluated for each.

Officials are encouraging asking specifically for feedback on the feasibility analysis on whether other reasonable alternatives should be considered for the four areas of coastline.

“If citizens believe that additional considerations should be made in these assessments, comments submitted will also be considered,” officials said on the website.

Comments can be submitted through the county website.

Dr. Joel Fodrie has been named the new director of Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort.

Most recently director of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, Fodrie will succeed outgoing director Andy Read, who was in the leadership role for 10 years and will remain on the faculty once Fodrie comes aboard, Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment said Wednesday.

“The Duke Marine Lab is a gold standard among centers of coastal and marine research, both in the social sciences and the natural sciences. Its coastal setting is ideal for exploring how humans and natural systems affect one another. I’m very excited about working with the faculty, staff and students to support, and even enhance, place-based research and teaching that has local and far-reaching impacts,” Fodrie said in a statement.

Fodrie will join later this summer the lab that “has centered on field-based discovery, immersive learning and close mentorship” for nearly nine decades, the university said.

“As director, Joel will build on Andy’s legacy and further strengthen strategic connections between Beaufort and Durham while guiding the Marine Lab’s next chapter as a world-class leader in marine science and research,” said Lori Bennear, Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School.

Fodrie earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and history from UNC Chapel Hill, and his doctorate in biological oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego.

His research focuses on coastal and estuarine ecosystems, fisheries ecology and the resilience of marine communities and his scholarship includes more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and extensive external grant support.

“Joel has the research, academic and leadership expertise we were looking for in a director. But beyond that, he brings a reputation as a trusted community partner deeply appreciative of and knowledgeable about North Carolina coastal ecosystems,” said Erika Weinthal, the Nicholas School’s John O. Blackburn Distinguished Professor, who chaired the Marine Lab director search committee

Among various honors, Fodrie received recognition as an Early-Career Research Fellow with the Gulf Research Program, part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. In 2024, he was named one of five recipients of the Thomas Willis Lambeth Distinguished Chair in Public Policy, a five-year term professorship to recognize and honor outstanding teachers and scholars.

“On a personal level, I grew up in Beaufort, North Carolina, and have known about the significance of the Marine Lab essentially my whole life,” Fodrie said. “I certainly view this as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to help shape the direction and impact of the Lab to ensure wise and sustainable use of our coastal and marine ecosystems.”

Motorists traveling along U.S. Highway 70 in the James City corridor over the weekend should expect a temporary traffic pattern as work begins on the Thurman Road interchange bridge.

State transportation officials said Wednesday that, weather permitting, U.S. 70 westbound lane closures are scheduled from 5 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. U.S. 70 eastbound lane closures will then take place from 5 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.  

As part of this phase, crews are to install reduced conflict intersections, or RCIs, with temporary traffic signals near the intersection of Thurman Road and U.S. 70 to manage traffic flow. This is the third of five planned along the U.S. 70 Improvements in the James City corridor.

RCIs, often referred to as a superstreet, a synchronized street or a median U-turn, describes the different designs that can be installed to improve safety and traffic flow on a highway, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

In advance of implementing the RCIs, sections of East Thurman Road and West Thurman Road will be closed between U.S. 70 and service roads from 5 a.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday.

“Intersections along U.S. 70 in James City are being converted to interchanges without traffic signals, improving traffic flow and reducing travel times. The Thurman Road interchange will allow for fluid cross street traffic under the highway, with roundabouts on both sides to manage the flow of traffic. Bridge construction marks the final stage of construction before the interchange is complete,” officials said.

The estimated $3.22 million James City corridor project began in 2022 to improve traffic on the 5.1-mile stretch of U.S. 70 from east of Thurman Road to the Neuse River Bridge in James City. 

Project plans include updating Williams, Airport, Grantham and Thurman roads and Taberna Way in James City into interchanges by taking U.S. 70 over these cross streets and providing access via ramps. These five intersections will become new highway exits for the future Interstate 42.​ The project is expected to be complete in 2027.

Travelers are encouraged to sign up for project updates and traffic alerts by providing an email address or cell phone number on the project website.

The project team is available to answer any questions by email at US70-JamesCity@publicinput.com, or by calling 1-855-925-2801 and enter code 7872 when prompted.

This report has been updated.

Action appears likely in the North Carolina General Assembly Wednesday on two measures that stand to dramatically rewrite coastal policy.

The Senate Agriculture, Energy, and the Environment Committee, when it meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday, is expected to take up Senate Bill 1009, which would repeal the state’s four-decade-old ban on ocean shoreline hardened structures and an amended Senate Bill 1001, a coastal regulatory reform bill that would clear the way for state taxpayer funding of terminal groin construction and and maintenance.

Related: Brinson touts bills to ax ocean erosion-control structure ban

The session will be livestreamed.

The original 2011 terminal groin legislation resulted from a compromise that no state funds could be used for groin projects. The policy is to prevent pressure on legislators to fund oceanfront structures that coastal advocates say have significant impacts on beaches and usually result in the need for additional engineering projects — beach nourishment — which creates a cascading effect of funding requests.

Coastal advocates say the current law barring state funding is to avoid taxpayer funding of structures that protect unwise development.

Another related bill, Senate Bill 1008, did not appear as of publication on Tuesday on the legislative calendar.

Coastal residents by now have likely seen their fair share of reminders to prep for the 2026 hurricane season. But what about readying for life after a storm?

Dare County has a simulation for that.

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, Dare County Emergency Management and Trillium Health are hosting a post disaster response simulation to show what it’s like in the weeks following a disaster, including the challenges and hurdles residents often face.

This free event is open to all adults and high school students and is set for 9 a.m.-noon Thursday at Manteo First Assembly’s Connect Center, 812 Wingina Ave.

During the event, participants will be assigned different roles simulating real-life situations, such as a homeowner whose house was badly damaged and needs to work with their homeowners insurance, caring for an aging parent and needing to fill that parent’s prescription or accessing money from a bank, or someone who needs to relocate after discovering mold in their flooded home.

“No matter your experience level, we can all benefit from sharpening our preparedness skills — and this simulation makes learning both practical and fun,” Dare County DHHS Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Greta Sharp stated in a release. 

Similar simulations have been held in other North Carolina counties, offering residents and organizations an opportunity to build preparedness skills and increase empathy for people affected by emergencies. These simulations also highlight how post-storm life affects individuals living with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and/or substance use disorders.

“The post disaster simulation gives individuals the opportunity to learn and understand the daily struggles one may face following a disaster,” Dare County Social Services Division Director Chuck Lycett stated. “For organizations who provide resources, it gives them the opportunity to evaluate their level of customer service and ask ‘Are we creating more barriers for our citizens?'”

Interested participants may register online or on the day of the event, when registration and a light breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. Early registration is encouraged because space is limited.

For additional information, contact Sharp at 252-475-5073.

North Carolina Department of Transportation officials said the state agency is planning a project to install wildlife crossing structures on U.S. 64 in Dare County to help keep drivers safe and prevent crashes with wild animals, including black bears, white‑tailed deer​ and the world’s only population of red wolves.

The proposed project that aims to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity covers 2.5 miles within Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, stretching from east of the East Lake community to west of Robertson Landing Road in Dare County.

The project team is hosting a public meeting 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, at Manns Harbor Community Building, 6657 U.S. Highway 64, Manns Harbor to introduce the initiative and receive feedback.​

The public can submit comments during the meeting, by phone at 512-580-8850, enter project code 4799, or email wildlife-crossings-us64@publicinput.com.

The deadline to submit comments is July 10.

The comments and information received will be taken into consideration as work on the project develops, officials said.

For additional information or to mail comments, contact Matthew Seymour, P.E.  Project Management Unit – Team Lead, NCDOT, 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699.

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact as early as possible Aleksandra Djurkovic at 919-707-6024 or andjurkovic@ncdot.gov.

Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

The state selected three coastal communities out of the 13 total to receive grants that support housing, infrastructure, and community improvement projects benefiting low- and moderate-income residents.

Gov. Josh Stein’s office and the North Carolina Department of Commerce announced Friday the 13 projects receiving a total of $13.7 million, with individual awards ranging from $693,773 to $2.5 million.

The projects reflect a variety of local priorities, including housing rehabilitation and reconstruction, infrastructure improvements, public facilities enhancements, and community development initiatives. 

The town of Windsor and Beaufort and Craven counties are receiving $950,000 apiece for their projects.

“North Carolinians need safe housing, reliable infrastructure, and places to enjoy,” Stein said in a statement. “These grants will help local governments address these critical needs, strengthen neighborhoods and local economies, and improve quality of life for North Carolinians across our state.”

The grants were awarded through the Department of Commerce’s Community Development Block Grant – Neighborhood Revitalization program, under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program administered in part by N.C. Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division. The program requires at least 70% of CDBG grant funds be used for activities and projects that serve households of low and moderate income. 

“CDBG-NR funding provides local leaders with the resources they need to invest in housing, infrastructure, and public facilities that support long-term prosperity,” Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley said in a release. “These investments will help communities address local priorities, strengthen neighborhoods, and create new opportunities for economic growth.”

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point announced this week that training is to be conducted along with special boat operations in the air station’s bordering waterways beginning Saturday.

Training will continue through June 18, and special boat teams will conduct operations in and around the waterways that may go as late at midnight on various days during the period.

The air station’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal units will conduct explosive ordnance training at the MCAS Cherry Point range at varying times throughout the month. Residents who live on and around the installation can expect to hear the
occasional loud explosion.

For more information contact MCAS Cherry Point Communication Strategy and Operations at 252-466-4241 or cherrypoint@usmc.mil.

Brunswick County is asking residents and visitors to “diligently use water wisely” after declaring a stage 1 water conservation alert.

The alert, which was announced Tuesday afternoon, places water use restrictions on all Brunswick County Public Utilities customers, including those in unincorporated portions of the county, Boiling Spring Lakes, Bolivia, Calabash, Carolina Shores, Caswell Beach, Navassa, Northwest, Sandy Creek, Shallotte, Southport, St. James, Sunset Beach, and Varnamtown.

Utilities customers of Bald Head Island, Holden Beach, Oak Island, and Ocean Isle Beach are also under the water restrictions since those utilities get their water from Brunswick County Public Utilities.

“Demand for water has exceeded 80% of the available production and distribution capacity,” according to a county release. “As Independence Day approaches, water demands are expected to increase.

Under a stage 1 alert, water customers are asked to voluntarily adjust their water usage habits to help significantly reduce peak demands.

The biggest way customers can cut back on their water usage is by limiting irrigation, which is the bulk of non-essential water use.

Ways in which customers can specifically reduce water use in and around their homes include:

• Avoid watering lawns between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. and on Mondays. Residents with odd address numbers may irrigate Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Those with even address numbers may irrigate Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
• Irrigate lawns between midnight and 4 a.m.
• Avoid overwatering lawns.
• Follow the 1-inch rule for grass (one inch of water per week).
• Use drought-tolerant plants.
• Do not water pavement.
• Regularly maintain landscapes by replacing mulch around shrubs and garden plants to help them retain moisture, removing weeds and thatch, and aerating soil.
• Limit the use of clothes washers and dishwashers, operating them only when fully loaded, and before 5 a.m. and after 11 a.m.
• Scrape food from dirty dishes into the trash before placing dishes in the sink or dishwasher.
• Do not leave faucets running while shaving, brushing teeth, rinsing or preparing food.
• Keep drinking water in a container in the refrigerator to avoid running water from a faucet until it is cool.
• Replace showerheads, toilets, faucets and appliances with water-efficient models.
• Bathe in a shower rather than in a bath and limit shower time to no more than five minutes.
• Clean showerheads and faucets regularly to remove mineral buildup and debris.
• Test toilets for leaks and replace old or worn-out toilet flappers.

“A unified application of voluntary water reductions by all water system users in Brunswick County can help to avoid mandatory water restrictions,” the release states.

The water conservation alert does not apply to Brunswick Regional – H2Go customers. Residents on private groundwater wells or those using highly treated reclaimed wastewater, including St. James, Winding River, Sea Trail and Sandpiper Bay golf courses, are also not included in the water conservation alert.

Residents will be notified of any necessary conservation measures and when conditions dictate that restrictions are no longer required.

Questions should be directed to water service providers or Brunswick County Public Utilities at 910.253.2657 or utilityadmin@brunswickcountync.gov.

Brunswick County’s unincorporated areas and at least one of its beach towns are once again under a burn ban as drought conditions persist.

The ban that was issued by the county fire marshal went into effect at 5 p.m. on Monday and will remain in place until conditions improve, according to a county release. Oak Island also issued a town-wide ban effective Monday afternoon and, as of noon on Tuesday, a burn ban will go into effect in Leland.

“Current and future weather forecast models indicate conditions that are not favorable to open burning, particularly due to increasing drought conditions and fire danger risks for this week,” the release states.

Burning within 100 feet of any structure is banned in areas of that county that are not within a city or town limits. Residents within municipal limits may contact local officials for information related to the county’s burn ban.

The ban does not apply to open burning permits issued by the North Carolina Forest Service for open burning of natural vegetation outside 100 feet of an occupied dwelling.

For questions about the ban, contact the Brunswick County Fire Marshal’s Office at 910-253-2041. Additional information about local burn bans and open burning regulations is available on the county’s burn ban/open burning webpage.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is offering a new, online tool to provide real-time updates on the Wrightsville Beach bridge replacement project set to begin later this year.

Anyone who signs up for the new subscriber list will be kept up to date on the project via email and text.

Those who subscribe will receive newsletter updates featuring photos, videos and construction milestones.

The project entails replacing two bridges along West Salisbury Street over Lees Cut and Banks Channel, and one on Causeway Drive (U.S. 76) over Banks Channel, all of which provide direct access to and from the New Hanover County barrier island.

The estimated $105 million project to replace the aging structures has been designed to improve connectivity and provide long-term, safe and efficient multi-modal waterway crossings, including upgrades for pedestrians and cyclists, according to DOT.

The project is slated to be complete in late 2032.

Nearly a dozen new and amended state fisheries rules touching on everything from false albacore management to shellfish leases and franchises are now in effect.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission’s rule changes became effective June 1.

Under the new rules and amendments, North Carolina is now the second East Coast state behind Massachusetts to manage the false albacore, or “little tunny” fishery.

Rule 15A NCAC 03M .0523 authorizes the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries director to issue a proclamation to manage the false albacore fishery if landings exceed a predetermined threshold. The director must be given prior approval before issue a public notice regarding that fishery.

“The rule establishes means to manage this fishery in North Carolina in case the fishery continues to expand,” according to a division release.

Under one of the new amendments, fishers who use pots are required to mark their pots with one, not two, forms of identification.

Amendments to shellfish leases and franchises that codify current procedures and align with state laws include the following:

• Removing franchises from productions requirements and termination procedures.
• Clarifying that production requirements for shellfish leases are based on the date a shellfish lease was granted or last renewed.
• Clarifying who determines eligibility for additional shellfish lease acreage, the time at which the determination of eligibility for additional acreage occurs, what is considered additional shellfish lease acreage and what is considered acres under a shellfish lease.

Also in effect are amendments to five permit rules, including:

• Requiring seafood dealers that reports trip tickets electronically to report quota monitoring logs electronically.
• Codify four permits in permanent rule that have been required by proclamation, including a dealer permit for the estuarine flounder fishery and the Estuarine Gill Net Permit. There are no changes to the permit requirements.
• Clarify a fish dealer is required to submit a trip ticket for fish not sold, consistent with the North Carolina Mandatory Harvest Reporting law and Marine Fisheries Commission rules for commercial harvest reporting requirements.
• Codify into rule a permit condition that has been required by proclamation that makes it unlawful to refuse to allow Marine Fisheries Commission employees to obtain data for the conservation and management of marine and estuarine resources.
• Broaden the definition of “educational institution” to include schools and educational organizations.
• Add links to webpages in rules for supporting information that can change frequently.
• Repeal the Horseshoe Crab Biomedical Use Permit due to lack of use. Harvest continues to be allowed during the open commercial bait harvest season.
• Add email as an additional means to satisfy call-in requirements for the Scientific or Educational Activity Permit and Weekend Trawling for Live Shrimp Permit.
• Remove the requirement to notarize a permit application and, instead, require only the initial permit general condition form to be notarized.

The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission, during its meeting June 18 in New Bern, is expected to hear from its science panel their findings on the effects of hard structures on sandy, open-ocean coastlines.

That’s according to the agenda that is posted along with briefing materials on the commission’s website. The agenda and order of individual items on it are subject to change. 

The meeting is to start at 10 a.m. in the DoubleTree New Bern Riverfront at 100 Middle St. The public is welcome to attend in person or streamed on North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s YouTube channel.

The commission, during its November 2025 meeting, directed the science panel to evaluate alternatives for managing oceanfront erosion. They are to present their report during the meeting this month.

Related: Special series on permanent beach erosion control structures study

The commission designates areas of environmental concern, adopts rules and policies for coastal development within those areas and certifies local land use plans. The Division of Coastal Management carries out the commission’s rules and regulations.

The science panel, made up of researchers and government agency representatives, provides the commission with scientific data and recommendations pertaining to coastal topics.

Elizabeth City State University biology students have become the first researchers from a historically Black college or university to participate in the American Campus Tree Genome Project and have their work accepted into a worldwide genetic database.

The research on one of the oldest oak trees on campus is now publicly available through the National Center for Biotechnology Information, or NCBI, one of the world’s largest repositories of genetic information.  

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, a nonprofit research lab in Alabama, began the American Campus Tree Genomes initiative to provide students a way to interact with the latest genome sequencing technologies.

The project involved biological research students Nicole Villardi, Camdyn Peck, Laneya Evans, Zakiya Sledge, Nyaziah Sears, Justin Franklin, Juelle St. Clair and Angelina Sanchez, and Dr. Alex Harkess, Lauren Whitt and Sarah Carey, all with HudsonAlpha.

Margaret Young, professor of biology and faculty expert in plant tissue culture at Elizabeth City State, said Friday in the release that the project marked a significant milestone for both the university and the HBCU community.   

“We are the first HBCU to be part of the American Campus Tree Genome Project, part of Dr. Harkess’ National Science Foundation CAREER grant. This is the first time that we are sequencing/annotating a tree on this campus and having the data readily available on NCBI,” Young said.   

Students collected leaves from an oak tree near the G.R. Little Library on campus and extracted high-quality DNA that was sent to HudsonAlpha for sequencing. Researchers returned the data to the university for the students to analyze before submitting the completed work to NCBI. The research is now available on the international database.

Young said each step of the process required a level of precision and expertise that is uncommon for undergraduate researchers.   

“We were praised by Dr. Harkess. Plant DNA can be difficult to extract due to the tough cell walls and the fact that plants store their waste and have secondary compounds in their cells,” she said.   

Unlike traditional laboratory courses, where experiments are often completed within a few hours, this project took an investment of several days.

“Extracting the DNA took several tries, about 8 hours each from start to finish. This would not work in a traditional lab setting, which is two to three hours,” Young said. “Annotating also took several hours. Luckily, the students had done Computer Programming and could figure out the coding when there were hiccups. Dr. Harkess’s staff also helped polish the data. In a course such as Biological Research, there is a lot of latitude—defined meeting times, plus meeting times each week the students decide upon, which makes it ideal for such a project.”   

Coastal Carolina Riverwatch recently announced that registration and sponsor opportunities are open for the 2026 Water Quality for Fisheries Symposium, a collaborative forum for sharing recent research, best management practices, policy development, restoration and resilience projects, and advocacy that protects water quality and quality of life on the coast.

The annual event, set for Oct. 19-20 at the Sturgeon City Environmental Education Center in Jacksonville, is designed for fishermen, students, researchers, agency partners, local governments, decision makers, educators, advocates, and coastal community members who care about clean water, healthy fisheries, and the future of working waterfronts.

The 2025 Water Quality for Fisheries Symposium included 121 registrations, with 120 in-person participants, 21 speakers, 34 scholarship registrations, and 45 organizations represented. Organizers said the event created space for “real conversations across sectors, helping connect research, policy, and lived experience in ways that support fisheries resilience and coastal public health.”

Hosting the event this year at Sturgeon City in Jacksonville “reflects the strong local leadership and engagement shown during the 2025 event, including participation from Onslow County Commissioners who attended sessions, listened to fishermen and researchers, and joined discussions about water quality and fisheries impacts.”

This year’s conversations will focus on the issues coastal communities are already facing, including stormwater runoff, wastewater and septic concerns, industrial pollutants, plastic pollution, harmful algal blooms, fish kills, contaminants in seafood, restoration opportunities, and the need for practical solutions that support both healthy waters and strong coastal economies.

“These priorities are directly connected to the Water Quality for Fisheries program’s work to enhance the sustainability of North Carolina’s coastal fishing communities by addressing water quality issues that affect fisheries,” organizers said.

A reduced registration fee is offered to students and fishermen, “because these voices are essential to the conversation,” according to the announcement. General registration is also open. Register online.

This year’s recreational flounder season is Sept. 1-14, the same dates as 2025, the two agencies that manage fishing in state waters announced Wednesday.

Anglers are allowed to keep one flounder per day if it is 15 inches or longer and was caught with hook and line in inland, coastal and joint fishing waters.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries manages coastal waters, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission manages inland fishing waters, and they work together to manage joint fishing waters, where coastal and inland waters meet.

The division said in a release that the recreational flounder seasons are scheduled for the same two weeks “so the season, size limit and daily bag limit will be consistent across jurisdictions.”

“North Carolina’s decision to open the 2026 recreational season to match last year’s season stems from a review of recreational data from 2025 and deliberate management actions aimed at balancing sustainability with angler access.” Division Director Kathy Rawls said in a statement. “Whenever we can, we aim to provide some consistency in the recreational flounder seasons from year to year.”

There was a time when the two agencies had conflicting rules and seasons but have been collaborating in recent years.

“We have worked closely with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries to ensure that regulations match across jurisdictional lines. This will provide regulatory consistency and avoid angler confusion” said the commission’s Inland Fisheries Assistant Chief Ben Ricks in a release from the commission.

The following provisions will apply:

• Season opens at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.
• Bag limit is one fish per person per day.
• Minimum size limit is 15 inches total length from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail.
• All flounder that are kept must be reported to the division through an online form or iPhone App as part of the Mandatory Harvest Reporting Requirement. Learn more.
• Gears: Hook and line and gig fisheries only. Harvest of flounder with a recreational commercial gear license prohibited.

The division sets the season, size and bag limits for coastal and joint waters, as outlined in the proclamation, to comply with provisions of the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4.

The unoccupied oceanfront structure at 46000 Ocean Drive in Buxton that collapsed Tuesday night is the fifth to collapse this year, and the 32nd house since 2020 to be demolished by the Atlantic on Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches.

The collapse will not cause any delays for the beach renourishment project scheduled to begin later this month for the Dare County village.

Because varying amounts and sizes of hazardous debris is scattered along the beach to the south of the collapse site, National Park Service officials are “strongly urging” visitors to avoid the beach and stay out of the water from the Village of Buxton south to the Cape Point area.

Officials also have temporarily closed beach access from the north end of Buxton through the lifeguarded beach to access the situation.

Dare County Manager and Attorney Bobby Outten told Coastal Review Wednesday morning that the collapse will not affect the planned Buxton beach nourishment project.

The contractor for the project is a few weeks from mobilizing and the beach will be cleaned up by then, he added.

Catherine Kozak contributed to this report.

Through a partnership with a national nonprofit, the North Carolina Coastal Federation now owns more than 150 acres of protected land along U.S. Highway 70 at what is often called the gateway to Down East, Carteret County’s 13 unincorporated communities east of Beaufort.

The Conservation Fund purchased the land, placed a permanent conservation easement that limits future development on the 153 acres and conveyed ownership to the Coastal Federation, which called the acquisition, “another major step in the long-term protection of the North River landscape and coastal wetlands.” 

The newly conserved land is within the broader North River conservation landscape, where nearly 7,000 acres of wetlands, forests, and marsh migration corridors have been protected and restored over the past several decades, according to the Coastal Federation.

“This project represents the intersection of conservation, resilience, and public education,” Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis said in a statement. “These wetlands are not only vital to fisheries and water quality, but they also help protect coastal communities from flooding and storms.” 

A short public nature trail is planned designed to introduce visitors to the ecological importance of the North River region and the nearby North River Wetlands Preserve, one of the largest coastal wetland restoration and conservation landscapes on the East Coast, the Coastal Federation said in a press release.

The trail and interpretive exhibit will help visitors understand how coastal wetlands protect water quality, fisheries, wildlife habitat, and coastal communities from flooding and storm impacts. 

“Securing this property is a tremendous achievement for the North River landscape and for the future of coastal conservation in Carteret County,” Coastal Federation Senior Adviser Todd Miller explained. Miller helped coordinate the transaction on behalf of the Coastal Federation.

“This property reflects the continued growth of our land conservation program and the power of strong partnerships with organizations like The Conservation Fund, dedicated landowners, and our public funding partners,” Miller added.

North Carolina Land and Water Fund grants, donations and bargain-sale contributions from the property owners made possible the land purchase, conservation easement, transaction and title-related costs.

“This project demonstrates how collaborative conservation partnerships can permanently protect some of North Carolina’s most important coastal landscapes while also expanding opportunities for public education and climate resilience,” said Guenevere Abernathy, North Carolina State Director for The Conservation Fund. “We are proud to work with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, and the landowners to help conserve this remarkable property for future generations.” 

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Applications are being accepted for local advisory committees of North Carolina’s 10 coastal reserves.

Sitting members of these committees include residents and representatives from community organizations, government agencies and nongovernmental partner organizations who provide guidance and feedback regarding program activities and management of the sites, which are overseen by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Advisory committees “promote effective communication between the Reserve and the local community and represent a variety of perspectives from communities around the reserve sites,” according to a division release. Those sites include Bird Island Reserve, Bald Head Woods Reserve, Zeke’s Island Reserve, Masonboro Island Reserve, Permuda Island Reserve, Rachel Carson Reserve, Buxton Woods Reserve, Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve, Currituck Banks Reserve and Emily and Preyer Buckridge Reserve. 

Members of each of the committees are comprised of those with “knowledge and experience representing relevant topical areas according to the needs and uses at each site,” including education, research, commercial and recreational uses, traditional uses like hunting and fishing, neighboring property ownership, volunteering and nonprofit community organization or interest group.

Members of the community who have an interest in serving as a committee member and who have knowledge and experience in one or more of the topical areas related to a site are encouraged to apply.

The Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality will appoint committee members following the application period. Those selected will begin serving in 2027.

Committee members serve five-year terms.

Applications are available online. The application period closes June 30.

For more information about the role, responsibilities and functioning of the local advisory committees visit the Local Advisory Committee Operating Procedures on the reserve’s website.   

With this year’s Atlantic hurricane season beginning Monday, which is forecast to have below-normal activity, state officials are urging residents to prepare now for tropical weather impacts because “North Carolinians know that it takes only one storm to affect communities statewide.”

Gov. Josh Stein said Monday in a press release marking the start of hurricane season that this time of year brings uncertainty for families across the state.

“I encourage all North Carolinians to make a plan now to keep themselves and their families safe in case of a storm,” he explained. “Just as you prepare your family for hurricane season, the state emergency management team is preparing by closely monitoring forecasts, updating response plans, and coordinating with federal and local partners.” 

Related: Don’t get complacent with tropical outlook; ‘it only takes one’

The State Emergency Response Team has been preparing for the hurricane season that ends Nov. 30 by reviewing lessons learned from past storms, updating response procedures, meeting with all levels of government, coordinating with the private sector and nonprofit organizations, and conducting exercises.

“Preparation is the key to resilience during hurricane season. We encourage all North Carolinians to take time to develop plans and take proactive steps with their loved ones before a storm impacts our state,” N.C. Emergency Management Director Will Ray said Monday. 

Ray added that preparation includes “creating evacuation plans in case you must leave your home, securing all important documentation in a waterproof container, and checking your insurance policies to make sure you are properly covered. Home and flood insurance are especially important resources in returning to normalcy after a disaster.”

Officials recommend taking the following steps to be prepared before disaster strikes:  

• Put together an emergency kit with up to a week’s supply of nonperishable food, including one gallon of water per person per day, and prescription and over-the-counter medication.  
• Be aware of any unique needs for babies, elderly, or disabled members of the household, as well as pets.  
• Have multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings such as a weather alert app on your phone, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio or other device and extra batteries to listen to NOAA Weather Radio, or app or radio access to local news outlets. 
• If you live along the coast or are planning to visit the beach this season, Know Your Zone! This is how local governments order evacuations along the coast when storm surge is a threat. Visit KnowYourZone.NC.Gov to search by address.  
• Establish an emergency evacuation plan and meeting point if your group becomes separated.
• Have a printed list of family member’s phone numbers, social media handles, email addresses, and medical information in case mobile devices lose power or otherwise become disabled.
• Have copies of important papers such as birth and adoption certificates, driver licenses, or military IDs. 
• Meet with your insurance agent so you know what is covered should a storm affect your neighborhood. 
• Prepare a full list of personal items, along with photos and videos of every room in your home, to help with insurance settlements or tax deductions.  
• Be sure you know how to shut off your utilities safely. Water, electricity, and gas are key services that can also cause special problems during an emergency. Do not try to turn the gas back on yourself. Call a trained expert. 
• The N.C. Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network, or FIMAN, features access over 700 flood gauges across the state. Visit Fiman.NC.Gov to search for the flood gauges closest to your home and to sign up for alerts.  

To become involved in preparedness efforts where you live, officials recommend learning about schools, workplace, and neighborhood emergency plans and join in preparedness exercises and drills.

Other ways include volunteering with a Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, to learn about disaster preparedness and receive training in basic disaster response skills, or contacting N.C. Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster at ncvoad.org for more ways to help.  

For more information on how to prepare for hurricane season, visit ReadyNC.Gov. 

The Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry route has been switched to an alternate schedule while dredging operations are underway in Sloop Channel.

The temporary schedule went into effect Saturday and is as follows:

• From Hatteras to Ocracoke: 5:30 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
• From Ocracoke to Hatteras: 6:30 a.m., 6:45 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

The federally contracted dredging operation is expected to take about one month to complete pending weather conditions, according to a N.C. Department of Transportation release.

The ferry route will return to its full summer schedule when dredging is complete.

Sloop Channel, which provides the entryway to the ferry’s South Dock terminal on the north end of Ocracoke Island, is being dredged by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractor.

Ferry users may sign up for real-time text or email updates on weather and mechanical delays through the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins. 

While rain through the holiday weekend offered relief to some parts of the state, most North Carolina counties, including those along the coast, remain in severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the latest update from the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council.

A handful of counties in the western part of the state on Thursday were removed from the exceptional drought classification under which they were placed the previous week.

“The weekend rains were beneficial in much of the state,” Council Chair Klaus Albertin stated in a May 28 release. “For the first time in months, we actually saw the rainfall deficits drop a little. We still have a long way to go, but for the short term, soil moisture and stream flows have increased. The drop in reservoir elevations slowed as a result of the rain, but water demand is still higher than inflows to many water supplies.” 

Most of the 20 coastal counties remain under severe drought. While some portion or all of some coastal counties in the northern part of the state are in a moderate drought, western portions of two southern coastal counties, Brunswick and Pender, continue to experience extreme drought, a condition that extends to southern Georgia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. From there, an area of even more extreme condition classified as exceptional drought extends along the the coast and back toward the Florida Panhandle.

The heaviest rains fell late last week and earlier this week on the southern Piedmont and western part of the state, including Asheville, which recorded nearly 8 inches of rain as of Wednesday. The precipitation improved the drought classification by one category in those areas of the state.

But reservoir levels, stream flows and other measures are “still much below normal,” according to a release.

In Boone and Raleigh, rainfall totals since August remain about 18 inches lower compared with historical averages for the same period, according to the N.C. State Climate Office.

“We are hopeful that the recent rains are an indication that the dry pattern we experienced since last August is shifting towards a more typical pattern for North Carolina,” Albertin stated.

Check your local water supply system for information related to water-use restrictions that may be in place.

Members of the advisory council, which is a collaboration of drought experts from various government agencies in the Carolinas and Virginia, meet weekly and submit their drought recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The monitor is a map of the nation’s drought conditions.

The state’s drought map is updated every Thursday based on conditions through the previous Tuesday.

A Leland man holds the new state record for the graysby grouper.

Wyatt Rabon’s 3-pound, 8-ounce catch on May 16 about 45 miles offshore of Southport was recently certified by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of marine Fisheries as the state’s largest on record.

Rabon, his father, and friends were fishing aboard their personal vessel using live pinfish for bait when he reeled in the grouper on 100-pound test with a Shimano Trevalla rod and Shimano Torso 30 reel.

“The crew nearly filleted the fish once they got home before realizing they might have a potential record,” according to a division release.

Rabon’s fish was weighed in at the Intracoastal Angler in Wilmington. It measured a little more than 17 inches long from the tip of the nose to the stretched end of the tail and had girth of 13 inches.

The previous state record for graysby grouper was a 3-pound, 0.8-ounce fish landed in 2022.

The fish unofficially ties the currently certified International Game Fish Association All Tackle World Record graysby grouper landed in 2023 off Georgetown, South Carolina.

Distinctive physical characteristics of graysby grouper include a rounded caudal, or tail, fin, uniform red dots over a tan or beige body, and nine dorsal spines. They are a small species of shallow water grouper that start life as female, then transition to male around 4 years of age, or 9-10 inches in length, after their first spawning season.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District is hosting a series of public meetings in June to discuss long-term strategies for maintaining North Carolina’s federal harbor channels.

The meetings, which will be held in-person and virtually, are an opportunity for the community to engage on the development of environmental impact statements for the Morehead City and Wilmington harbors.

Notices of intent for the Morehead City Harbor and Wilmington Harbor were published on Thursday.

The environmental impact statements will evaluate “reasonably foreseeable” environmental-related impacts to proposed updates to operation and maintenance, or O&M, dredging and associated activities, according to a Corps release.

Key topics include environmental compliance, navigational safety, and risk-based analysis.

The environmental impact statements will not evaluate or examine any changes in channel dimensions, dredged material volumes, or options where dredged material may be placed.

“Updates to O&M activities are expected to improve operational flexibility by updating avoidance and minimization measures, including adjusting the timing of dredging operations,” the release continues.

Morehead City Harbor meetings are scheduled as follows:

• In-person on Monday, June 8 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Morehead City Elementary School media room, 3316 Arendell St.
• Virtual, session 1, on Tuesday, June 9 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Virtual, session 2, on Monday, June 15 from 5:30-7 p.m.

Meetings for the Wilmington Harbor will be held:

• In-person on Tuesday, June 9 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Edwin A. Alderman Elementary School cafeteria/multi-purpose room, 2025 Independence Boulevard.
• Virtual, session 1, on Monday, June 15 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Virtual, session 2, on Tuesday, June 16 from 5:30 – 7 p.m.

The Corps will accept public comments at the meetings as well as by email to CESAW-WHOMEIS@usace.army.mil, online at https://sardn-eis-sardn.hub.arcgis.com/, or by mail: Attention: Teresa Young, Environmental Resources Section, USACE Wilmington District, 69 Darlington Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28403.

Comments will be accepted through June 29.

North Carolina biologists are already receiving numerous daily calls from residents and visitors encountering alligators in several coastal counties, where the native species are on the move during their mating season.

“May and June are mating season for alligators which means they are moving around more,” Alicia Wassmer, a North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission alligator biologist, stated in a release. “Warmer weather also brings more people outside, so reports of encounters increase.”

Residents and visitors should not feed alligators, officials warn, because that teaches the animals, which are naturally fearful of and avoid close encounters with humans, to associate people with an easy meal. It is also against state law.

State wildlife officials advise residents and visitors to check out GatorWise, a multi-state project that offers tips on ways to safely coexist with the reptiles.

WRC Wildlife Management District Biologist John Henry Harrelson, who works in nine counties, including Brunswick and Columbus, said in a release that he is increasingly encountering alligators exhibiting a diminished fear of humans as he conducts several site visits each week within areas of the district he serves.

“People feeding alligators ultimately leads to those animals seeing humans as a potential source for food,” Harrelson stated. “Naturally alligators are shy, but through feeding, alligators can lose their fear of humans and that leads to a possible negative interaction between people and wildlife. Communities are reaching out to us concerned about animals that are approaching or being ‘aggressive’ towards humans.  Most of these behaviors are directly linked to animals being fed by people.”

Biologist Chris Kent, who serves District 2, which includes Carteret, Craven, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender and Pamlico counties, said he is receiving more calls reporting alligators in neighborhood retention ponds and ditches this time of year.

“We typically do not relocate as many alligators do not survive the relocation or they try to find their way back and sometimes get hit by vehicles in the roadways,” Kent stated in the release. “For emergency situations like in a swimming pool, against a house, under a vehicle in a parking lot, in a garage, or obstructing a public roadway, we will attempt to capture and release an alligator into the closest natural waterbody.” 

To the north, where alligators are most likely to be spotted in Dare, Tyrrell, or Hyde counties, most human-gator interactions are within wildlife refuges, especially Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, according to District Biologist Dallas Shoemaker.

“We’ve had issues with visitors there feeding alligators and bears,” he stated.

Development throughout the Southeast, including along coastal North Carolina, is crowding out alligators’ natural habitat, increasing human-gator encounters, and driving up the number of calls each year to the N.C. Wildlife Helpline.

“This loss of natural habitat and constant influx of newcomers, including many who have never lived in places with alligators, has amplified the need for state wildlife resource agencies to connect residents and visitors with vital information on how to live responsibly with alligators,” said Wassmer.

To protect people and alligators throughout the southeast, GatorWise offers six basic guidelines, which include:

• Assume alligators are present.
• Never feed alligators.
• Do not dispose of fish or food scraps in water.
• Never harass, capture, or handle an alligator.
• Be responsible for people and pets in your care.
• Maintain awareness anytime you are in or near water.

“I encourage people to enjoy the opportunity to see an alligator in the wild but view them from a safe and respectful distance,” Wassmer stated. “The only thing you should try to catch is a photo but use the zoom and give them room.”

American alligator are federally protected. Only authorized state wildlife employees or licensed agents can legally remove an alligator in the case of it requiring immediate action, such as one getting trapped in a swimming pool or wandering onto a public road and refusing to move.

N.C. Wildlife Helpline biologists may be reached at 866-318-2401 between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday with questions or concerns about alligators.

Violations or after-hours emergencies may be reported to Wildlife Enforcement at 800-662-7137.

Officials with the N.C. Artificial Reef Program announced Wednesday that major enhancements had been completed this month at two offshore reefs.

The two artificial reefs, which are off Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke, are popular destinations for anglers and divers. Anglers can expect to catch triggerfish, black sea bass, and many other bottom fish on both reefs, officials said. Divers often report visibility upwards of 50 feet.

The reefs, AR-230 and AR-250, each received about 1,500 tons of recycled concrete pipe and boxes. That material is now on the seafloor, creating new habitat, and improving public fishing and diving opportunities off the Outer Banks, officials said.

AR-230 is about 6 miles from Hatteras Inlet in 70 feet of water. Material was deployed in a dense field around 35 degrees, 6.166’ minutes north, 75 degrees, 42.895 minutes west. 

AR-250 is about 10 miles from Ocracoke Inlet in 80 feet of water. Material was deployed in a dense field around 34 degrees, 56.841 minutes north, 75 degrees, 55.022 minutes west.

Materials for the reefs were sourced from across North Carolina as part of the yearlong project that included public comment, planning, permitting and stockpiling. The materials, donated by businesses and the N.C. Department of Transportation, were damaged and unusable for their intended purpose.  

The Artificial Reef Program is part of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries and maintains 43 ocean and 29 estuarine artificial reefs. Artificial reefs and the reef materials placed on them are strategically located and designed to maximize access by anglers and divers while also serving valuable biological and ecological roles, officials noted.

Boaters in North Carolina can learn how to operate their vessel safely and legally without leaving home through an online boating safety course recently approved by the state.

BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water announced Wednesday that North Carolina is one of more than a dozen states that “now have a convenient free online course option that meets their state-specific boating education requirements.”

The course available at no charge on the website teaches navigation rules, safety equipment, handling emergencies and protecting the environment.

“Expanding into 15 additional states means more boaters can access boater safety education at no cost,” said Lynne O’Hearn, BoatUS Foundation program manager. “We believe cost should never be a barrier to learning how to boat safely, and these new state-approved courses help ensure more people have the education they need before they leave the dock.”

Designed to be completed in two to four hours, the self-paced course offers five interactive lessons that immerse students in a virtual boating experience, guiding them through different destinations while tracking progress.

The curriculum includes video-based learning, and concludes with a 60-question final exam with unlimited retake opportunities that can be completed at the student’s own pace.

Upon successful completion, most states issue a printable certificate that can be used immediately, though requirements and validity may vary by state. 

For more information about BoatUS Foundation’s additional free boating courses, visit the website. 

A panel of cultural heritage scholars will discuss their research on free women of color during the Revolutionary Era during a virtual program in June.

The State Archives, a division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, has scheduled “Telling Our NC 250 Story: Free Women of Color in Revolutionary North Carolina,” being offered at no charge, for noon June 11. Register in advance on Zoom.

The program commemorates Juneteenth and the America 250 NC celebration.

Panelists include Arnetta Girardeau, a copyright law librarian, cultural anthropologist and cultural heritage consultant; Sheila Smith McKoy, an academic leader, author and consultant; Danielle Pritchett, a genealogy librarian at Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library; and Tyrone Goodwyn, a genealogist and historian.

The panelists are to talk about their investigations into hundreds of records from multiple archives, including freedom papers, census lists, marriage records and estate accounts

“These records document the lives of these women, along with their families and communities. Panelists will explore the experiences of these remarkable women who navigated the complex cultural, legal, and racial terrain of North Carolina and the new nation,” organizers said.

For more information, contact head of the collection services section, Mitzi Townes at mitzi.townes@dncr.nc.gov or 919-814-6863.

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune officials remind the public that Browns Island and its nearby waters are strictly off-limits because of the unexploded ordnances and ongoing live-fire training exercises that take place on the federally owned barrier island in Onslow County.

The restricted areas include all navigable waters in the area between the south bank of Bear Creek and the north bank of Browns Inlet, including the creeks and tributaries leading to and around Browns Island.

Officials, in their announcement May 22, added that military police, in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard, regularly patrol the area.

“The primary safety hazards around and on Browns Island are everything from 500-pound air-delivered bombs all the way down to 25- and 40-millimeter high-explosive dual-purpose munitions,” explained Lt. Col. Jeffrey Cummings, director of Range Control, for Camp Lejeune, in the announcement.

“Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune wants to ensure the safety of our boating public,” Cummings added.

“Civilian watercraft must never beach or drop anchor on or near restricted areas that are posted with warning signs,” he continued. “Bottom-disturbing activities such as clamming, oystering or crabbing are prohibited. Foot traffic is also prohibited on any of the land areas on or about Browns Island at all times.”

Trespassers can face severe penalties, including citations that may require an appearance before a federal magistrate, and are subject to fines up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.

For additional information on the off-limits areas and safety restrictions surrounding Browns Island, visit the base’s website.

The public is invited to ask questions and share their thoughts on a draft flood resilience plan tailored to the unique characteristics and needs of the Neuse River Basin.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Flood Resilience Blueprint program is hosting a virtual public information session on the draft Neuse River Basin Action Strategy at 6 p.m. June 11.

The strategy identifies actionable steps, including scientific data, local priorities and long-term sustainability objections, to enhance flood resilience across the river basin.

The River Basin Action Strategy equips local governments, the state and supporting organizations with data, tools and processes “to better understand flood risk, identify community needs and guide strategic investments to reduce flood risk and strengthen resilience,” according to a DEQ release.

The strategy, the largest proactive statewide flood mitigation in the state’s history, was developed using data from the Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool and input from the Neuse River Basin Advisory Group and local Blueprint partners.

The virtual meeting will be held via Webex with meeting number/access code 2422 493 1280 and password blueprint. To join by telephone call +1-415-655-0003 and use passcode 25837746.

DEQ is accepting public input on the draft strategy through June 12 through a public feedback form or by email to blueprint@deq.nc.gov with the subject line “Neuse RBAS Feedback.”

DEQ was directed in 2021 by the North Carolina General Assembly to develop a statewide Flood Resiliency Blueprint, the heart of which is an online decision support tool designed to help local governments, agencies and nongovernmental partners develop, evaluate and prioritize resilience actions.

There are 17 river basins in the state. So far, DEQ has awarded more than $43 million to 84 blueprint projects in six river basins.

Paddlers looking to get in on the action in Pine Knoll Shores’ annual Kayak for the Warriors have just two more days to register online for the May 30 event.

The registration fee for participants who plan to race in a single kayak or on a paddle board is $50. Registration is $100 for tandem kayakers. Fees include a T-shirt and lunch.

Online registration is open until midnight Wednesday. Participants may also register on race day.

The 3.2-mile kayak and paddle board race will be held 9 a.m.-1 p.m. beginning at Garner Park, 162 Oakleaf Drive, Pine Knoll Shores. A Warrior Trophy is awarded to the paddler or team that brings in the most donations.

Lunch is available for $10 per adult and $15 per family to those who prefer to support local veterans, military members and families, on land.

Saturday will mark the 19th annual race to raise funds that benefit Hope For The Warriors, a national nonprofit founded in 2006 aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune by military spouses who “witnessed the urgent needs of service members returning from war with visible and invisible wounds.”

Kayak for the Warriors has raised more than $1.1 million for the program since 2008.

For questions, email coordinator@k4tw.org.

Residents and visitors to the North Carolina coast this summer may tap an interactive public map that provides the locations of public beach and waterfront accesses.

The beach and waterfront access map, which may be directly accessed from mobile devices and desktops, includes a “find sites near me” feature that locates sites within 10 miles of a user.

The online map includes the locations and available amenities at those locations at more than 800 local, state and federally funded public accesses along North Carolina’s ocean beaches and estuarine waters.

The map features a “my location” tool, which pinpoints a user’s location, a “near me” tool that searches accesses within 1 to 10 miles of a selected location, a filter tool that allows users to search for accesses based on available amenities, including restrooms and showers, and a basemap tool that allows users to switch between several map styles, including satellite imagery, and street and topographic maps.

The map is made available by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management Public Beach and Coastal Waterfront Access Program, which provides funding to purchase land and construction projects, including walkways, dune crossovers, restrooms, parking areas, and piers, that improve pedestrian access to the state’s beaches and waterways.

Since the program began in 1981, 538 grants totaling more than $56.7 million have been awarded.

For questions and comments, email Rachel Love-Adrick at Rachel.love-adrick@deq.nc.gov. Include the site location in your correspondence. 

Newly constructed lanes of the Hampstead bypass in Pender County are set to permanently open next week.

On the evening of May 28, both southbound lanes of U.S. 17 near Leeward Lane will be directed to the new roadway before connecting back to the highway near Vista Lane through Hampstead, according to a N.C. Department of Transportation release.

Northbound traffic will continue to be routed through the current traffic pattern. Local motorists who need access to Transfer Station Road from U.S. 17 should use alternate routes.

DOT continues to advise motorists to slow down and use caution while traveling near the work zone.

The first segment of the U.S.17 Hampstead bypass from N.C. 210 to Sloop Point Loop Road is expected to open in late 2027.

The long-awaited bypass will increase connection and improve traffic flow along the U.S. 17 corridor.

The estimated $490 million project is expected to be completed in 2030.

Drought conditions are continuing to grip North Carolina, where all or portions of all 20 coastal counties are in severe drought, and the rain over the weekend isn’t expected to help.

Western portions of Brunswick and Pender counties are experiencing extreme drought conditions, according to the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council’s Thursday advisory. The drought map is updated every Thursday based on conditions through the previous Tuesday.

Much of the state — 66 of 100 counties — are in extreme drought, and five western North Carolina counties, including Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Watauga and Wilkes, are now classified in exceptional drought.

“The drought is solidly entrenched and impacts are slowly increasing,” Klaus Albertin, advisory council chair, said in a release. “Stream levels were already at record lows in most areas. Reservoirs are slowly declining and utility conservation levels are ramping up.”

Since August of last year, rainfall totals in Wilmington and Raleigh are down more than 18 inches compared with historical averages for the same period, according to the N.C. State Climate Office.

Groundwater levels are near record lows in many areas of the state, according to the state’s network of monitoring wells.

Rain expected over the holiday weekend is not expected to improve current drought conditions.

“Looking at the forecasts, we are expecting to get, at best, an inch or an inch and a half in most places,” Albertin stated. “If that actually happens, it will keep us at status quo. We typically get an inch of rain a week on average, so if we get an inch this week, we will break even — with no improvement or degradation in conditions.”

Water systems in counties in exceptional or extreme drought conditions are advised to follow their water shortage response plan and implement measures to reduce water consumption. Those counties much report weekly water use and conservation to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resource’s local water supply plan website.

Residents should check their local water supply system for information related to water use restrictions.

Another 28 counties are in severe drought, and one county is in moderate drought.

The Drought Management Advisory Council is collaboration of drought experts from government agencies in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, and organized by the N.C. Division of Water Resources.

The council meets weekly to submit drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Whether tempted to dip your toe or cannonball into a pond, lake or other waterbody this summer, check the color of the water first.

Elevated temperatures, increased sunlight, low or no water flow, and increased nutrient loads create a recipe for harmful algal blooms, which can be toxic to humans, pets and aquatic organisms.

The N.C. Division of Water Resources is reminding people to avoid contact with discolored water, which could indicate the presence of an algal bloom. 

While algae naturally occur in all waterbodies, certain environmental conditions can cause rapid algal cell growth, which leads to blooms, according to the division.

“You cannot tell for sure by looking at a bloom whether it is harmful or not,” according to a division release.

Algal blooms may be reported to the nearest state Department of Environmental Quality regional office or via an online report. Reported algal bloom events may be viewed at the division’s Fish Kill & Algal Bloom Dashboard.  

DEQ may collect water samples for further testing to an algae lab for analysis based on preliminary reports received through the reporting tool if an investigation is needed and resources are available.

To help staff, please provide detailed reports with a high-quality photo, contact information and a description of the bloom. 

The public should steer clear from coming in contact with large accumulations of algae and children and pets should be prevented from swimming or ingesting water water in an algal bloom.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health suggests safeguarding against algal blooms through the following steps:

• Keep children and pets away from water that appears bright green, blue, discolored or scummy.
• Do not handle or touch large mats of algae. 
• Avoid handling, cooking, or eating dead fish that may be present. 
• If you come into contact with an algal bloom, wash thoroughly.
• Use clean water to rinse off pets that may have come into contact with an algal bloom. 
• If your child appears ill after being in waters containing an algal bloom, seek medical care immediately. 
• If your pet appears to stumble, stagger, or collapse after being in a pond, lake or river, seek veterinary care immediately.

For tips on water safety, heat protection and food safety visit the health and human service’s website.

The Swan Quarter-Ocracoke and Cedar Island-Ocracoke ferries have begun offering additional routes across the Pamlico Sound to accommodate summer traffic.

As of Tuesday, the schedule for these ferries are as follows:


• Cedar Island-Ocracoke: 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Swan Quarter-Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.


Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s ferry system highly recommend those who plan to use the ferry routes during the summer to make reservations online or by phone by calling 1-800-BY-FERRY.

Ferry users may sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System to receive real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays.

If you’ve worked on removing abandoned vessels, developing recycling solutions for fiberglass or shrinkwrap, or building programs to prevent boating-related debris, the BoatUS Foundation wants to hear from you.

June 1 is the deadline to apply as a speaker at the 2026 Turning the Tide Summit. Interested presenters can apply online.

The summit is set for Dec. 6-9 in New Orleans and organizers say it will bring together government agencies, marine professionals, environmental experts, and waste management leaders from across the country to share best practices, emerging technologies, and innovative programs for the responsible removal and disposal of abandoned and derelict vessels and boating-related debris.

The BoatUS Foundation is specifically seeking speakers with experience in the following fields:

• Abandoned and derelict vessel removal and vessel turn-in programs.
• Sustainable disposal and recycling solutions for abandoned and derelict vessels and boating-related debris.
• Initiatives or programs focused on preventing abandoned and derelict vessels and boating-related debris.

The summit is open to attendees beyond just speakers. Environmental experts, boating and waste industry leaders, and policymakers are all encouraged to participate. Programming will include panel discussions, keynote addresses, and resources focused on abandoned and derelict vessels and sustainable disposal solutions for boating-related waste, including fiberglass and shrinkwrap.

The Turning the Tide Summit is part of the BoatUS Foundation’s broader ADV Program, which aims to remove abandoned and derelict vessels from the nation’s coastal waters and the Great Lakes. The program is also developing a national database to track abandoned and derelict vessel locations and monitor the removal progress. Both the summit and the broader program are supported by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

The popular expanse of undeveloped land known as ‘The Point’ at the south end of Topsail Island was ceremoniously transferred on Tuesday to the state, which will manage and protect the property.

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson joined officials with the North Carolina Land Trust and local beach towns, including Topsail Beach, on the oceanfront shore the Topsail Nature Preserve on Monday afternoon to officially mark the transfer.

“The Topsail Nature Preserve is a unique coastal resource and we are committed to protecting its natural integrity and maintaining responsible public access,” Wilson said. “Conserving places like this strengthens the long-term resilience of our coastal communities, protects natural habitats and preserves the natural features that help our coast adapt to changing environmental conditions.”

The ceremony turned the page in the newest chapter of the spit of pristine land in Topsail Beach, the southernmost town on the nearly 26 mile-long island that runs through Onslow and Pender counties.

The land had been in the center of a campaign by Topsail Island locals and long-time tourists who wanted to keep it free from development, a goal that was ultimately achieved when the Coastal Land Trust purchased nearly 100 acres of the privately owned property for $7.5 million in April of last year.

“The Coastal Land Trust is proud to have partnered with the Topsail community to help conserve the South End,” North Carolina Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks said in a release. “We are thrilled to see this remarkable coastal resource permanently protected for future generations under the stewardship of the State of North Carolina.”

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management will manage the preserve, which will remain open and accessible to the public, “with a continued emphasis on conservation, education and responsible recreation,” according to a DEQ release.

“Visitors are encouraged to follow posted guidelines designed to protect wildlife, sensitive habitats and the overall integrity of the site,” the release states.

The area will be managed in coordination with local and state partners and will include the implementation of best practices for coastal stewardship and opportunities for community engagement.

The North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection Plan steering committee plans to discuss the 2026 update for the interagency effort to protect state waters during a web conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 27.

Meeting details, including the link to register, and a full agenda can be found on the plan’s webpage.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality initiative focuses on “long-term enhancement of coastal fisheries through habitat protection and enhancement efforts.”

The plan was first adopted in 2004 by the state’s Marine Fisheries, Environmental Management, and Coastal Resources commissions and has been updated in the time since. The steering committee includes two commissioners from each of the commissions.

North Carolina’s heat season runs from May 1 to Sept. 30 each year, and the state has launched an effort to raise awareness about the dangers that high temperatures pose to people’s health.

North Carolina Heat Safety Week, which began Monday and ends Friday, highlights resources to keep residents and visitors safe from extreme heat, Gov. Josh Stein’s office announced Monday.

“Being resilient to extreme heat means understanding how it can affect you and your community,” Stein in the release. “All North Carolinians can take actions to protect themselves and their families, employers can protect their workers, and local governments can protect their residents. Our state agencies and local governments are working hard to help keep people cool and safe.” 

Officials said in the release that heat-related illness and death are largely preventable.

“Recognizing the symptoms of heat illness is key to preventing serious complications, including death. Some signs and symptoms include heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, racing or weak pulse, dizziness, headache, fainting, and nausea or vomiting. Awareness of extreme heat events can help people take the necessary steps to keep themselves safe,” they added.

While heat-related illnesses can affect anyone regardless of age or physical condition, those who live or work outside, are pregnant, children, older, athletes, low income or with underlying health conditions are at a disproportionate risk of experiencing adverse health effects. 

“As our summer days and nights stay warmer for longer, it’s critical that all North Carolinians learn about the symptoms of heat illness and the steps to take to cool down,” North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson said. “DEQ’s State Resilience Office is working closely with local governments to help them identify strategies to help manage extreme heat.”

The state highlighted State Resilience Office programs to help communities plan for extreme heat, including the Heat Action Plan Toolkit, the Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort and NC Resilience Exchange website, which provides a complete collection of resources to help local and state leaders easily find information and data to support resilience planning. 

The health department offers the NC Heat Health Alert System, a free email service to alert when dangerous heat is in the forecast. The emails alert recipients of when the daily maximum heat index is expected to reach dangerous levels.

“As we see the number of heat-related emergency department visits continue to increase, it is important that you and your loved ones stay weather-aware as the temperatures rise,” said N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “We encourage everyone to sign up for the heat health alerts, know the symptoms of heat-related illness and protect your health this summer.”  

Additionally, Operation Fan Heat Relief is underway now through Oct. 31. Contact the local aging agency to see if they qualify for a free fan for the hot summer months.

City officials in Jacksonville announced on Monday that an early morning sewage spill reached a tributary that leads to the nearby New River.

According to the announcement, which is required by state law, 35,751 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into Mill Creek near the area of Dewitt Street in Jacksonville. Officials attributed the spill to a bypass pump that malfunctioned.

City crews stopped the discharge at 8 a.m. Monday by swapping in a new relay on the primary pump.

Crews have deployed chlorine tablets and pelletized lime at the site, according to the mandated announcement. Sampling in multiple locations along the creek will continue until bacterial counts clear up.

“At no time was city drinking water compromised and there is no danger to the public,” officials stated.

State requires that owners or operators of wastewater collection or treatment works issue a press release when an untreated wastewater discharge of 1,000 gallons or more reaches surface waters. The city’s announcement was in accordance with that regulation and issued to the media covering Onslow County.

The state Division of Water Resources was notified of the spill and is reviewing the matter, according to the press release. If you’d like more information, call city hall at 910-938-5249.

A North Carolina Highway Historical Marker commemorating a landmark court case that changed voting in the state will be dedicated Sunday in Bertie County.

The ceremony for the Bazemore v. Bertie County Board of Elections court case marker is to begin at 1 p.m. at the intersection West Watson and Sterlingworth streets in Windsor.

“The case originated in May 1960 when Nancy Bazemore, a 47-year-old African American resident of Bertie County, walked into the Woodville precinct to register to vote. What followed was a legal battle that would reach the North Carolina Supreme Court and reshape voting rights across the state,” according to information provided by the Highway Historical Marker Program, which is a collaboration of N.C. departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Transportation.

“Bertie County’s racial demographics told a stark story. Black residents outnumbered white residents by a 3-to-2 ratio, yet registered white voters outnumbered registered Black voters by nearly nine to one. County registrars maintained this disparity through a literacy test, a tool created in the late 19th century specifically to disenfranchise Black voters across the South,” the program continues.

For the test in Woodville, the registrar read aloud the state constitution and the applicants transcribed what they heard with spelling errors counting against them, though the state attorney general had declared in March of that year that spelling-based dictation tests were illegal.

Bazemore received a failing grade and was denied registration and appealed immediately.

Her attorney, James R. Walker Jr., an Ahoskie native and University of North Carolina School of Law graduate, announced at her hearing a week later that Bazemore refused to submit to another dictation test.

When the board rejected her appeal, Walker filed a lawsuit which ultimately landed before the North Carolina Supreme Court, where the attorney argued that the literacy test as administered in Bertie County was unconstitutional under the state constitution’s separation of powers clause, because it effectively granted legislative authority to local election officials.

He documented that the dictation requirement was applied exclusively to Black applicants, and identified the test’s inherent vulnerabilities to abuse, stating that a registrar’s pronunciation, reading speed, a voter’s hearing or speech patterns, and the registrar’s own discretion in grading could all determine the outcome, with little accountability. The court ruled in Bazemore’s favor in April 1961.

Though the justices declined to find bad faith on the part of Bertie County officials, they found the test as administered unreasonable and beyond legal intent.

“The significance of the court case extended beyond Bertie County. Federal civil rights reports and subsequent voting rights discussions cited the case as evidence of the burden of literacy tests imposed on African American citizens,” the program explained in the press release.

For more information about the historical marker, visit the Nancy Bazemore blog post or call 919-814-6625.

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust is hosting its 16th annual Flytrap Frolic on Saturday, June 6, in Wilmington.

Participants of the free event will receive an education on the types of carnivorous plants that grow in southeastern North Carolina, why they grow there, and how they trap their prey.

The event will be held 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden, 3800 Canterbury Road, where garden guides will help guests find carnivorous plants in the garden and answer questions.

There will be carnivorous plant-themed games, arts and crafts, and face painters, educational tables with partners from Halyburton Park, Carolina Beach State Park, The North American Sarracenia Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy.

A limited number of ethically sourced flytraps will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis to benefit the Coastal Land Trust.

Anyone who would like to volunteer at the event may sign up online.

With a “troubling rise” in boating fatalities already reported in North Carolina this year, state officials are emphasizing safe boating practices and the dangers of operating vessels under the influence ahead of the summer travel season.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and State Highway Patrol, with support from local police and sheriff’s officers and non-governmental organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, have kicked off the annual campaign On the Road, On the Water, Don’t Drink and Drive.

“While the overall number of boating incidents investigated has been declining in recent years, last year we saw a troubling rise in fatal boating incidents,” Lt. Anna Barbosa stated in a release. “So far this year, fatalities have currently surpassed last year’s numbers. Our goal is for everyone to enjoy their day on the water and return home safely. To do so, avoid alcohol while boating—or if you choose to drink, designate a sober operator. And remember, life jackets save lives—don’t just have enough on board. Make sure everyone wears one.”

Authorities have investigated 26 boating incidents, five of which were fatal, already this year, according to the Wildlife Resources Commission. Alcohol was a factor in three of those fatal incidents, which have resulted in the deaths of five people.

Statistically, that’s a more than 65% increase during this same time period a year ago, according to the commission.

Last year, there were 25 fatal boating incidents, six of which included passengers wearing personal flotation devices, reported in the state. Alcohol was reported in four of those incidents.

The number of boating incidents has slightly decreased a little more than 9% from the year prior.

Most recreational boating incidents occur between the months of June and August, with operation inattention being a leading cause of accidents, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

On the Road, On the Water, Don’t Drink and Drive supports National Safe Boating Week, which started May 16 and runs through May 22.

For additional boating safety information visit ncwildlife.gov/boating.

Matthew Godfrey, a sea turtle conservationist with extensive experience in several regions, is the the featured guest this month for the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s “Green Drinks” speaker series in Morehead City.

This month’s session is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 28, on the third floor of Jack’s on the Waterfront at 513 Evans St.

The casual monthly gathering for people who care about the North Carolina coast is hosted by the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review.

“Whether you enjoy boating, beach days, or simply want to keep our waters clean and our communities strong, this is a relaxed space to connect with others, hear from local voices, and stay up to date on important coastal topics,” according to organizers.

Godfrey began working in North Carolina in 2002, after being hired by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to coordinate the North Carolina Sea Turtle Project. Since then, he has played a key role in monitoring and protecting sea turtle populations along the state’s coast.

Godfrey will give an overview of sea turtle nesting and nest protection in the state, highlighting some of the joys and challenges associated with sea turtle conservation along North Carolina’s coast.

Grab a drink from the bar and join the conversation. These events are free and open to the public, however registration is strongly encouraged.

Dr. Reide Corbett, executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute on the East Carolina University Outer Banks Campus in Wanchese, is the featured lecturer this month at the institute’s “Science on the Sound” lecture series.

The public is encouraged to attend Corbett’s lecture, “Holding the Line? Coastal Change and Barrier-Island Dynamics on the Outer Banks.” The program is set for 6 p.m. May 28 at the institute and there’s no charge to attend.

From collapsing oceanfront homes to repeated beach nourishment projects, coastal change is becoming increasingly visible across the Outer Banks. But what do these changes reveal about how barrier islands function — and how different management approaches interact with these naturally dynamic systems?

Corbett will discuss the science behind erosion, storms, overwash, sediment transport, and sea level rise, while exploring how shoreline management strategies influence beaches, infrastructure, and long-term resilience.

“Rather than focusing on simple solutions, the discussion will examine the tradeoffs, time horizons, and challenges associated with managing development on a constantly changing coast,” organizers said in their announcement.

Whether you work in coastal science, policy, planning, or simply care deeply about the Outer Banks, this presentation offers an opportunity to better understand the processes shaping one of the most dynamic shorelines on the East Coast.

The program will also be livestreamed on YouTube.

Corbett is a coastal oceanographer and geochemist whose work focuses on coastal change, sediment dynamics, shoreline processes, and the geomorphic evolution of barrier island systems.

Born and reared on the North Carolina coast, he earned his bachelor’s in chemistry and his master’s and doctorate in chemical oceanography from Florida State University before beginning his academic career at Tulane University in New Orleans. He later returned to North Carolina to join ECU, where he serves as dean of Integrated Coastal Programs, executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute, and professor in the Department of Coastal Studies.

Corbett’s research examines the dynamic interface between land and sea, from estuaries and continental shelves to barrier islands and polar coastlines. His work has taken him from North Carolina and Puerto Rico to New Zealand and Antarctica, with a particular focus on how storms, sea level rise, sediment movement, human activity, and long-term geologic processes shape coastal environments. Through the lens of North Carolina’s coast, he helps communities better understand shoreline change, barrier island evolution, and the choices needed to adapt to a changing coastal future, organizers said.

Resources to help prepare for tropical storms will be in one place 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 30, during Carteret County’s annual hurricane preparedness expo at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City.

Carteret County Emergency Services, Carteret County government and the National Weather Service’s Newport office are offering the expo ahead of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

During the expo, representatives from North Carolina Emergency Management, Carteret County departments and other organizations will be available to answer questions, and provide preparedness resources.

Information presentations are to begin at 9:30 a.m. and will include “Preparedness for Hurricane Season 2026” by Warning Coordination Meteorologist Erik Heden, emergency managers, county staff and community organizations, including the Salvation Army and local volunteer groups.

There are some vendor spots still available for businesses and nonprofits that provide storm-related services, supplies and resources. To reserve a vendor space, visit carteretcountync.gov. 

For more information, call Carteret County Emergency Services at 252-222-5841.

Island Farm on Roanoke Island is set to host Corolla Wild Horse Fund Herd Management Coordinator Kirsten Morse for a special program on Friday.

Colonial Spanish mustangs have existed for 500 years on the Outer Banks, Island Farm noted in a press release. The feral herd lives on through careful conservation, management, and ongoing educational efforts, event organizers said.

The May 15 program is set for 10 a.m.-noon, at Island Farm, 1140 N. U.S. Highway 64, just north of Manteo.

Morse will join Island Farm’s historical interpreters to bring modern context to the history of the Spanish mustang breed. Also included in the program will be the history of the colonial Spanish mustangs, their introduction to the Outer Banks, and historic uses over the centuries.

At Island Farm, the breed is represented in the site’s Heritage Livestock Program by two horses, Grace and Rainbow.

In the 19th century, banker horses were used endlessly across the Outer Banks in traditional farm work and transportation and in maritime pursuits like hauling nets or patrolling the beach after shipwrecks.

Today, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund protects and manages the existing herd along the northern beaches in Currituck County.

Island Farm’s Banker Pony Program continues weekly throughout the 2026 season, where visitors are encouraged to interact with the farm’s horses and learn more about the history and vast importance of the breed. 

Admission to the site is $11, and children 3 and younger are admitted free of charge.

Island Farm is open March to December, Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., where programming and events vary throughout the season.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation announced this week that Dr. Lela Schlenker has the nonprofit organization as its new coastal advocate for northeastern part of the state.

Schlenker comes to the Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, most recently from Avangrid Renewables, where she led the fisheries team across the company’s U.S. offshore wind projects and focused on communicating with fishing communities, identifying research needs, and coordinating marine policy.

Schlenker is a fisheries ecologist with a research career spanning topics such as the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on mahi-mahi, how climate and weather affect North Carolina shrimp populations, and the impact of catch-and-release fishing practices on white marlin. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with fishing communities along the U.S. coastline, building strong and collaborative partnerships. 

“We’re excited to have Lela join our team. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience on coastal issues,” explained Coastal Management Program Director Kerri Allen. “Lela is joining us at a time when there are several major issues facing the Outer Banks region, including threatened oceanfront structures, ongoing water quality concerns, increased pressure to lift hardened shoreline restrictions, and the growing need for long-term coastal resilience planning. Her scientific background, policy experience, and collaborative approach will be a tremendous asset for both the Federation and the coastal communities we serve.” 

Schlenker has an undergraduate degree from Smith College, a master’s from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and a doctorate in marine biology and ecology from the University of Miami.

Schlenker says that her career path was inspired by both a strong conservation ethic and an undergraduate research project in which she sampled fish aboard a commercial trawling vessel. 

“I am really looking forward to connecting with the community as well as working with managers, scientists, and policy makers to continue the great work the Coastal Federation has done and find new ways to protect beautiful coastal North Carolina,” said Schlenker. 

Schlenker started with the Coastal Federation on May 5 and will be based out of the office in Wanchese.

She has been delighted to call the Outer Banks home since 2020. In her spare time, she enjoys finding ways to be on, in, or near the water and growing as much butternut squash as possible in her garden.