Transportation officials plan to begin building in January a temporary sandbag structure that wouldn’t otherwise meet coastal development rules along Highway 12 by the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge visitor center in Rodanthe.
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Coastal geologist Orrin Pilkey, 1934-2024: An appreciation
“With Orrin, the stories never stopped,” writes author and Coastal Review contributor Gilbert M. Gaul of the acclaimed Duke University scientist who died Sunday. “Some of them were even true.”
Coastal commission lawyer: CAMA a 50-year ‘balancing act’
Coastal Resources Commission legal counsel Mary Lucasse, speaking during a recent legal symposium in New Bern, said the Coastal Area Management Act balances development and private property rights with protecting natural resources.
Researchers aim to offer Nags Head wave energy options
Could the ocean’s power be tapped as a renewable, acceptable, backup energy source for Outer Banks residents? That’s what National Science Foundation-funded research at the Coastal Studies Institute seeks to find out.
Oyster farmers argue penalty too harsh for minor violations
Shellfish farmers are petitioning the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to change the punishment for what farmers call clerical errors and minor permit violations.
Descender devices: Safely resend released fish to their depth
Bringing up a fish too quickly is rough on the fish, and if not a keeper, releasing it improperly results in barotrauma, meaning the poor thing is shark bait — that’s where descenders come in.
History’s not-so-humble hedgerow habitat was nearly lost
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now, it’s just native habitat and an ancient permaculture ecosystem almost completely wiped from Europe after World War II that’s perfectly suitable here.
Teams take to sky to survey North Atlantic right whales
Small survey teams will again this year collect information and aerial imagery off the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts on North Atlantic right whales during calving season.
Inundation-prone Sledge Forest site set for development
A sprawling, “rare, old-growth forest” on the banks of the Northeast Cape Fear River in New Hanover County that’s a key part of the river floodplain is targeted for a massive 4,000-home golf course/equestrian development with few options for opponents to stop it.
Anger at commission boils over during PFAS rules hearing
Public outrage greeted the state Environmental Management Commission Monday in Wilmington for its latency in adopting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance health standards, for including only three compounds in the proposed standards, and for appeasing the industries that make the chemicals.
Best way to bid farewell 2024? Count birds on Outer Banks
Hardy birders, volunteers, aspiring community scientists, photographers and others will soon have their chance to count birds on Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands to improve understanding of bird life trends that have implications for all.
Dan Spinella replicates Hatteras lens parts piece by piece
The owner of Artworks Florida Classic Fresnel Lenses has been busy reproducing the 1,008 prisms and hundreds of other mechanisms and components as part of the project to restore the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
The Down East way: Harkers Island to celebrate waterfowl
This weekend, Carteret County’s historic traditions — and food — take the spotlight with the three-day Waterfowl Weekend, including the 36th annual Core Sound Decoy Festival.
Black bears’ resurgence reflects acceptance, economic spur
Conservation efforts and reforestation have allowed the species to rebound in rural northeastern North Carolina, providing a food source for families here and luring “high-net-worth” hunters and visitors.
Eastern NC’s black bears: How hunters helped save a species
Special report: The state’s black bear population was in trouble 50 years ago, but research and conservation measures put in place in the decades since — with hunters’ “direct cooperation” — have enabled the species to recover, although not everyone is happy.
Gear up the night before or get left out, leftovers tomorrow
Don’t be that angler who waits until the last moment to rig up their equipment and then misses the action — procure and prepare in advance.
