Of the nearly 600 cold-stunned sea turtles brought to the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island earlier this month, as of Friday, 399 have been warmed up and released.
News & Features
Commission OKs sandbag variance for NC 12 on Pea Island
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.
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.
Winter Waterfowl Excursion to resume after 4-year pause
The Coastal Culture and Waterfowl Watching Excursion, a two-day adventure through Pamlico, Hyde and Dare counties, is being offered twice next year.
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.
Planning association awards Duck for its shoreline project
Duck, in Dare County, recently received national recognition for its work incorporating sustainability and resilience principles in flood prevention, habitat restoration and N.C. Highway 12 improvements along Currituck Sound.
Wildlife officials push back on straw bales for sand fencing
Wildlife Resources Commission officials are calling for thorough research on how wheat straw bales might affect oceanfront habitat before the state allows them to be used as an alternative to sand fencing.
Waste discharge agreement moves toward becoming rule
The Environmental Management Commission has advanced proposed changes that would codify an existing, long-term agreement with an association of wastewater dischargers into the Tar-Pamlico River Basin.
Superintendent’s warning to coastal commission rings true
Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac had told the Coastal Resources Commission last week that Rodanthe homes were apt to fall this weekend. It took fewer than 48 hours for the first to collapse.
Topsail Island towns team to eradicate harmful beach vitex
Topsail Island towns are banding together in an attempt to reduce the presence of the invasive plant that chokes out native vegetation on oceanfront dunes.
Buxton folk relieved at Corps action, ask why not sooner?
Corps of Engineers officials told Hatteras Island residents this week that work is ongoing and a formal advisory board on cleanup at the petroleum-contaminated National Park Service beach could help information flow, but some here wonder, why did it take so long?
Report uses new tools to address Wright Monument leakage
The recently released “Wright Brothers Monument and Powerhouse Historic Structure Report,” employs advanced tools to diagnose the interior of the monument’s stubborn excessive moisture and water intrusion.
Rules eased as red-cockaded woodpeckers’ status improves
Wildlife officials say the recent downlisting from endangered to threatened is a success story, but opponents say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s reclassification is premature.
Officials are in ‘No hurry to sell’ 87 acres of Navassa site
Residents in the Brunswick County town have been speaking out against using for warehousing the 87 acres that went out for bid a year ago at the former wood treatment site.
Science panel applies 2022 sea level report projections to NC
The Coastal Resources Commission’s science panel has released its “North Carolina 2024 Sea Level Rise Science Update” that applies the findings of a 2022 federal-level sea level rise technical report to North Carolina.
