Recognized as the last known location of “the Lost Colony,” officials are considering three different options to stabilize about a mile of shoreline at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.
News & Features
Dare commissioners vow fight over Wanchese land price
Dare County commissioners, during a special meeting Wednesday, agreed to again attempt to negotiate a deal with the developer of a controversial high-density residential development in Wanchese, but also didn’t rule out condemnation as an option.
EPA to NC: Solvent discharge limits deadline ‘mandatory’
A pending lawsuit notwithstanding, the Environmental Protection Agency has put North Carolina on notice: There’s no extension of the time frames for addressing the federal agency’s objections regarding the discharge of 1,4 dioxane into waters upstream of the Cape Fear.
Coastal Land Trust secures final million to buy ‘The Point’
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding $1 million to the state and conservation organizations to protect the 150-acre, undeveloped tract at the southern end of Topsail Beach.
Biden makes protections from offshore drilling permanent
President Joe Biden on Monday used his authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to withdraw from new oil development the entire East Coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, and remainder of Alaska’s northern Bering Sea.
Future U.S. 64 wildlife crossings aim to spare red wolves
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has awarded NCDOT $25 million to construct wildlife crossings that can provide safe passage for the critically endangered species.
Roanoke aquarium cares for 576 cold-stunned sea turtles
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.
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.