To protect North Carolina’s “hidden gems” vital as habitat, for flood control, and nutrient reduction, officials worked with stakeholders to update the Wetlands Program Plan now in its third revision.
News & Features
Groups challenge diminished endangered species protections
The Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups contend that the approach taken by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik and the rest of the Trump administration “cuts the heart out of the Endangered Species Act.”
Port officials scrap planned $1.3 billion Wilmington project
Facing pushback, the North Carolina State Ports Authority has formally asked the Army Corps of Engineers to halt “further consideration” of the proposed $1.3 billion harbor expansion project.
DEQ’s coastal hazards resilience program marks five years
As the Resilient Coastal Communities Program reaches its five-year mark, North Carolina Division of Coastal Management held a daylong workshop last month in New Bern to consider the program’s successes and challenges.
Cape Fear River Watch vows to hold Chemours accountable
Cape Fear River Watch, via its representation, the Southern Environmental Law Center, contends Chemours Co. continues to exceed emission and discharge limits established under a 2019 consent order between the company, the organization and the state environmental agency.
If you don’t live on Hatteras Island, don’t attempt going there
N.C. Highway 12 remains closed at Pea Island until at least Wednesday morning and nonresident visitors and nonresident property owners are not permitted to enter Hatteras Island.
Residents voice support for North Topsail Beach’s sand plan
People with erosion-threatened homes and property in North Topsail Beach made it clear in a public hearing Tuesday that they want a 2,021-foot-long terminal groin built at New River Inlet, pivot the channel in the inlet and a carry out a long-term plan for berm and beach fill to remedy the town’s receding shoreline.
National Estuaries Week celebrates vital coastal ecosystems
This week is National Estuaries Week, a campaign to increase public awareness of estuaries and to encourage people to become involved in the protection of these important natural resources.
NOAA gets $64 million to build new lab; former staff ‘elated’
Dr. Bud Cross, a longtime director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s historic Beaufort Laboratory, says the recent announcement the a new facility would soon be built on Pivers Island came as “great news to all of us who have worked there.”
EPA, Army propose alternative draft definitions for ‘WOTUS’
The comment period ends Oct. 9 on proposed alternative definitions that environmental groups say will strip protections from seasonal wetlands and waterways.
Pro surfers ride ubiquitous symbol of ocean pollution in film
“The Cigarette Surfboard,” a film about surfing activists and tobacco-related pollution around the world, will make its online premiere Tuesday through Sept. 27, and is timed to include International Coastal Cleanup Day, Sept. 19.
Coastal commission tables proposed septic rule amendments
The Coastal Resources Commission, poised last week to consider two rule amendments regarding septic systems on the beach, instead tabled the discussion until October.
New ferry toll law is ‘like the man sticking it to you again’
Residents were vocal about the financial strain the new law mandating tolls for all ferry routes will put on their families at the first in a series of listening sessions with the N.C. Department of Transportation.
CRC seawall science skeptics attempt ‘political stand’: Cahoon
The Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel’s recently presented analysis and recommendations regarding proposed fixes for the Outer Banks’ severe beach erosion were not the messages that commissioners opposed to the state ban on breakwaters and other hard structures on the oceanfront wanted to hear, nor was the chair’s sharp rebuke.
Fisheries ruling sets up likely yearslong state response
Now that a judge has ruled that the state has failed to rebuild and maintain healthy fish stocks and protect key habitats as required by law, fisheries officials must turn to the remedy phase, which is unclear at best.
Recent rains help but heat has amplified long-dry conditions
“Heat Wave,” “The Heat is On,” “Burning for You”: Song titles that may suit the sweltering summer that has left most of coastal North Carolina parched, and the state climatologist says the rainfall deficits much of the state is seeing began in August 2025.
