The state Senate yesterday passed a biennial budget plan that once again contains numerous coastal provisions, including money for inlet dredging, improvements at the state ports and oyster restoration.
News & Features
Groin Project Threatens Tern Habitat
The least terns are back at Rich Inlet and Figure Eight Island, but environmentalists fear that a planned terminal groin threatens their future there.
Deal Struck for New Bonner Bridge
Environmental groups have reached an agreement with the state to drop their legal challenges against building a replacement for the aging Bonner Bridge.
Bill Speeds Approval of Sewage Plants
Legislators are considering a measure to create a privatized, fast-track permit approval process for some sewage-treatment facilities that would bypass state and county agencies.
An iForest in Brunswick County
More than 3,600 acres of Brunswick County forest is permanently protected thanks to a collaborative effort between Apple Inc. and The Conservation Fund.
Residents Do Right by Dunes
Volunteers in Emerald Isle recently completed the first phase of what they hope will become a major public-private effort to rebuild and protect the crucial oceanfront dune system.
AmeriCorps Volunteer Helps the Coast
This volunteer is able to pursue her dream of becoming a coastal environmental educator by getting experience with the N.C. Coastal Federation through the AmeriCorps program.
Conservation Funds Get Budget Boost
The state House begins debate today on its version of the biennial budget, which features a hefty boost in spending for conservation and clean water projects.
Q&A: What Is SEPA, How Will It Change?
What’s the purpose of the State Environmental Policy Act? And what will happen if a bill proposing changes to it passes the N.C. Senate? This Q&A helps breakdown these questions and more.
How Can Oregon Inlet Be Fixed?
More intense dredging may be one answer. The state is also considering a more novel approach: Acquiring the federal land on either side of the inlet to build jetties to hold the channel in place.
Take a Ride Through Oregon Inlet
We take you on a boat ride through the recently dredged Oregon Inlet for a sense of why many think this is the most treacherous inlet on the East Coast.
Protesters to Join Hands Against Oil, Coal
Hundreds of North Carolinians will take 15 minutes Saturday to join hands with strangers in a peaceful demonstration against fossil fuels.
Hammocks Beach Addition a Done Deal
Attorneys have closed on a deal that adds 290 acres to a state park in Swansboro, ends years of court wrangling and makes millionaires of an Onslow County man and his sister in Raleigh.
Tropical Storm in May? Really?
Computer models forecast a possible tropical storm could threaten the N.C. coast with nasty weather by week’s end, almost a full month before the official beginning of the hurricane season.
House Weakens Environmental Review
In a late-night session, the N.C. House approved a bill that critics and some legislators say will ultimately gut a 40-year-old law that requires environmental review of state projects.
How Did Rocks End Up on the Beach?
Questions abound about the beach re-nourishment project at N. Topsail Beach. Why haven’t regulators been more forceful in protecting the public’s beach and the endangered animals that use it ?
