Patti Fowler will be retiring soon after a career spent protecting coastal waters. The N.C. Coastal Federation gave her its highest award for her tireless efforts over three decades.
People
Pelican Award Winners: the Swartzenbergs
They helped save an island and for more than 20 years were champions of clean water and the oysters that depend on it. Meet Jim and Bonnie Swartzenberg.
Two Paths to Saving Hofmann Forest
Ron Sutherland and Fred Cubbage, an unlikely duo, together led the campaign to keep N.C. State from selling its 79,000-acre Hofmann Forest to developers.
Intern Brings Science Back Home
N.C. Coastal Federation intern Daniel Salazar returns to his Columbia High School to share his experiences as an environmental steward with fellow Latinos.
Coastal Sketch: The Bird Man of Frisco
Lou Browning jokes that his hobby of caring for wild animals has gotten out of hand. He is the only federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator on the Outer Banks, one of only two in the northeast part of the coast.
The Bear Lady: Her Life and Mysterious Death
They called Kay Grayson the “Bear Lady” because of her passion for feeding and protecting bears near her home in Tyrrell County. While it appears a bear may have dragged the remains of her body into the woods, the cause of her death remains unknown.
Coastal Sketch: Colonel Kevin Landers
He takes over the command of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District at a time when federal money for dredging the state’s shallow inlets is becoming increasingly harder to come by.
Coastal Sketch: Don Ensley
Meet the first board president of the N.C. Coastal Federation. His passion for community activism led the successful battle against peat mining in Eastern North Carolina.
Coastal Sketch: Earl O’Neal
This writer and historian of Ocracoke Island tells what it was like growing up there as a boy. “What a story,” he says, “if only the live oaks could talk.”
Coastal Sketch: Sandie Cecelski
Meet Sandie Cecelski, a N.C. Coastal Federation board member. This marine science teacher from Carolina Beach is passionate about getting her students outdoors and hands-on.
Coastal Sketch: Paul Sykes
You may not know the name, but the guy’s a rock star in the world of birds. No one — probably on the planet — has done more Christmas Bird Counts. 475 and, yes, counting. The 77-year-old will add another to the tally this month when he leads a count on the Outer Banks.
Coastal Sketch: Joe Ramus
Learn how the kid surrounded by walnuts in the hills of California who wanted to be an engineer ended up spending most of his life by the sea in North Carolina where he is a respected marine scientist and a N.C. Coastal Federation board member.
Coastal Sketch: Peggy Birkemeier
For someone who says she’s not a “beach person,” Peggy Birkemeier, a N.C. Coastal Federation board member from the Outer Banks, has caught on nicely.
Pelican Award: Troy Outland
There’s a working waterfront for fishermen in Manns Harbor, thanks in part to this guy’s leadership. Find out why the N.C. Coastal Federation presented Troy Outland with a Pelican Award.
The Tale of a Fish House Liar
Rodney Kemp is somewhat of a celebrity in Morehead City for telling entertaining stories about local history. And sometimes they’re actually true. He’s keeping alive the old coastal tradition of the fish house liar.
Coastal Sketch: David Paynter
Meet David Paynter, treasurer for the N.C. Coastal Federation’s board of directors. When he’s not bird watching or kayaking on Hewlett’s Creek, he’s trying to protect it.
