Conservation efforts and reforestation have allowed the species to rebound in rural northeastern North Carolina, providing a food source for families here and luring “high-net-worth” hunters and visitors.
Special Reports
Eastern NC’s black bears: How hunters helped save a species
Special report: The state’s black bear population was in trouble 50 years ago, but research and conservation measures put in place in the decades since — with hunters’ “direct cooperation” — have enabled the species to recover, although not everyone is happy.
Ever-worsening wildfire threat burns closer to cities, towns
Longer, dryer droughts, warmer seasons year-round — the outlook for wildfires is increasingly grim as the state rapidly grows with already more acreage considered wildland-urban interface than any other state.
Caution increasingly needed as fall wildfire season arrives
Special report: People cause 99% of wildfires, and half of those are due to carelessness, according to the North Carolina Forest Service, all while climate change is making conditions worse.
Bill change adds terminal groin, limits historical site rules
Language to “rein in” the Division of Coastal Management’s authority has been removed, but a Coastal Area Management Act review could return during the next session.
Biologists, advocates push for more wildlife crossing funds
Proponents of the federal Red Wolf Recovery Program say more protected highway wildlife crossings in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge would benefit all species.
Wildlife crossings gain visibility, financial support in state
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge officials are working with the Wildlife Resources Commission and the Department of Transportation to build wildlife crossings at each end of the Alligator River replacement bridge between Tyrrell and Dare counties, and more could be built.
Rachel Carson Reserve: Beaufort’s barrier to raging storms
In our ongoing look at the Coastal Area Management Act’s 50th anniversary this year, this Carteret County jewel of the Coastal Reserve Program also provides important protection.
Coastal property owners yet to embrace roof-girding grants
The North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association, or Beach Plan, has yet to reach the number of property owners who could benefit from its Strengthen Your Roof grant program.
Anti-regulation sentiment may be fueling insurance crisis
With the N.C. Homebuilders Association’s influence over the legislature, steps toward resilience that Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey and others say should be taken have been rejected, contributing to coverage chaos for property owners.
Coastal Resources Commission celebrates CAMA’s 50th
The state Coastal Resources Commission this week in Wilmington featured an observance and look back at the N.C. Coastal Area Management Act’s first 50 years.
Reflections on 50 years of NC Coastal Area Management Act
When first considered 50 years ago, North Carolina’s Coastal Area Management Act was hotly controversial environmental legislation, and despite challenges past and present, it remains the state’s only attempt to forge a partnership for regional resource management.
Agencies acknowledge confusion fisheries conflict creates
Officials agree that the public is caught in the middle of inconsistent state fisheries regulations enacted by the state Wildlife Resources Commission and Marine Fisheries Commission for inland and coastal waters, respectively.
Dolan, Godfrey: Scientists proved Outer Banks are moving
Findings more than 50 years ago by coastal geologist Robert Dolan and husband-and-wife researchers Paul and Melinda Godfrey changed barrier island understanding and led the National Park Service to reverse longstanding policy.
Agencies’ joint rules conflict set ‘stage for a showdown’
The conflict between the Marine Fisheries Commission and Wildlife Resources Commission appears to have begun when the two state agencies decided to work together in 2018 on delineating jointly managed waters.
Conflicting mullet, flounder seasons signal bigger problems
Seasons for popular fish in coastal and inland waters, which are subject to separate rules, didn’t coincide this year for the first time in years, laying bare a conflict between agencies that share regulatory authority over joint waters.
