The Coastal Environmental Educators Network will again host its annual Earth Fair OBX at Jockey’s Ridge State Park later this month.

The fair taking place from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, will be an opportunity to hear from organizations working to preserve the delicate ecosystems of the Outer Banks.

“Share your love for the natural world and check out our fun and informative exhibits and activities for kids. Walk around and explore the exhibitors, state of the art Visitors Center and other features of the State Park,” organizers said.

Kitty Hawk Kites and Dare Arts Council teamed up to create the Outer Banks Sweep the Beach Trash Art Contest. Artists were asked to create and submit work from the trash they have collected from Outer Banks beaches now on display along the “TrART Walk” at Jockey’s Ridge Crossing. Work will be judged on April 20 and winners will be announced at the Kitty Hawk Kites booth during the event.  

Jockey’s Ridge State Park will be under new leadership, North Carolina State Parks announced last week.

Steve Rogers, most recently the superintendent of Merchants Millpond State Park in Gates County, has been selected to serve as the superintendent for the Dare County destination featuring the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast. He succeeds longtime Jockey’s Ridge superintendent, Joy Cook, who retired in January.

Rogers said he is committed to preserving natural resources, enhancing visitor experiences, and fostering community partnerships at the park, according to the release.

Rogers began his parks career with the Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space Division as a seasonal employee in 1998 and was hired full time in maintenance the following year. He acted as herd manager for the nonprofit organization Corolla Wild Horse Fund from 2006 to 2009 before becoming a ranger for Pettigrew State Park in Creswell. There he was promoted to superintendent in 2015. He has served as superintendent of Merchants Millpond State Park since 2017.

“Steve’s leadership, experience and commitment to park stewardship have made a lasting impact at every park he has served,” State Parks Director Brian Strong said. “We are confident he will continue that legacy at Jockey’s Ridge, ensuring this iconic landscape is protected and enjoyed for generations to come.”

Park superintendents manage operations and administration at a park and have wide-ranging responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, resource management, interpretation and education, and visitor services.

The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, a part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, features 35 state parks, 25 state natural areas, four state recreation areas, seven state lakes, four Natural and Scenic Rivers, and 15 state trails, spanning over 264,000 acres of iconic landscapes and welcoming 18 million visitors annually, state officials said.

After more than two years of trying to get the Area of Environmental Concern reinstated for Jockey’s Ridge, a designation that was stripped away in October 2023, the Coastal Resources Commission has finally received the Rules Review Commission’s approval, much to the relief of the nonprofit Friends of Jockey’s Ridge support group.

The Friends’ board of directors wrote in a letter dated Dec. 30, 2025, that it “welcomes the recent decision” by the Rules Review Commission made during its regular meeting Dec. 18 to restore the area of environmental concern designation for Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

Jockey’s Ridge, what is often called the “tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast” was saved from development in 1973. In 1974, the geographical feature was declared a National Natural Landmark. A year later, in 1975, the General Assembly allocated funds matched with federal funds to create what is now a 420-acre state park in Dare County, with the sand dune system as the centerpiece, according to NCpedia, a resource managed by the state government and N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Development activities in and around the state park boundaries have been regulated by the administrative rules of the Coastal Resources Commission since the designation of Jockey’s Ridge as a unique geologic feature area of environmental concern in 1984, according to the Division of Coastal Management, which serves as staff to the Coastal Resources Commission.

The to and fro between the two commissions began Oct. 5, 2023, when the Rules Review Commission removed from the North Carolina Administrative Code language that designated Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern and established its use standards, and then returned the text to the Coastal Resources Commission. Removing the rule from the administrative code also removed the rule’s legal authority.

After the Rules Review Commission returned the text in October 2023, the Coastal Resources Commission adopted emergency rules to reestablish the area of environmental concern and use standards that went into effect Jan. 3, 2024, and then on April 25, 2024, approved moving forward with permanent rulemaking. The temporary rules expired May 13, 2024, when the Rules Review Commission objected to the text.

The Coastal Resources Commission then adopted the permanent rule on Nov. 14, 2024, but the next month, on Dec. 19, 2024, the Rules Review Commission objected to the rule “on the basis of failure to comply with the public noticing provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act,” which staff said the necessary steps were taken to satisfy this objection, the division explains in past meeting materials.

The Coastal Resources Commission adopted permanent rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concerns with use standards which are nearly identical to the original 1984 standards on Aug. 27, 2025.

“The proposed rule was written in three parts,” staff said in meeting documents. The first is a description, which describes the Jockey’s Ridge and its importance. Second describes the area of environmental concern boundary and where a map of the boundary can be found, and last, use standards.  

The Rules Review Commission objected to the language Oct. 27, 2025, “stating that paragraph (a) ‘Description’”’ is unnecessary and is not the same as a ‘“’designation’”’ as required under” general statute.

The Coastal Resources Commission took up the revised language during its Nov. 18, 2025, meeting, ahead of the rules commission’s Dec. 1, 2025, deadline.

The final rule reads: “Given the status of Jockey’s Ridge as a State Park, State Nature Preserve, complex natural area, and an area containing a unique geological formation as identified by the State Geologist, the Coastal Resources Commission hereby designates Jockey’s Ridge as an Area of Environmental Concern pursuant to” general statute.

“After years of uncertainty for this important protection, we are in full support of this decision which aligns with our mission to protect Jockey’s Ridge,” the Friends board wrote.

The Coastal Resources Commission approved last week revised text that is meant to satisfy the latest objection from the Rules Review Commission regarding Jockey’s Ridge’s designation as an area of environmental concern.

The Coastal Resources Commission, or CRC, has been trying to get this text sorted since October 2023, when the Rules Review Commission objected to and removed 30 rules, including those for Jockey’s Ridge protections, as part of the 10-year periodic rules review process.

According to the the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, which carries out the rules and regulations set by the CRC, the text that had been up for review a few years ago was almost identical to what had been approved in 1984 for the centerpiece of Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County.

Part of the text the Rules Review Commission most recently objected to reads: “(a) Description. Jockey’s Ridge is the tallest active sand dune (medano) along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Located within the Town of Nags Head in Dare County, between US 158 and Roanoke Sound, Jockey’s Ridge represents the southern extremity of a back barrier dune system which extends north along Currituck Spit into Virginia.”

The CRC at its regular business meeting in Beaufort Hotel was briefed about the rules commission’s latest objection Wednesday during the annual rules review update, and again Thursday before voting unanimously to submit the amended text to the rules panel.

Daniel Govoni, policy analyst with the Division of Coastal Management, said Wednesday that a general statute directs staff to review and identify any rules that are unnecessary, burdensome or inconsistent. Rules that are considered necessary, go through the rules review process, and that includes being run through the Rules Review Commission.

Govoni said that just recently, the Jockey’s Ridge area of environmental concern permanent rules the Coastal Resources Commission approved Aug. 27 was sent to the Rules Review Commission and “they again have objected.”

The reason this time, he continued, “is because the rule was split up into three categories: (a) being description, (b) being boundaries and (c) the use standards. They basically said that the description was unnecessary.”

When Coastal Resources picked up the discussion Thursday, Govoni reiterated that the rule was drafted into three parts, with a description explaining Jockey’s Ridge and its importance, and a boundary describing the area of environmental concern boundary and an accompanying map.

Govoni stated that the Rules Review specifically objecting to “the paragraph (a) description,” and that it “was not the same as the designation as under general statute.”

Coastal Resources was left with two options with a deadline of Dec. 1: either amend the rule to address the Rules Review objection, or submit a written response explaining why the rule won’t be changed.

Govoni said staff came up with the following proposed language as a way to meet the requirement: “Designation. Given the status of Jockey’s Ridge as a State Park, State Nature Preserve, complex natural area, and an area containing a unique geological formation as identified by the State Geologist, the Coastal Resources Commission hereby designates Jockey’s Ridge as an Area of Environmental Concern pursuant, as required under general statute.”

The amendment also included adding that “The AEC is located within the Town of Nags Head in Dare County, between US 158 and Roanoke Sound” to the boundaries explanation.

The Coastal Resources Commission’s legal counsel, Sarah Zambon, explained that the legal counsel for the Rules Review Commission was consulted on the proposed permanent language but, “just like I don’t speak for all of you, RC Council doesn’t speak for the RRC, but they have reviewed this language.”

Zambon continued that “the main issue was with the description of it being the tallest sand dune along the Atlantic Coast.”

Coastal Resources Chair Renee Cahoon pointed out that “this description just became a problem in August. Amazing. Amazing. After 40 years.”

About Jockey’s Ridge rules

The more than two-year back-and-forth between the two commissions began in early October 2023 over 30 rules undergoing the 10-year periodic review process.

“Development activities in and around the state park boundaries have been regulated by the administrative rules of the Coastal Resources Commission since the designation of Jockey’s Ridge as a Unique Geologic Feature Area of Environmental Concern in 1984,” division documents explain.

When the rules commission reviewed the 30 rules the division submitted, including Jockey’s Ridge as an Area of Environmental Concern and use standards, the rules panel removed the rules from the North Carolina Administrative Code and returned them to the Division of Coastal Management.

Coastal Resources filed a lawsuit shortly after contesting the Rules Review’s decision to remove the 30 rules, which is still in litigation.

The CRC then adopted emergency and temporary rules reestablishing the area of environmental concern and use standards that went into effect Jan. 3, 2024, and expired May 13, 2024, which the Rules Review Commission also objected.

Coastal Resources decided to move forward with permanent rulemaking on April 25, 2024, and adopted the permanent rule Nov. 14, 2024. The rules commission objected to the proposed permanent rule on Dec. 19, 2024, for failing to comply with public notice requirements. Staff said in documents that the terms of this objection had been satisfied.

A Wake County Superior Court judge in February of this year ruled in favor of Coastal Resources in the lawsuit that directs the codifier to “immediately return” the rules to the administrative code. Rules Review has since filed an appeal challenging the ruling and the Coastal Resources is due to submit a brief in response by Dec. 12.

The Coastal Resources Commission took up the subject again Aug. 27 and adopted permanent rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern and use standards. The Rules Review Commission objected on Oct. 30 to the recently submitted text for using the word “Description” because it is “not the same as a ‘designation’ as required under state law.”

The Coastal Resources Commission was given Dec. 1 as a deadline on the new proposed designation, which is an attempt to clarify the language going forward, Govoni said Thursday. In the time since the judge ruled that the Jockey’s Ridge rules would be returned to the administrative code, the division decided to amend and clarify the language.

If the suggested language meets final approval, the existing rule would be repealed and replaced with this new version.

Coastal Review will not publish Thursday and Friday in observation of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Coastal Resources Commission members will hear from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson before settling in for the two-day regular business meeting this month, when they will be updated on the latest rules review objection to designating Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern.

The meeting is set to start at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, when Wilson is on the agenda to speak. The meeting will resume at 9 a.m. Nov. 20, ahead of the public input and comment period scheduled for 9:05 a.m. At the chair’s discretion, comments may be limited to three minutes per person. The public may attend the commission meeting in person or join online.

Jockey’s Ridge, the centerpiece of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, is located in Dare County and is home to the tallest living sand dune system on the East Coast, according to North Carolina State Parks.

Development in and around the state park boundaries has been regulated by Coastal Resources Commission rules since the designation of Jockey’s Ridge as a Unique Geologic Feature Area of Environmental Concern in 1984, according to state documents.

During the periodic rules review process in October 2023, the rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an Area of Environmental Concern, or AEC, and establishing use standards were returned to the agency by the Rules Review Commission and removed from the North Carolina Administrative Code.

In response, the Coastal Resource Commission adopted emergency and temporary rules that went into effect Jan. 3, 2024, to reestablish the AEC and use standards. The rules expired May 13, 2024, when the Rules Review Commission objected to the temporary rule.

The commission moved forward with permanent rulemaking on April 25, 2024, and adopted the permanent rule on Nov. 14, 2024. The Rules Review Commission on Dec. 19, 2024, objected to the rule “on the basis of failure to comply with the public noticing provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act” and staff have taken the necessary steps to be in compliance and satisfy this objection, according to meeting documents.

The Coastal Resources Commission on Aug. 27 of this year adopted permanent rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an AEC with use standards that are “nearly identical to the original 1984 standards,” document state.

The Rules Review Commission objected On Oct. 30 to paragraph a “Description,” which they deemed as “unnecessary and is not the same as a ‘designation’ as required” under general statute.

The Coastal Resources Commission must respond to the objection by Dec. 1. Members can either amend the paragraph to address the Rules Review Commission’s concerns or submit a written response indicating that the rule will not be amended.

Other action items include to consider approving:

• The Topsail Beach Management Plan.
• Variance requests for artificial turf in the 30-foot buffer at Carolina Beach, and for sandbag alignment and size on Ocean Isle Beach.
• Proposed amendments to rules on septic tanks seaward of the vegetation line, and on alternative sandbag design use to protect public roads.

Also on the agenda are updates on the boundary recommendations, erosion rates and setbacks for Inlet Hazard Areas, information on the 2025 hurricane season, and have a discussion on threatened structures.

The in-person only Coastal Resources Advisory Council will meet ahead of the commission at 10 a.m. Nov. 19 at the hotel.

A full meeting agenda and briefing materials are available on the commission’s website. Times indicated on the agenda for individual items are subject to change.

The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission will consider next week adopting proposed boundaries of the area of environmental concern for Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

The commission is scheduled to meet at the Tryon Palace History Center, 529 S. Front St. in New Bern at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 27 with a public input and comment period scheduled for 3 p.m. The meeting will resume at 9 a.m. Aug. 28.

During the coming meeting, the commission is expected to vote on whether to approve the boundaries of Jockey’s Ridge AEC, a designation that creates strict development rules to protect the tallest active sand dune along the Atlantic Coast.

Under the designation, the removal of more than 10 cubic yards of sand in one year within the boundary of the park’s AEC will require a Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, permit. Sand that is removed must be placed within an area of the park designated by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management in consultation with the state Department of Natural Cultural Resources’ Division of Parks and Recreation.

The rule would also prevent sand within the AEC from being altered or prevented from moving freely by development activities “except when necessary” to maintain or construct a road, residential or commercial structure, accessway, lawn, garden, or parking area “unless by allowed by the park’s management plan.

Last year, the CRC unanimously approved a permanent rule identifying Jockey’s Ridge as a unique geologic feature AEC, a designation that has received overwhelming public support.

The commission will also consider adopting amendments to urban waterfront rules and exceptions within ocean hazard areas, and approving the Bogue Banks Beach Management Plan.

The full agenda and briefing materials are available on the CRC website.

The public may attend the meetings in person or join online on the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s YouTube channel.

NAGS HEAD — Jockey’s Ridge used to be known as the tallest natural sand dune on the East Coast, but now it’s described as its largest natural active sand dune system.

While it may not be as high as it was in 1973, the unique phenomenon of nature is still there — famously thanks to Carolista Baum, a young mother who that year physically blocked a developer’s bulldozer.

A celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jockey’s Ridge State Park held June 5-8 drew thousands of people, from folks who had rolled down the dune as children to tourists who climb it every summer to watch the sun set, to share in appreciation of the beloved Outer Banks landmark.

Festivities included a duneside performance last Friday by the popular indie band, the Connells — with a surprise appearance by North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein — followed by the Outer Banks’ first drone light show.

In his introduction to a documentary about “magical, awesome” Jockey’s Ridge screened at the park’s visitor center late that Saturday afternoon, park ranger Austin Paul said the 22-minute “collection of heartfelt stories” from the community and state officials about the site will continue to grow as more content is gathered.

“Jockey’s Ridge is kind of like the center point of the Outer Banks, Ann-Cabell Baum, Carolista Baum’s oldest daughter, says in the film. “Jockey’s Ridge is so many different things to so many different people … It’s part of our souls, it’s part of our hearts, it’s part of our families.”

Baum and her siblings used to play every day on Jockey’s Ridge, she recalled in a later interview with Coastal Review.

One day the children saw a bulldozer arrive to start digging on the backside of the dune, and Baum, then age 6 1/2, along with her sister Inglis, 5, and her brother Gibbs, 3 1/2, dashed back to their nearby home to tell their mother. Carolista immediately ran over to the spot and stood in front of the bulldozer, not moving until the operator gave up and left, Baum said. 

Her petite 33-year-old mother, a dark-haired Edenton farm girl who grew up with six brothers, then promptly removed the distributor cap, and went about rallying the community in what became the “Save our Sand Dune” campaign to get the state to preserve Jockey’s Ridge.

It wasn’t the first time that developers had raised the ire of the locals — by then the Villa Dunes subdivision was already built on the northern edges of the dunes, and plans for the new development had already been submitted to the town. But this time, the whole community got behind her mother, Baum remembered.

“She was sincere and loving and kind,” her daughter said about Carolista, remembering how people always would come by her jewelry shop to visit with her and chat.

A year after the bulldozer was banished, the dune was declared a National Natural Landmark, and the following year the state park was created.

As former Nags Head Mayor and Commissioner Renee Cahoon says in the documentary, the park is an asset to the town in multiple ways.

“No one else has a Jockey’s Ridge,” she says. “It’s not just cultural icon; it’s also a business icon.”

The park is routinely in the top five of the most-visited state parks in North Carolina.

Last year, 1.2 million people visited. But during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, visitation went through the roof, at 1.9 million and 1.8 million, respectively. Both years had the Nags Head park as the No. 1 most-visited state park. It is currently back to prepandemic visitation.

“It’s more than a fabulous sand pile,” Peggy Birkemeier, a member of the Friends of Jockey’s Ridge Board of Directors, says in the film.

As Birkemeier notes, Jockey’s Ridge has a bounty of natural resources that offer numerous “exciting experiences” for visitors.

The backside of the park abuts the Roanoke Sound, with its long shoreline meandering northward along brackish marshes and toward the ancient maritime forest of Nags Head Woods. It includes a sound beach access that is popular with families. There are also unpaved trails through shrub forest areas beyond the shoreline that lead to the lower expanse of the dunes.

And the night sky above the dunes presents some of the most dramatic scenes on the Outer Banks. In fact, any time of day or night, cloudy or starry, at sunrise or sunset, the sky from Jockey’s Ridge is a wonderment.

“It is certainly a place where many memories are made,” Birkemeier says about the park. 

Legacy projects for Jockey’s Ridge that are in the works include the creation of a trail that loops around the park with informational markers about 10 different significant areas — such as hang gliding and the sometimes-buried sand castle — and a time capsule with various artifacts that is tentatively planned to be kept on display at the visitor center museum.

When the park first opened on May 31, 1975, the big dune was 140 feet tall, Jockey’s Ridge State Park Superintendent Joy Cook explained to Coastal Review in an interview after the event. But shifting maritime winds continually rearranged its estimated 30 million tons of sand, mostly quartz blown in ages ago from the mountains, into different shapes, while surrounding development influenced sand travel. Now the dunes are a system of three smaller hills that are 60 to 80 feet tall. 

“It’s moving 1- to 6-feet to the south each year,” she said. “The prominent wind is out of the north. The dunes are north-south orientation, and the southeast corner is moving faster than the rest of it.”

About six years ago, she said, the park had to relocate the sides of the corner that were moving into the road, and it will probably have to be moved again in a few years.

But even at its decreased height, being on top of Jockey’s Ridge is close to a surreal experience, and it’s not only because of the panoramic view of sea, sound and landscape. The vast expanse of undulating sand at times feels nearly mystical. Depending on the time of day, as well as the weather conditions, the shadows cast by the light and the wind-carved designs in the sand can transform the dunes into art.

But as every local knows, Jockey’s Ridge is the last place a person would want to be in extremes of any weather: a blazing hot summer day, a very windy or rainy day, or any degree of thunderstorm. And sometimes being on top in the middle of all that sand can be disorienting — it’s not unusual for visitors to lose their bearings.

On the flipside, kids delight in rolling and leaping down the dune, and young adults love to slide down them on boogie boards — especially if there’s a rare snowfall. Not to mention that the hang-gliding and kite flying, if the wind cooperates, is extraordinary.

Carolista Baum, an artist and a jeweler, died at 50 from a brain tumor. She remains as one of the most admired personalities in Outer Banks history, not only for her vibrancy and strength of character, but for her courage to stand her ground and protest what she believed was wrong.

As many recognized during the anniversary celebration, without Carolista taking action at that moment, and creating the momentum and inspiration in the community for the preservation fight, it’s likely that Jockey’s Ridge would not have been here to celebrate its 50-year anniversary.

“In 1973, she stood in front of a bulldozer and probably wouldn’t have been arrested,” Baum said. “It was a different time then. But I think she still would have stood in front of a bulldozer if that happened today.”

Second in commentary photo-essay series, Tabb’s Trails, with coastal reporter, photographer and hiking enthusiast Kip Tabb.

It was a close thing, whether Jockey’s Ridge would be leveled for a development five decades ago.

If you find yourself at what is now the 426-acre Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County, head north out of the parking lot and up one of the steepest dunes there.

In about a quarter mile, the disintegrating asphalt of a 50-year-old road is stark evidence that, if the late Carolista Baum had not stood in front of a bulldozer on Aug. 15, 1973, to prevent the sand dune system from being developed, a truly unique geological treasure would not exist today.

The North Carolina State Park System in 1975 established Jockey’s Ridge, what it calls the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast. The Friends of Jockey’s Ridge State Park has organized a four-day, family friendly event starting Thursday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the state park. The friends group supports the state park in Nags Head.

Related: Take a hike Saturday to celebrate National Trails Day

Details and the itinerary for all programs being offered at no charge can be found on the nonprofit organization’s website.

Jockey’s Ridge is a remarkably complex environmental wonder.

It is a harsh environment. Where the sand is deepest and most active, nothing grows. But one of the ironies of what is left of the road is the roadbed stabilized the sand, and as the asphalt cracked, opening the soil to the elements, small thickets of pine took root.

There are self-guided trails in Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

The Soundside Nature Trail is a 1.2-mile loop that begins at the main parking lot by the visitor center, and the Tracks in the Sand Trail is a 0.6-mile loop trail beginning at the Soundside parking lot.

Depending on where the hike is going, the conditions can be strenuous. Hiking conditions are fine sand and steep inclines. It’s not necessary to be an athlete, but reasonable physical condition is important.

Visitors can explore all areas of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, but there are some things to know while there.

Take water with you, especially in the summer as conditions can be extremely hot and there is no drinking water anywhere, and insect repellant is a good idea.

When hiking in the thicket at the base of the main dune, be respectful of nature. There are a surprising number of trails and no need to create a new one.

Among the dunes where the soil has stabilized, flowering plants thrive and insect life is abundant.

There are a surprising number of flowering plants that flourish in Jockey’s Ridge, perhaps none as spectacular as a mound lily yucca.

As the flowers come into full bloom this time of year, pollinators and other insects swarm to the plants, such as the trumpet vines, which are prolific on the hillocks throughout the park.

The trumpet vines are just one of many flowering plants in Jockey’s Ridge where pollinators can be spotted, including red-spotted purple butterflies.

As the foliage thickens in spring and into summer, the sound of songbirds, like the gray catbird, is a constant chorus. Usually deep in the foliage, they are heard but not seen, but sometimes they’ll make an appearance.

Following a prescribed burn in April of this year, the largest thicket, which could almost be considered a small maritime forest, is showing signs of regeneration as summer approaches.

The wooded area on the Roanoke Sound is in the wind shadow of the largest dune in Jockey’s Ridge, and extends a little over a half mile from the parking lot and recreational beach at the southeast corner of the park.

The colors of a blue grosbeak spotted on a branch in the burn area, according to Cornell University’s All About Birds website, indicate a breeding male. The species is “uncommon but widespread across the southern United States.”

If the hike is going to be fairly long and include the Roanoke Sound shoreline, there is considerable underbrush and walking through while barefoot can be painful.

Waterfowl are a frequent sight as well. In a cove off the trail, two mallards shared a quiet moment. The drake kept bringing its foot to its head in what appeared to be an attempt to scratch something by his beak.

The North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail crosses the state, connecting the eastern terminus in Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks and the western terminus in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

MANTEO — Amidst the tedium of a generally uneventful two-day meeting of the state Coastal Resources Commission last week, embers of prior tensions flared anew when Commissioner Jordan Hennessy contended that the panel had not properly authorized its lawsuit seeking to restore a protective environmental rule for Jockey’s Ridge.

The commission voted 9-3 against a motion Hennessy had advanced to withdraw from ongoing legal battle against the Rules Review Commission. Only Coastal Resources Commissioners Robbie Yates and Steve King voted with Hennessy, who took issue with how the lawsuit had been authorized.

“The crux of the issue here is that there was never a formal motion made, never a formal second made, or a formal vote to file a lawsuit against the Rules Review Commission,” Hennessy told the panel May 1 during the second day of the meeting. “And for something of that significance, I think it should have had a vote of this full commission to file suit against another state agency.”

After claiming he had been “stonewalled” by the commission and its legal counsel Mary Lucasse in seeking information, Hennessy, who was appointed to the board in 2023 by then-Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, made a motion to direct counsel to “go ahead and withdraw that lawsuit.”

In her terse response, Lucasse detailed her answers to Hennessy’s “multiple requests,” including providing records of her authorization to bring the case.

“And then, as you know, information has been given about the lawsuit at every single legal update that we’ve had since then,” she continued. “I’ve kept you advised, and this commission has continued to be aware of and approve the steps that council has taken with that litigation from the beginning.”

The Coastal Resources Commission filed the lawsuit in late 2023 after 30 rules it had approved through a required periodic rules review process were removed from the Administrative Code, a move made shortly after the Rules Review Commission that fall kicked them back to coastal commission. The lawsuit asked the court to reinstate all 30 rules.

The 10-member Rules Review Commission, which is appointed by leaders of the GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly, argued those 30 rules were vague or inconsistent with state statutes. 

After filing the lawsuit, the Coastal Resources Commission voted to temporarily restore 16 of the rules state Division of Coastal Management officials said were critical to day-to-day operations.

One of those longstanding rules designated Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern, or AEC.

In April 2024, State Geologist Kenneth Taylor confirmed that Jockey’s Ridge is a unique geologic formation that qualified it as an AEC.

A public hearing on a proposed amendment to the coastal commission’s rule governing the Jockey’s Ridge AEC was held at the end of its April 30 meeting, with four people speaking in support of the proposed amended rule. The proposed rule is nearly identical to the original 1984 rule, which protects the landmark from incompatible development and sand loss. Public comment is open through June 2.

Nags Head Mayor Ben Cahoon, one of the commenters, delivered a sharp rebuttal of the Rules Review Commission’s rationale for abruptly revoking the AEC protection in 2023, asserting the Coastal Resources Commission’s “righteous” role in protecting Jockey’s Ridge while condemning the “absurdity of the process” in which the coastal commission had been forced to spend valuable time and resources.

“But now, ideological forces that value unrestrained and excessive commerce supported by industries that are biased against environmental regulation want to erode your authority,” Cahoon told coastal commissioners.

In February, a Wake County Superior Court judge ruled in the coastal commission’s favor, and the rules commission appealed. It’s unclear how quickly the dispute can be resolved.

Related: Judge restores state’s 30 erased coastal development rules

“The CRC’s actions relating to the rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an AEC and establishing use standards are related to the rules that are part of the RRC’s appeal of the Superior Court’s March 3 amended order (of the lawsuit,)” the coastal commission said last week in an email response to Coastal Review.

“The appeal has not yet been docketed in the Court of Appeals,” the email stated. “After Appellant RRC files the record for the appeals, the parties will submit briefs to the COA (Court of Appeals.) Only after the appeal is fully briefed will the Court of Appeals decide whether to schedule oral argument. The time required for the Court Appeals to issue an Opinion varies greatly from a few months after an appeal is fully briefed to more than a year.”

Coastal Resources Commission Chair Renee Cahoon, also in addressing Hennessy’s contention, said that the lawsuit was a direct result of the legislature’s budget provision that allowed the the codifier of rules to withdraw the rules. The rules pertinent to the Jockey’s Ridge AEC designation, “just disappeared from existence — 30 or more at a time,” she said.

“It made a major impact on the people that we serve in the state of North Carolina and the 20 coastal counties,” Cahoon said. “This was a decision that was not taken lightly. It was not taken unadvisedly, and it was taken in response to, basically, the disappearance of rules.”

Hennessy is a former top aide to Republican Sen. Bill Cook who represented Dare County in the legislature. He later became a businessman with county affordable housing development contracts and dredging project contracts about which a federal grand jury sought county records and subpoenaed six county commissioners late last year.

Hennessy also questioned that it took nearly a year for the lawsuit to be filed after it was authorized as well as the expenses incurred dealing with the protracted legal action.

“It’s by law that we have to go through the rules review process,” he said. “If you don’t like it, ask the legislature to change the law, but it’s to the point of that the legislature has had to appropriate two and a half or a quarter of a million dollars to the Rules Review Commission to defend its lawsuit against us.”

Commissioner Lauren Salter responded that the state Division of Coastal Management staff tried to “resolve (the Rules Review Commission’s) nitpicking issues” repeatedly, and it wasn’t the Coastal Resources Commission that picked the fight.

“We sought relief for the people of North Carolina, so that they would know what rules were in play and not lose rules overnight,” she said. “That’s why the lawsuit was filed after 307 days. We tried everything.”

When the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission meets later this month in Manteo, members are expected to hear from the public their thoughts on reinstating protections for Jockey’s Ridge.

The commission meeting is to begin at 1 p.m. April 30 and resume at 9 a.m. May 1 in the Dare County Government Center. The public hearing on Jockey’s Ridge is scheduled for 4 p.m. April 30.

A public comment period is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. May 1. Comments may be limited to 3 minutes per person. The public can attend in person or view the meeting on the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s YouTube channel.

The Coastal Resources Advisory Council will have an in-person meeting at 9 a.m. April 30, before the commission’s regular meeting begins.

Related: Jockey’s Ridge protections one step closer to approval

The commission designated in 1984 Jockey’s Ridge, an expansive sand dune system within Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head, as a unique geologic feature area of environmental concern.

During the periodic rules review process, the Rules Review Commission in October 2023 dropped 30 rules, including the Jockey’s Ridge designation, giving as reasons a lack of statutory authority, unclear or ambiguous language, that it was unnecessary and failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act. The rules were then removed from the state administrative code.

In the time since, the Coastal Resources Commission has been going through the rulemaking process to reinstate the “unique geological feature” that is the centerpiece of Jockey’s Ridge State Park as an area of environmental concern.

The public hearing for the proposed permanent rule is a step toward restoring the area of environmental concern designation for Jockey’s Ridge in Nags Head.

In addition to the public hearing, members are to consider approving beach management plans for Ocean isle Beach and for Carolina Beach, and to vote on the fiscal analyses on a proposal to allow nonpermanent structures on decks and boardwalks on urban waterfronts, and on proposed amendments to ocean hazard area exceptions.

Commissioners plan to hold discussions on human-made ditches and ways to provide information to potential buyers about specific properties and ocean hazard areas of environmental concern.

A full meeting agenda and briefing materials can be found on the the NCDEQ website. Times indicated on the agenda for individual items are subject to change.

The Coastal Environmental Educators Network is celebrating Earth Day 1-4 p.m. April 22 at Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

Made up of representatives from Outer Banks organizations that offer environmental education, the network is hosting the fair in the visitor center parking area at no charge to the public.

In conjunction with Earth Day, Kitty Hawk Kites is teaming up with Dare Arts Council to create the Outer Banks ‘Sweep the Beach’ Trash Art Contest. Visit the Kitty Hawk Kites website for details for rules and how artists can submit their art work created with trash collected from area beaches.

After submission, artwork will be placed on the “TrART Walk” in varying locations across the Outer Banks and select pieces will be collected and moved to Jockey’s Ridge State Park and on display during Earth Fair OBX. Winners will be announced at the Kitty Hawk Kites booth at 3:45 p.m.

NEW BERN — The commission that makes decisions about coastal development is moving ahead with public comment on proposed language to reinstate Jockey’s Ridge protections previously in place for decades.

During the Coastal Resources Commission’s first meeting of the year, which was held Wednesday and Thursday in the DoubleTree New Bern Riverfront, members unanimously approved setting a public hearing for a proposed permanent rule that would restore the area of environmental concern designation for Jockey’s Ridge in Nags Head.

What is often referred to as the largest sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast, the geological feature is the centerpiece of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, which was established in 1975. The Coastal Resources Commission designated Jockey’s Ridge in 1984 as a “Unique Geologic Feature Area of Environmental Concern” and put laws in place to manage activities in and around the park boundaries.

Daniel Govoni, policy analyst with the Division of Coastal Management, reminded the commission Thursday afternoon that it must go through the permanent rulemaking process because, during the periodic rules review, the designation for Jockey’s Ridge was removed from the North Carolina Administration Code. The division acts as staff to the Coastal Resources Commission.

The Rules Review Commission dropped in October 2023 the rule language, along with 29 other rules, in large part because of the wording. The Rules Review Commission’s objections centered on what it described as a lack of statutory authority, unclear or ambiguous language, that it was unnecessary and failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act.

“As the CRC explained in its verified complaint objecting to the removal of its rules from the North Carolina Administrative Code, ‘the removal of the rules at issue deprives DCM of the ability to determine whether a permit is required or available to protect a fragile coastal natural and culture resource areas, placing in immediate danger the stability of natural sand dunes in the coastal zone due to improper sand removal and development, including at Jockey’s Ridge,’” a division representative explained Friday in an email about the effort to get the rules reinstated.

The commission last year adopted emergency and temporary rules reestablishing Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern. The commission went through the permanent rulemaking process, approved the fiscal analysis, held a public hearing and then adopted the permanent rule in November 2024.

In December, the Rules Review Commission objected to the permanent rule again, claiming that the division didn’t follow the rules for a public notice.

Govoni said the division has now complied with the public hearing rules and can move forward with the public hearing.

While work was underway to reinstate these protections, the Coastal Resources Commission had a lawsuit in the works against the Rules Review Commission about the 30 rules that were removed from the code in the fall of 2023.

Related: Judge restores state’s 30 erased coastal development rules

Wake County Superior Court Judge William Pittman ruled on Feb. 12, “in the light most favorable to Defendants, that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that Plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law” and that the “Rules Review Commission is ordered to approve Plaintiffs’ 30 rules.”

The defendant was ordered to return the 30 rules to the code. If there is an appeal, the Rules Review Commission “can identify those rules as ‘Under Appeal’ or words to that effect.”

During the meeting Thursday afternoon, the Coastal Resources Commission’s legal counsel, Mary Lucasse, shared that the Rules Review Commission had decided to appeal but didn’t know the time frame. She said that the trial had been scheduled for March 10 but that it was later changed.

Reid Wilson honors Mike Lopazanski

The commission was able to take a quick break from the agenda Thursday morning to welcome North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson and recognize former Division Deputy Director Mike Lopazanski with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award.

Commission Chair Renee Cahoon introduced NCDEQ Secretary Wilson, who she said “brings a wealth of experience in environmental protection, land conservation and government and nonprofit leadership.”

“I’ve been in this job for two months, and I’m loving it every single day,” Wilson told the commission, adding NCDEQ covers “everything from the coast to the mountains and in between.”

Wilson was on his way to Morehead City to visit the divisions of Coastal Management and Marine Fisheries headquarters there when he stopped in New Bern.

Wilson praised department staff for helping him transition to NCDEQ after serving from 2021 to 2024 as secretary of the state’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Gov. Josh Stein appointed Wilson to the NCDEQ secretary position and is waiting to be confirmed by the Senate.

“The Department of Environmental Quality benefits every North Carolinian’s life, every single day, in a lot of ways,” Wilson said, explaining that the agency protects air quality, water quality and human health and helps advance economic prosperity by funding water infrastructure projects “and not only making sure that people have safe drinking water, but that our rivers are clean, and also building the capacity of the business to come and grow and for those communities to thrive.”

Wilson commended the Coastal Resources Commission members for their dedication to protecting the coast. “I think all of us view our coastal resources as this incredible treasure,” he said, “and you all play a key role.”

While Wilson had the podium, he presented Lopazanski with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Lopazanski retired in December as deputy director of the division after more than 30 years in state government.

“This is the state’s highest honor society, and it is a huge accomplishment,” Wilson said. He thanked Lopazanski for his work to coordinate key acquisitions for the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve system, and with the Coastal Resources Commission “to adopt common sense and science-based rules. Thank you for your dedication to your job and to the coast and to the people North Carolina.”

Before Wilson and his staff resumed their trip to Carteret County, he told Coastal Review that while the two departments are similar in size, staff and number of divisions, a difference is that Natural and Cultural Resources has 100 sites around the state that it oversees, whether it’s the zoo, parks or historic sites, while NCDEQ has around 10 offices around the state and they’re offices or labs.

“But the other thing that’s different is that our work at DEQ affects everybody. Making sure the air and the water and the land are clean and healthy,” he said. “So our work is in every county, in every town, whether it’s a drinking water plant or Brownfields cleanup or a permit for a business to come in and create jobs.”

When it comes to the ongoing uncertainty that surrounds federal funding, Wilson said his people “don’t actually know yet” about any particular programs within the agency that will be impacted.

“Every day we’re monitoring whether we have access to these federal grants,” he said. “I can’t tell you which ones are available, but we’re checking it every day and waiting to see how the Trump administration responds to various court orders that would require the release of these funds.”

Also during the meeting

Members approved a variance request from at The Shoals Club on Bald Head Island for a sandbag structure double the size of the allowed 6 feet by 20 feet. Petitioners requested permission to build a 12-foot-by-40-foot sandbag structure at the site in Brunswick County that’s subject to erosion.

The other variance from a petitioner to build in the setback in North Topsail Beach was put on hold while more information is collected.

Amendments to two different rules for ocean hazard areas were approved as well as the periodic review schedule for the Coastal Area Management Act land use planning public comment and final report.

Nelson Paul, who petitioned for a rule to add to the definition of estuarine waters “All the waters’ described herein includes man-made ditches” but withdrew his request because he plans take a different approach.

The board heard during public comment on a proposed rule to allow hay bales be used as sand fencing concerns from an attorney with Southern Environmental Law Center and a biologist form the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission that the bales would impede sea turtle nesting and could introduce invasive species.

The state’s Coastal Resources Commission has unanimously adopted a proposed permanent rule to protect the tallest active sand dune on America’s Eastern Seaboard from, among other things, sand mining.

During their quarterly meeting Thursday morning in Ocean Isle Beach, commissioners unanimously approved a permanent rule identifying Jockey’s Ridge as a unique geologic feature area of environmental concern, or AEC, a designation that has received overwhelming public support.

The rule will once again go before the N.C. Rules Review Commission, which removed the AEC designation in early October 2023 after its members questioned whether the massive dune is a unique geological formation.

The coastal commission, also referred to as the CRC, adopted more than a dozen emergency and temporary rules after the Rules Review Commission returned 30 longstanding rules to the Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management.

Those rules were also removed from the N.C. Administrative Code by state Codifier of Rules Ashley Berger Snyder. Snyder is the daughter of North Carolina Senate Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham and Guilford.

She was later named along with the rules commission in a lawsuit brought by the coastal commission and Department of Environmental Quality. That case is still pending in Wake County Superior Court.

Until last fall, when the Rules Review Commission objected to a rule, the agency that submitted the rule had to request the rule be returned to make changes. If an agency did not make that request, the the objection would be merely noted in the rule and that rule would remain in the Administrative Code.

But the state budget adopted Oct. 3, 2023 included language that gives the rules commission authority to send rules it objects to back to agencies. 

Two days after that budget went into effect, the Rules Review Commission voted in a special called meeting to return 30 of 132 rules the CRC submitted for review.

The CRC adopted 16 emergency rules that went into effect Jan. 3. Those rules expired May 13 when the rules commission objected to them. 

Jockey’s Ridge, which is within Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head, was first designated as a unique geologic feature AEC in 1984. The CRC has, by the administrative rules, regulated development activities in and around the state park’s boundaries since that time.

The proposed permanent rule is largely identical to the original 1984 standards, according to coastal management officials.

The proposed rule mandates that the removal of more than 10 cubic yards of sand per year from Jockey’s Ridge will require a Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, permit.

The rule also specifies that any sand that is removed must be placed within the state park and that development within the AEC “shall not alter the movement of sand” unless necessary for road maintenance, accessways, lawns, residential or commercial structures, gardens, parking areas, or allowed by the Jockey’s Ridge State Park Management Plan.

North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission members, during the their November meeting, are expected to consider adopting rules to reinstate Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern.

The two-day meeting, which will also include an update on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, from Superintendent Dave Hallac begins at 3 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Ocean Isle Beach Town Hall, 111 Causeway Drive. The public may attend the meeting in-person or watch by web conference. The meeting is expected to reconvene at 9 a.m. Nov. 14.

The Coastal Resources Advisory Council will meet in-person only Nov. 13, at 1 p.m., also at the town hall.

An in-person public comment period is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 13.

Development activities in and around Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head have been regulated since 1984, when the commission designated the sand dune system as a unique geologic feature area of environmental concern.

In October 2023, the Rules Review Commission returned during the periodic rules review process the rules designating Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern. The rules were removed from the state Administrative Code. The commission then adopted emergency and temporary rules reestablishing the area of environmental concern and use standards, according to division documents.

The emergency rules went into effect on Jan. 3, and expired May 13, when the Rules Review Commission objected to the temporary rule. The commission decided to go ahead with permanent rulemaking on April 25, which designated Jockey’s Ridge as an area of environmental concern with use standards that are nearly identical to the original 1984 standards.

The Division of Coastal Management held a public hearing Oct. 15 at Jockey’s Ridge State Park. There were 17 oral comments all in support of the redesignation, and the division received 32 written comments also in support.

Also during the meeting Nov. 13-14, the commission is expected to consider adopting a handful of rules related to the permitting process, the fiscal analysis for the existing bridges and culverts replacement general permit, and consider oceanfront setback variances in Avon, Nags Head and Oak Island, riparian setbacks in Holden Beach, and impervious surface limits in Figure Eight Island  

A full meeting agenda and briefing materials can be found on the commission’s website. Times indicated on the agenda for individual items are subject to change.

The commission that establishes rules for coastal development held a public hearing Tuesday in Nags Head as part of its process to reinstate protections for Jockey’s Ridge.

The state’s Rules Review Commission removed in October 2023 the area of environmental concern, or AEC, designation, because it questioned whether Jockey’s Ridge is a unique geological formation.

The Coastal Resources Commission has proposed a rule to redesignate Jockey’s Ridge as an AEC, “as well as use standards to protect the AEC from incompatible development and loss of sand,” according to the website.

The Division of Coastal Management, which takes direction from the Coastal Resources Commission, is accepting public comment until Nov. 4 on the proposed rule.

Comments can be submitted to Division of Coastal Management, 400 Commerce Ave. Morehead City, NC 28557 or to DCMcomments@deq.nc.gov. Include “Jockey’s Ridge” in the subject line.

Jockey’s Ridge is the tallest active sand dune along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. The protections put in place since 1984 stemmed from concern that commercial sand mining could have a negative impact on the integrity of the dune system and surrounding environment, according to the division.

All 17 who spoke out at the hearing in the conference room at the state park asked that the AEC protections be reinstated during the meeting, according to an Outer Banks Voice report.

Coastal Resources Commission Chair Renee Cahoon told the about 40 who attended the public hearing that the AEC protections had been “dropped without even our knowledge or consent by a … power (the RRC) to just arbitrarily set the rules. So we’re trying again for the fourth or fifth time to be adopt this,” the Voice reported.

After the hearing, Cahoon continued her criticism of the Rules Review Commission to the Outer Banks Voice, suggesting nepotism was at play, and noting that the chair, Jeanette Doran, is the “President of the Senate’s daughter” and the commission has “the power to drop bills.”

Division of Coastal Management’s Policy & Planning Section Chief Daniel Govoni told the Voice that the meeting was to allow division staff to prepare a summary of comments and submit those to the Coastal Resources Commission for consideration during its Nov. 13-14 meeting in Ocean Isle Beach.

Families, teams and individuals have a little over a week to plan how they’re going win the Friends of Jockey’s Ridge sandcastle-building contest.

Set for Saturday, Sept. 14, as part of the nonprofit organization’s Dune Days, the contest for all ages and skill levels is being held at no charge at the end of the boardwalk at Jockey’s Ridge State Park near the dunes.

Dune Days kicks off at 11 a.m. with a board meeting, when hot dogs and snow cones will be available, followed by in-person registration for the contest at 12:30 p.m. Participants can register in advance by emailing info@friendsofjockeysridge.org.

The hourlong sandcastle contest that starts at 1 p.m. Judging is at 2 p.m. Prizes, which will be presented to first, second and third place winners, and rules are listed on the organization’s website.

For those wanting to stretch their legs instead, a park ranger will lead a dune hike, also at 1 p.m.

Nags Head Woods Preserve and Jockey’s Ridge State Park are among the six North Carolina sites celebrating 50 years of National Natural Landmarks designation.

Both on the Outer Banks, the two sites were designated on May 30, 1974, as were Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, Piedmont Beech Natural Area within Umstead State Park, and Mount Mitchell, Stone Mountain and Pilot Mountain state parks.

Established in 1962, “the National Natural Landmarks Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of sites that contain outstanding biological and geological resources,” according to the National Park Service, which administers the program.

The U.S. Department of the Interior designated the sites for “their condition, illustrative character, rarity, diversity, and value to science and education,” the park service website states. The first site designations were in 1964 and today there are 604 sites total in the United States.

N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary D. Reid Wilson and Division of Parks and Recreation Director Brian Strong visited Mount Mitchell State Park last week to commemorate the milestone.

“Our State Park system started at Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain in the eastern United States,” Wilson said in a statement. “The National Natural Landmarks program is critical to the preservation and recognition of these incredibly important places. We’re thrilled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the designation of these natural wonders and reiterate North Carolina’s commitment to preserve and protect our environment.”

Secretary Wilson is a member of the National Park System Advisory Board.

“We are grateful for the foresight of the National Park Service and the NC Division of Parks and Recreation who ensured the perpetual protection of these amazing places,” Director Strong said.

The late Carolista Fletcher Baum will be recognized for her instrumental role in preserving Jockey’s Ridge with a North Carolina Historical Marker.

The marker is to be dedicated during a ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, July 7, at 300 Carolista Drive, Nags Head.

On Aug. 15, 1973, Baum stood in the path of a bulldozer sent to remove sand from the sizeable dune system, convincing the bulldozer’s operator to leave. Baum co-founded the group, People to Preserve Jockey’s Ridge, rallying support through fundraising initiatives and petitions to draw attention.

In 1973, the Division of Parks and Recreation released a report advocating for the preservation of Jockey’s Ridge as a state park. A year later, the dune was designated National Natural Landmark. With the General Assembly’s allocation of funds in 1975, the dune’s preservation was secured, according to the state. Jockey’s Ridge State Park is home to the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast.

“While local organizations had previously discussed protecting the expansive dune from encroaching development, it was Baum’s unwavering determination that transformed the idea into reality,” officials said.

The dedication ceremony is expected to feature speakers including Ansley Wegner, head of the North Carolina Historical Research Office, and George Barnes, the first superintendent of Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Members of the Baum family are also expected to share stories about Baum.

Related: Officials, public celebrate new Jockey’s Ridge visitor center

A statewide effort to offer low-cost kayaking instruction will take place Saturday, May 20, at several North Carolina state parks, including a three on the coast.

The state park system, North Carolina chapter of the American Canoe Association, or ACA, and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary are offering “Kayaking 101” as part of National Safe Boating Week, which begins the same day.

Classes offered by the ACA will cost $15 per person for the day, a discount of over $35. Register at https://tinyurl.com/Kayaking-101-NC. In-person spaces are limited to 15. A free online class is also available but in-person training with a certified instructor is strongly encouraged.

Division of Parks and Recreation Interim Director Brian Strong said they love providing opportunities to paddle for our residents and visitors to North Carolina.

“Paddling comes with some of the greatest responsibility for visitors,” he said. “Being educated and prepared improves safety not only for paddlers but also for emergency personnel.”

Participating state parks are the following:

• Jockey’s Ridge State Park
• Hammocks Beach State Park
• Carolina Beach State Park
• Morrow Mountain State Park
• Hanging Rock State Park
• Cliffs of the Neuse State Park
• Lake Norman State Park
• Falls Lake State Recreational Area
• Lake James State Park
• Jordan Lake State Recreational Area

All instructors are volunteers who are nationally certified to provide paddling and rescue training. Each park’s event will be limited to 15 participants. Participants can either bring their own kayak or indicate at registration that they would like to borrow a kayak, paddle and life jacket at no additional cost.

“The volunteer instructors are excited to help out again this year to bring new paddlers into our sport,” said ACA Southeastern Chair Andrea White. ”Just one day of training can make the difference between setting yourself up for a bad experience that ruins the sport for you versus setting yourself up for a whole lifetime of paddling fun, enjoying our amazing waterways.”

These classes are made available by certified instructor volunteers and safety boaters from multiple organizations and businesses. Equipment and financial support were donated by other sponsors. All partners and sponsors have helped to make this event possible with one goal in mind: to help educate paddlers statewide who enjoy North Carolina waterways and paddlesports.

The ACA is the national accrediting body for paddle sports education.

Contact William Holman with ACA North Carolina at 910-578-392 for more information.

The 41 parks and recreation areas in the North Carolina State Parks system, nine of which are on the coast, saw record-high visitation in 2021, with Jockey’s Ridge State Park topping the list.

About 22.8 million visitors flocked to state parks last year, 3 million more than any year on record, officials announced Tuesday.

The previous record for visitation was set in 2020 when North Carolina parks saw 19.8 million visitors, despite being closed for several weeks due to the pandemic in the early part of the year. Additionally, 10 state parks reached 1 million visitors in 2021, up from seven parks in 2020. 

The nine sites on the coast are Dismal Swamp State Park in Camden County, Merchants Millpond State Park in Gates County, Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head, Pettigrew State Park in Tyrrell and Washington counties, Goose Creek State Park in Washington, Fort Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach, Hammocks Beach State Park in Swansboro, Carolina Beach State Park in New Hanover County and Fort Fisher State Recreation Area in Kure Beach.

Of the 41 state parks and recreation areas, 28 reported increases in visitation from last year. Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County reported the highest visitation with 1.8 million visitors in 2021, and was among 10 state park units that had more than 1 million visitors. The others were Carolina Beach, Eno River, Fort Macon, Pilot Mountain, and William B. Umstead state parks, and Falls Lake, Fort Fisher, Jordan Lake, and Kerr Lake state recreation areas. 

“We’re fortunate to live in a state with beautiful natural resources and our 41 state parks saw more visits than ever last year,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “We must maintain and improve these amazing parks so millions more people can enjoy all North Carolina has to offer.” 

Fort Fisher saw an increase in visitation by 46% compared to 2020, one of several parks that experienced visitation increases in excess of 30%. Other sites include Carvers Creek, Chimney Rock, Jones Lake, Lake James and Singletary Lake.

“North Carolinians in 2021 showed us how much they value state parks and trails to enhance their physical and mental health,” Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Reid Wilson said in a statement. “Fortunately, the new state budget invests heavily in new state and local parks, trails, and greenways to meet growing public demand.”

The 2021-22 state budget allocated an additional $91 million for state and local parks and trails and beach access, plus $29 million for state trails projects. The Division of Parks and Recreation will also receive 30 new permanent field positions, $10 million to create park facilities for veterans and those with disabilities, and $40 million in water and sewer upgrades, according to the state.

“This record visitation year shows us that people need new space to recreate and learn outdoors,” said State Parks Director Dwayne Patterson. “People clearly value not only having more space to roam and explore, but revitalizing and caring for them.”

Rhana Paris, outreach coordinator at the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island, turns the beach of Jockey’s Ridge State Park into an outdoor classroom and teachs students about water quality. Photo: Corinne Saunders

Justin Barnes, a ranger at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, holds up an aquarium he used for fish caught in a seine net. The fish were later released. Photo: Corinne Saunders

NAGS HEAD —
The first group came sprinting down the final sand dune on the back side of Jockey’s Ridge, so eager to begin they literally couldn’t contain themselves.

Group after group of eighth-grade students from First Flight Middle School completed the roughly 15-minute hike from the museum at Jockey’s Ridge State Park to the edge of the sound on Friday, May 3, where they dispersed to various leaders waiting along the shore.

They were about to spend 2.5 hours doing restoration work and hands-on learning about the diverse ecosystem surrounding them.

The sun shone and the wild spring wind was mostly blocked by the dunes.

I had traveled to the site minutes before with Park Ranger Justin Barnes in the park-owned Polaris—a four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle sometimes used to transport handicapped visitors or dignitaries to the top of the dunes.

Also riding in the Polaris were Dewey Hemilright, a commercial fisherman of 25 years based out of Wanchese; and Rhana Paris, the outreach coordinator at the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

My three travel companions all led groups of students in specific explorations, as did N.C. Coastal Federation staff members and other volunteers.

The school has close to 200 eighth-grade students. “It took us three days to get them all out,” said Sara Hallas, a regional educator for the federation.

Sixty eighth-graders were bused to Jockey’s Ridge May 3.

The Nature Conservancy, Jockey’s Ridge State Park, N.C. Aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, Hemilright and other volunteers helped the federation over the three days.

Erin Fleckenstein, right, talks about a yucca plant with some eighth-graders at First Flight Middle School. Photo: Corinne Saunders

Erin Fleckenstein, coastal scientist and the manager of the federation’s Northeast Region office in Manteo, explained the need for restoration work to two curious passers-by. She told them how the nearby Villa Dunes subdivision had, in the 1970s, begun expansion plans by removing all the nearby vegetation and even creating a roadbed before Carolista Fletcher Baum led the charge 40 years ago to create a state park.

In 2009, restoration work began. Grant funding was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the NOAA’s collaboration with the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership, the Carlson Family Foundation and the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program.

Project partners are Jockey’s Ridge State Park, N.C. Coastal Federation, The Nature Conservancy and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

They used recycled Christmas trees and sand fencing to build mini-dunes, then built an oyster reef in the nearby shallow sound water, Fleckenstein said. Oysters clean the water by filtering it, and oyster reefs encourage new oyster growth.

Once the sand and water were more stabilized, they planted marsh grass in between.

As Fleckenstein told a group of students later, “sand fencing helps slow down the sand so it doesn’t suffocate our marsh grass.”

More marsh grass will be planted in coming months, but it is still growing in a greenhouse now, Hallas said.

Students focused on repairing mesh bags full of recycled oyster shells the first two days and invasive plant removal on this final day, Hallas explained.

The oyster reef is hundreds of bags of oyster shells stacked in a row, with a break in the reef every 100 feet so water can come in and out.

Two students help Park Ranger Justin Barnes with the net in a catch-and-release activity to study local fauna.

Marsh grass was planted in between the oyster reef and the shore as part of restoration work. Photos: Corinne Saunders

A football team from up north on alternative spring break and local eighth-graders helped in the initial phase of the reef, forming a human chain and passing bags to be stacked to create the reef, said Aaron McCall, northeast region steward for The Nature Conservancy.

Now the focus is reef maintenance.

Bill and Frances Smyth, volunteers who live in the Alligator River area, helped with the day’s project of invasive plant removal. The focus was rattlebox, a non-native species that spreads rapidly.

The Smyths participate in such federation projects in part to learn about preserving shoreline and native plants, so they can translate the knowledge to how they maintain their own property, Frances said. They also like the young leadership of the federation, she added.

Ernest Boyce, another volunteer, also helped with rattlebox removal. He saw the project on the federation calendar and took time off from his work at East Carolina University so he could help.

“This is my first time hands-on helping them,” Boyce said. “I’m trying to do more than just write a check.”

McCall spoke to his group of students about oyster reef ecology. The oyster reef is home to baby flounder, trout, eel, striped mullet, crab and shrimp. He took a bag from the reef and shook it above sand to show students a variety of these creatures before placing them back in the water.

As the students saw baby eel twisting in his palm and juvenile crabs scuttling toward the water, even those who had been reluctant to become involved were gripped with enthusiasm.

Barnes, meanwhile, was leading a catch-and-release program nearby. Taking a seine net, he caught shrimp, baby croaker and other fish near the oyster reef. He put the catch in a small clear aquarium for the students to study up close before returning the animals to the sound.

Hemilright has partnered with Hallas in a school program called Provider Pals. He gives a presentation to students explaining “if we don’t have clean water, we don’t have seafood.”

He showed his group a sword his buddy crafted from a swordfish bill, as well as mako and dusky shark jaws.

“Look at the rows of teeth,” he pointed out. As soon as one falls out or breaks off, another in a long line-up of back-up teeth within the jaw replaces it.

Paul Seyler studies a baby crab he found in the oyster reef. Photo: Corinne Saunders

Paris spoke to her group about lunar-driven ocean tides and wind-driven sound tides. The wind had blown the sound out today, but she pointed to the visible high-tide line.

Paris explained the sound is brackish water—a mix of saltwater and freshwater. She led the students in testing the sound’s pH, which turned out to be a neutral seven; DO (dissolved oxygen), which was seven or eight parts per million; and nitrates (nitrogen), which was two.

Paris noted it is desirable to have a low nitrates reading, but good there is a high DO, since fish breathe the oxygen in the water.

Hallas told me her students completed a runoff matching activity. When I arrived at her group, they were categorizing plastic animals by species and figuring out which were marine mammals and why. They were also deciding which marine mammals could be seen locally, such as river otters and bottlenose dolphin.

Fleckenstein’s group sketched flora of their choice. As I approached, I heard her tell a student she drew a yucca plant, which will have white flowers in the summer. “You guys are great scientific observers,” she said.

Every so often, the groups would switch, allowing the students to participate in a variety of fun, educational experiences.

I asked three students what they had learned.

“I learned about all the different plants, saw all their vibrant colors, and you can eat some of them,” said Natashia Moore. “But I didn’t, because people step on them and animals poop on them.”

“I learned how the marsh is important and how it cleans out the water,” said Kayli Martin. “We think it is a poopy thing but it actually helps clean.”

Morgan Brinkley agreed. “A lot of people think it’s just the marsh, but it’s really helpful to where we live.” She also liked “how they use natural things to protect it.”

It seems the oyster reef behind Jockey’s Ridge has become a thriving natural habitat, and also an effective outdoor classroom.

Related Stuff Worth a Look

• Plants and animals of the salt marsh
• Values of an oyster reef
• What’s a ‘living shoreline’?