The North Carolina Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, is asking for volunteers to help to remove trash and debris at the Hoop Pole Creek Nature Preserve in Atlantic Beach.

This project is set for 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Oct. 21, and is part of the Coastal Federation’s broader effort to ensure the North Carolina coast is free of marine debris.

Organizers said volunteers should dress for a morning outdoors. Closed-toed shoes are required, and sturdy shoes for walking in wet areas are also recommended. Boots are appropriate if you choose to walk along the water’s edge. Trash bags, gloves and other cleanup materials will be provided.

Those younger than 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

The preserve is at Milepost 3.5 on N.C. Highway 58.

Organizers asked those who plan to attend to preregister so they can plan supplies accordingly.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation and Carteret County invite past and prospective volunteers to help protect a Cedar Island shoreline, one plant at a time.

Thirty volunteers are needed from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 15  to help plant upland grasses and perennial flowers that will help protect the area from erosion and create wildlife habitat.

Volunteers will meet at the end of Mariners Village Lane by 10 a.m. and should wear weather-appropriate clothes that can get dirty. Closed-toed shoes that cover the foot are required. Volunteers should also bring a water bottle, hat, sunglasses and any necessary medications. Snacks, water, sunscreen, bug spray, gloves and planting tools will be provided.

This event is limited to 30 people and registration is required.

For more information, contact Rachel Bisesi at 252-393-8185 or rachelb@nccoast.org

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

This story has been updated to include funeral arrangements.

Dr. Joe Ramus was not the man with whom to debate science willy-nilly.

Ever the consummate critical thinker, Ramus was that person who knew that he knew the science upon which he built a storied career here on the North Carolina coast. Ramus, a professor, prolific researcher, former Duke University Marine Laboratory director, and past president of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Board of Directors, died Tuesday, Sept. 22.

As news of his death last week passed through the halls of the higher learning institutions and in the offices of the organizations to which Ramus devoted his time and talents, friends and former colleagues reflected on memories of the man known for his sharp, often dry wit who was passionate about understanding and protecting the coast.

“I considered Joe my older brother and Joe kind of treated me that way too,” Dr. Hans Paerl said with a chuckle during a Sept. 24 telephone interview.

That brotherly bond forged after Paerl, now a retired professor and researcher at the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, landed a job exactly the same year and in exactly the same coastal North Carolina county as Ramus.

By that point in time in 1978, Ramus had been a teacher and researcher at Yale University for some 10 years.

Ramus explained in a 2014 interview with Coastal Review that he enjoyed teaching at the prestigious university, but that Yale lacked a marine lab.

“Yale had a field station on Long Island Sound, and I spent as much time there as I could, but it wasn’t enough,” he said.

Naturally, Ramus did not hesitate when he saw Duke University’s advertisement for an open position at its Beaufort-based marine lab.

“I had 10-year plans: Yale for 10, Duke for 10, then somewhere else,” Ramus said in 2014.

But life and its funny way of upending even the best laid plans spare few, including Ramus, who fell in love with Carteret County and Jackie, a local girl he later married. They were husband and wife until his death.

Paerl who, coincidently enough, lived across the San Francisco Bay from the Ramuses’ Walnut Creek, California, home after his family moved from the Netherlands when he was 10, also applied for the job at the Duke Marine Lab, as well as one at Carolina’s IMS.

“It turned out that it was kind of a preordained marriage because John Costlow, who was the director of the Duke Lab, and Dirk Frankenberg, who was the director of our lab at UNC, they actually got together and decided well, why don’t we just have Joe go to Duke and Hans go to UNC,” Paerl said. “That started our long research careers that complemented each other really well because we needed some plant people at the coast at that time. It was a strong emphasis on fisheries and larger animals and mammals, leaving a big research gap in the role of plants in the coastal environment.”

Ramus’ research focused on larger coastal plants like seagrasses and seaweed. Paerl studied algae.

Together, they mentored graduate students, co-supervised various committees and researched plants in the coastal zone.

They would eventually team up in 2000 to create the FerryMon project, which equips North Carolina Department of Transportation ferryboats with specialized sensors and automated water samplers to collect and monitor environmental data in real time.

“It’s been a very successful merger of scientific expertise and interests, and it’s served the state extremely well because there is nothing out there monitoring water quality in Pamlico Sound on a day-to-day basis,” Paerl said. “FerryMon really filled that void.”

He credits Ramus for securing funding for the project long after money granted through the N.C. Disaster Relief Fund dried up.

“He was a great salesman. He knew how to use the right words with politicians and with the decisionmakers and I just went along with it,” Paerl said.

“Once you got over the fact that he sort of had to pontificate every now and then it was actually a great relationship,” he continued. “He had an interesting way of lecturing where he would not talk down to you but had this kind of air of confidence when he got up there on the stage. And, you know, he had every reason to be confident because he was a very smart guy and 90% of the time, he was right. I let him know about the other 10%.”

Ramus was awarded the Order of the Longleaf Pine, one of the highest civilian honors in the state, in 2019 for his contributions to science and education, and his environmental leadership as president of the Coastal Federation Board of Directors. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Even into retirement, their careers continued to parallel. Paerl was bestowed the same honor earlier this year.

Duke University marine biology professor and former lab director Dr. Andy Read explained in a telephone interview Ramus’ role in overseeing the integration of the marine lab into what is today the university’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

“Joe liked to say that that was a very critical time for the marine lab because it gave us an intellectual home. Until that time, the lab had been pretty separate, and I think a lot of people at Duke didn’t really know that we had a marine lab,” Read said.

Forming the school, “really gave us a sense of mission to understand environmental issues that affected our coastal waters,” he said. “That was what he was passionate about, particularly about Pamlico Sound, and understanding both the natural and the anthropogenic factors that kind of forced those systems that we rely on so much.”

Read shared how the two would refer to one another by their line in succession as directors of the lab.

“He used to refer to me as Number Seven because I was the seventh director for the Marine Lab, and he was Number Four. So, we referred to each other as Number Four and Number Seven, which is pretty typical of Joe’s dry sense of humor,” he said.

“He did not suffer fools gladly, I will say that,” Read continued. “There are times that Joe would look at you from behind those glasses of his and you got the sense that what you were saying was being very carefully evaluated. You better be right and you better have the facts supporting your argument because Joe would look very critically at things for sure. He had high standards for science. He expected the people around him to have equally high standards and I think he expected people in positions of authority to appreciate the value of the science and what it means in terms of making decisions that could affect the quality of our environment and the quality of people’s lives.”

Coastal Federation founder Todd Miller remembers his first encounters with Ramus in the 1980s when the Coastal Federation was still a fledgling organization.

“He was a well-known scientist, and I would say intimidating in some respects before I got to know him well,” Miller said. “He just didn’t accept what you said. You had to present your case. I think he just didn’t take things on face value, so you had to be beyond your game if you were going to be convincing with him.”

Miller explained Ramus’ involvement with the Coastal Federation grew over time. And though the science was “always there, front and center in terms of his perspective on things,” Ramus was steeped in his community. He enjoyed spending time on his boat, fishing, and cycling.

“Joe’s legacy lives in the work he helped strengthen and in the people he encouraged to ask harder questions, listen more carefully and keep going,” Miller stated. “I will miss his counsel, his humor and his friendship.”

Those who wish to contribute in his memory, and in lieu of flowers, may donate to the capital campaign for North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Coastal Center or to the Ramus Fund at the Duke University Marine Lab.

To contribute to the Coastal Federation, visit the nonprofit’s “Give in Memory of Joe Ramus” page or make checks payable to the North Carolina Coastal Federation, P.O. Box 1360, Newport NC 28570, noting “Joe Ramus” on the memo line.

To contribute to the university fund, checks should be made payable to Duke University Marine Lab, with “Ramus Fund” noted in the memo line. Address: Duke University Marine Lab c/o The Ramus Fund, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd., Beaufort, NC 28516.

Founder’s commentary

The North Carolina Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

In July, nearly 50 scientists, restoration practitioners, community leaders, government officials, and conservationists from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom gathered at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, around a deceptively simple question: What will it take to make our coasts more resilient for people and nature — and restore coastal habitats at the scale and speed now required?

After three days of discussion, one conclusion stood out:

We increasingly know how to restore coastal ecosystems. Our greatest challenge is creating the partnerships, financing, science, policies, and community capacity needed to put that knowledge to work at a much larger scale.

When many of us began this work decades ago, coastal restoration was largely experimental. Today, projects around the world demonstrate that wetlands, oyster reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, rivers, floodplains, and coastal forests can be restored to improve water quality, support fisheries, reduce flooding, store carbon, provide habitat, and protect communities.

The Need for Scale

Restoration has matured from a collection of individual projects into an international movement. Our ambitions must mature with it.

Too often, we still proceed one project, one permit, and one grant at a time. Meanwhile, sea level rise, storms, declining water quality, habitat loss, and a warming climate operate across entire landscapes. We need sustained efforts encompassing whole rivers, estuaries, and coastlines — not scattered projects lasting only a few years.

Scientist Kevin Kroeger introduced us to the concept of LUNEs — Large Unreplicated Natural Experiments. At the scale at which restoration increasingly must occur, we cannot always wait for small, replicated experiments to answer every question before acting. Large restoration projects can themselves become carefully monitored experiments where scientists, practitioners, landowners, and communities learn together and adapt as conditions change.

The Cost of Moving Too Slowly

Events in Nepal provide a terrible reminder that the question of scale is not academic. A massive glacier and ice-rock collapse high in the Himalayas unleashed an immense half-billion-ton avalanche, triggering catastrophic flooding through the valleys below. The unprecedented disaster has claimed nearly 1,000 lives, with more than 4,000 locals and tourists still reported missing.

Scientists will need time to determine precisely how climate change contributed to this event. But it occurred against a clear backdrop of climate-driven change. Warming temperatures are melting glaciers and thawing permafrost, destabilizing high-mountain landscapes and increasing risks to communities below.

Nepal is thousands of miles from the coastlines we discussed in Townsville, but the lesson is painfully relevant. We experienced our own warning in North Carolina when Hurricane Helene brought catastrophic flooding to mountain communities in and around Asheville — far from the coast where we have traditionally focused much of our climate resilience work.

These events remind us that climate change does not respect boundaries between mountains, rivers, estuaries, and oceans. Places once considered relatively safe are increasingly vulnerable to impacts that can cascade across entire landscapes. They should not come as surprises, but as stark warnings that nowhere is immune—and that incremental responses will not be sufficient for changes occurring at this scale.

Adaptation — restoring wetlands, protecting floodplains, improving early-warning systems, and making communities more resilient — is essential. But adaptation alone cannot be our strategy. Unless the world also reduces emissions and ultimately removes some of the carbon already accumulating in the atmosphere, we will continually be adapting to a climate that becomes more difficult, expensive and dangerous to live with.

That is why one of the most provocative discussions in Townsville was also one of the biggest.

Scale in the Ocean

Kroeger challenged us to think at an almost unimaginable scale.

Beneath many coastal regions lie enormous deposits of limestone and other alkaline minerals. If we can learn to use these materials safely and efficiently to increase ocean alkalinity, we may be able to enhance natural processes through which the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it in stable dissolved forms. Such action is likely necessary to remediate ongoing acidification of the oceans, since ceasing emissions will not be enough to restore healthy ocean acidity levels. Adding alkalinity to the oceans can be viewed as ecosystem restoration on the grandest scale.

The quantities involved would be enormous. Removing a billion tons of carbon dioxide annually through some mineral-based approaches could require processing and moving well over a billion tons of mineral material each year—approaching the scale of major global mining, shipping, and energy industries.

But perhaps that is Kroeger’s larger point.

For two centuries, humanity has constructed an extraordinary global infrastructure to extract fossil carbon from underground and transfer it into the atmosphere. Addressing that legacy may ultimately require comparable ambition to harness natural minerals, ocean chemistry, and other processes capable of moving some of that carbon back out.

Even a regional effort illustrates the challenge. If the Southeast U.S. Atlantic coast someday sought to remove 100 million tons of carbon dioxide annually through mineral-enhanced ocean alkalinity, deployment would have to occur on an enormous scale. The precise amount of mineral required would depend on its composition and how quickly and efficiently it reacts, but a mature program could require placement of 100 million tons or more each year, sustained for decades. Achieving that scale would require a major industrial system of mines, processing facilities, railroads, barges, ports, energy infrastructure, and extensive environmental monitoring.

Carbon removal at meaningful scale begins to look less like a conventional restoration project and more like building an entirely new industrial infrastructure.

The science is not ready for that scale today. Ordinary limestone cannot simply be spread into seawater and expected to solve the problem. We need to determine how minerals can be processed and dissolved efficiently, understand ecological effects and energy requirements, reliably measure actual carbon removal, and demonstrate that benefits substantially exceed impacts.

But that was precisely one lesson from Townsville: We need to begin testing solutions capable of eventually operating at scales commensurate with the problems we have created.

Scale on Land

Thinking big does not apply only to the ocean.

Coastal farms, forests, and other undeveloped working lands may become some of our most important restoration opportunities in coming decades. A farm or managed forest can potentially become tomorrow’s wetland, floodplain, or marsh migration corridor. Once that same land is covered with roads and buildings, those opportunities may disappear permanently.

That means partnering with willing farmers, foresters, and other landowners now — not necessarily to remove land from productive use, but to help keep working lands economically viable and undeveloped while preserving future restoration options.

Don’t Just Preserve — Restore

We also need to change how the world thinks about landscapes that have already been damaged.

Conservation has understandably emphasized protecting the best natural places that remain. But achieving coastal resilience will also require reclaiming wetlands and other habitats that previous generations drained, ditched, cleared, or otherwise degraded.

In coastal North Carolina, we intend to pursue international recognition under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for a major restored wetland landscape. The point is not simply another designation. We want to demonstrate that internationally significant wetlands do not have to be places that escaped human alteration. They can also be landscapes that people had the vision and persistence to bring back.

Recognizing outstanding restored wetlands alongside pristine ones would send a powerful message: Restoration can recover some of what we have lost.

We hope our partners in Australia, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere will identify exemplary restored landscapes of their own so we can learn from one another.

Communities Must Own the Effort

Perhaps the most important lesson from Townsville is that restoration cannot succeed as something done to communities — or even simply for them. It must be done with them and ultimately become something communities see as their own.

For people who live and work along the coast, restoration is not primarily about acres of wetlands or miles of shoreline. It is about whether homes are safer from flooding and storms; whether pollution threatens fisheries, tourism, aquaculture, and recreation; and whether communities can withstand events capable of undermining economies built over generations.

Residents, landowners, businesses, fishers, farmers, Indigenous communities, local governments, and other interest holders also possess knowledge that can make projects better. Their participation builds the trust and long-term commitment needed to sustain restoration long after an individual grant ends.

When healthier wetlands, rivers, reefs, forests, and estuaries also mean cleaner water, stronger fisheries, reduced flood risks, economic opportunity, and safer communities, restoration stops being someone else’s environmental project.

It becomes a community investment worth protecting.

Regulation Must Catch Up

Restoration projects need strong environmental safeguards. But regulatory systems should evaluate restoration differently from projects that primarily cause environmental harm. Rather than focusing only on potential risks, regulatory decisions should weigh those risks against the environmental benefits of restoration—and the consequences of doing nothing. The goal should be rigorous review that protects the environment while enabling projects designed to restore it.

We need faster permitting pathways for proven restoration practices, coordinated agency reviews, science-based performance standards, and where appropriate, pre-approved categories of restoration projects.

Practitioners have responsibilities, too. Better permitting requires complete plans, sound science, and meaningful interest holder engagement. Reform should mean making good restoration easier — not lowering environmental standards.

Invest Like It Matters

Finally, none of this happens without sustained investment.

Government grants alone cannot meet the need. Wetlands, reefs, floodplains, forests, and other natural systems should increasingly be viewed as essential infrastructure — worthy of investment because they protect communities, improve water quality, sustain fisheries, conserve biodiversity, store carbon, and reduce future risks.

If we are serious about restoring entire coastal landscapes rather than isolated projects, our financing systems must become capable of supporting that ambition.

The Path Forward

The Townsville Summit did not produce one new solution. It produced something potentially more important: recognition that we must match the scale of our solutions to the scale of our problems.

Participants challenged the international community to at least double the pace and scale of coastal restoration, protection, and resilience investment by 2035.

That is ambitious.

It needs to be.

The encouraging lesson from Townsville was that people separated by thousands of miles are wrestling with remarkably similar problems — and developing solutions that can help one another.

The knowledge exists. The partnerships are growing. The consequences of moving too slowly are becoming increasingly visible.

Now we must make our coasts more resilient for people and nature, restore what we have lost, and begin confronting the forces driving these changes — at the speed of need.

Todd Miller helped organize the international Townsville Coastal Restoration Summit with Nathan Waltham of James Cook University and Roger Proudfoot and Eve Leegwater of the UK Environment Agency. The summit brought together scientists, restoration practitioners, community leaders, government officials, and conservationists from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to explore how coastal restoration can be advanced at the scale and speed now required.

Local governments from the 20 coastal counties are invited to participate in the second of two North Carolina Marine Debris Action Plan workshops aimed at increasing the resiliency and enhancing the management of residential docks and piers and abandoned or derelict vessels in their communities.

Hosted by the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, these workshops will provide crucial resources and knowledge to implement effective inspection programs for docks and ordinances addressing abandoned and derelict vessels, aka ADVs, in their jurisdictions.

The workshop will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 15 at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Washington Regional Office (Hearing Room), 943 Washington Square Mall.

”Local governments are often the first call when an ADV or floating dock appears on the waterway or in the marsh,” stated Coastal Federation Marine Debris Program Director Ted Wilgis. Providing toolkits with resources, contacts and guides to respond to these issues is the goal for this workshop.

The North Carolina Marine Debris Action Plan workshops will provide local governments in the 20 coastal counties with resources for implementing an inspection program for residential docks and piers and for developing and implementing a program or ordinance regulating these vessels.

Since 2019, more than 6.3 million pounds of large-scale marine debris and ADVs have been removed from North Carolina coastal waters. While progress is being made in the removal and reduction of marine debris and abandoned vessels, it is much less expensive and easier on the environment to prevent the occurrence of these types of debris. Enhancing local governments’ abilities and tools to proactively manage residential docks and piers and ADVs in their jurisdictions will greatly expand marine debris prevention efforts, organizers said.

The workshop is offered for local governments, agency partners, marine contractors, engineers, community leaders and other interested individuals. Participants will get opportunities to learn about and discuss the following:

• Incorporating resilient residential docks and piers into local building codes.
• Addressing ADVs through ordinances, the state program, and accessing support.
• Engagement opportunities through the North Carolina Marine Debris Action Plan: 2026-2030.
• Resources, guides, and toolkits for adopting and implementing their own programs.
• Panel discussions will feature local and regional stakeholders sharing real-world experiences, implementation challenges, lessons learned and opportunities for continued collaboration.

Lunch will be provided, along with coffee and light refreshments in the morning. Full or partial mileage reimbursements may be available.

Continuing education credits available include the following:

• American Institute of Certified Planners, 4 Certification Maintenance credits: Wilmington, ID 9332178; Washington, ID 9332180.
• Certificate of Participation, 4 hours, provided to self-file for other professional credits such as engineer PDHs.

The workshop was also offered in Wilmington for local governments, agency partners, marine contractors, engineers, community leaders and other interested individuals in August.

These workshops are made possible by support from a 2023 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program and support from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Register for the Washington Workshop.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation has created an online resource to support communities that want to better understand and respond to abandoned and derelict vessel issues.

“The Abandoned and Derelict Vessels: Toolkit for Local Governments” was created “to provide a guide for local governments as they work to address the many issues surrounding abandoned vessels, including responsible removal and disposal, as well as preventative approaches that can help reduce the number of ADVs,” the organization said Thursday in a release. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The toolkit offers a step-by-step guide to help understand the roles and authorities involved with managing abandoned vessels, along with information on how to respond to calls about ADVs, planning for removals, and helpful advice from other local governments that have their own successful program. 

“Local governments are on the front lines when it comes to responding to abandoned and derelict vessels,” Coastal Management Program Director Kerri Allen explained. “But knowing where to start can be challenging. We created this toolkit to make that process easier by providing practical resources, lessons learned, and tools that communities can use to develop effective abandoned and derelict vessel programs that fit their unique needs.” 

Abandoned and derelict vessels can create navigational hazards, threaten water quality, damage sensitive coastal habitats, impact tourism and waterfront economies, and become costly burdens for state agencies, local governments, and property owners. 

“Almost 500 abandoned and derelict vessels have been removed from North Carolina’s coastal waters over the last seven years by local governments, state agencies, and the Coastal Federation,” Marine Debris Program Director Ted Wilgis said in a press release. “Each vessel removal is a complex, lengthy, and expensive process.” 

The toolkit also has a checklist of items to have and consider before adopting a local abandoned and derelict vessel ordinance and stresses the need for community education around the topic.

“While significant progress is being made through the cooperation of stakeholders, the ADV problem persists. Even when there are no major storms, dozens of vessels are abandoned each year due to the costs of storage, maintenance, and insurance. Providing resources and support to local governments will help prevent more ADVs and streamline the removal process,” Wilgis said.

The toolkit was made possible with the 2023 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

MANTEO — Over two days last week, the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission and its advisory panel viewed presentations with vivid views of battered oceanfront buildings, severely eroded beaches and remains of various sand barriers and traps designed to hold back ocean forces.

With legislation that would repeal the state’s landmark ban on hardened structures parked in a state Senate committee awaiting further action, the commission had asked its Science Panel and agency staff to provide updated information in a report on the effects of seawalls, jetties and other permanent erosion control structures on the open ocean coastlines.

After months of research and minor tweaking, the final report, “Effects of Hard Structures on Sandy, Open-Ocean Coastlines.” was presented to the commission during its Aug. 27 meeting at the Dare County Government Complex. But through each iteration, the analysis remained consistent: Blocking or trapping sand at one area of beach takes sand from another area of beach.

According to the Division of Coastal Management’s recently updated erosion data, 140 miles of the state’s 320 miles of ocean shoreline are eroding at an average annual rate greater than 2 feet; 135 miles at less than 2 feet yearky; and 100 miles of beach is accreting. Some of the highest erosion rates are on the Outer Banks, where 32 oceanfront houses have collapsed in Rodanthe and Buxton since 2020.

“There is such desire — and it’s completely understandable — to stop long-term, chronic erosion,” Science Panel Chair Laura Moore told commissioners during her presentation about the final report. “Yet in some cases, there’s a desire for a solution, but there really isn’t a solution. What we can do is buy time.

“It’s like getting older, right?” she said. “The inevitable is going to happen, but we can make choices that allow us to do what we want to do for longer …  and long-term chronic erosion that’s been occurring for hundreds of years in these particular places is a little bit like that.”

Boiled down to its essence, not much has changed in the rationale since 1984, when North Carolina was one of the first states in the nation to ban the structures. Except now the state is not alone.

“Every state is moving away from hardened structures, but there’s not a complete ban,” Daniel Govoni, N.C. Division of Coastal Management policy section chief, told the commission, summing up a presentation of 17 coastal states’ current policies.

While Govoni said that it was difficult to compare the complexities of permitting erosion control structures, in general, he concluded, they all preferred beach nourishment and retreat, and the majority discouraged the structural measures.

‘What is the intent?’

For a long moment, members of the panel sat silently, pokerfaced. Soon, Commissioner Jordan Hennessy asserted that some measures may still be worth trying: “I think there are processes in other states we can look at,” he said.

Member Joseph Hollowell followed, asking what would happen “if some miracle comes along” that is a hardened structure that is banned in North Carolina.

“What is the intent of the science committee?” he asked. “Is it to formulate a campaign to keep the law as it currently is? Was it to be innovative … creative?”

Commission Chair Renee Cahoon responded that the CRC was “not trying to rewrite the law.” Instead, she said, the panel is trying to understand the options so it can provide recommendations to the legislature.

The commission decided at this point to interrupt the discussion to allow CRC Assistant General Counsel Christy Goebel to provide her overview of the hardened structures law, which began life as commission policy in January 1985. The ban was upheld in court in 2000, and the policy became state law in 2003. Then, in 2011, a law was passed that allowed four terminal groins, which trap sand near inlets or the end of islands, as pilot projects. The opening has since been expanded to allow seven groins.

Even with the law in place, structures have been allowed to protect infrastructure like roads and bridges as well as historic structures.

Today, she said, there are at least 15 hardened structures on the North Carolina shoreline. Sandbags, which have always been permitted as temporary structures, are currently allowed to stay in place for eight years. At least 12 sites currently have large sandbags as protective measures on the beach.

Hollowell then made a motion to support the proposed legislation to “do away with” the current hardened structures ban. That would open consideration of “all kinds of new technologies that seem to be out there,” he said.

Hennessy seconded the motion.

But Cahoon objected: “That’s asking this commission to take a political stand, which is not something the commission will do,” she said.

As an alternative, she suggested consulting with the North Carolina Collaboratory, which was established in 2016 by the General Assembly to handle research needs and provide expertise on state issues. “If the legislature passes a bill, they will ask us for direction.”

Commissioner Steve Shuttleworth asked for clarification on the motion.

“I would have a hard time supporting or opposing a motion to support something that I don’t understand what they’re asking us to vote on,” he said. “At the end of the day, my two cents, it’s political. It’s been political for 40 years. Sometimes the legislators go one way, and sometimes, now, they want to go a different way.”

Another commissioner, Katherine Skinner, also questioned whether such a motion was premature, considering that the proposed bill was stalled in committee.

“I feel incredibly uncomfortable backing a bill that has not had full debate in the House and the Senate,” she said. “And we are picking a side that we are not being well-informed on.”

The motion failed in a 6-4 vote, with three members abstaining. Then Hennessy followed with a similar motion, which also failed.

‘Life Is Full of Tradeoffs’

In his presentation on Aug. 26 to the Coastal Resources Advisory Committee, titled “Erosion Management Options, Life Is Full of Tradeoffs,” Spencer Rogers, a member of the Science Panel, detailed how waves and currents interact to transport sand to and from the beach. “The beach changes at rates that are far beyond what most people appreciate,” he said.

It is the water depth that controls the height of waves as they head to the beach. With shallower water, friction starts to slow down the wave, Rogers said. When the wave breaks, it forms a smaller wave. Even during a Category 3 storm in North Carolina, he said, the largest wave on land is likely about 6 feet.

Rogers said the wave-breaking phenomenon is critically important in thinking about development on the coast.

“That 30-foot wave is going to break miles offshore, not on your house,” he said.

Even though ocean currents don’t sound very fast — the Gulf Stream, for instance, is considered speedy with its typical 5 mph pace —  but they move tons and tons of sand daily.

On high-energy beaches, such as those on the Outer Banks, the coastal processes that move sand are intensified. That may explain why beach nourishment cannot be assumed to always mitigate the erosion created by hard structures like revetments or offshore reefs.

“The problem with that approach is that almost every place that is likely to come forward with an erosion problem … beach nourishment has already failed,” Rogers said.

Successful beach nourishment requires a moderate erosion rate and regular maintenance, he added. When the erosion rate is too high, which is likely the case in Buxton, “you really can’t afford long-term beach nourishment,” he said.

“And if beach nourishment is successful, you don’t really need a structure,” Rogers said.

The tradeoff between having a beach or protecting a structure works at Fort Fisher, which has an erosion rate of 10 feet and no beach, he said. But the historic structure is protected.

Such a tradeoff, Rogers noted, would no doubt be “more difficult” in locations like Nags Head.

In a letter to the division in support of the Science Panel’s report, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, said the hardened structures policy was a product of years of research and observation of impacts in other states.

“The report does not suggest that hardened structures are a solution without consequence,” wrote Ana Zivanovic-Nenadovic, the Coastal Federation’s chief program officer. “Rather, it demonstrates that these approaches involve significant tradeoffs that must be carefully weighed against their limited and localized benefits. At a time when sea level rise, stronger storms, and increasing coastal development are creating unprecedented challenges, North Carolina should continue to lead rather than retreat from the principles that have guided coastal management for decades.”

As the CRC wrapped up its hardened structures discussion on Thursday, several members expressed continued optimism that perhaps new technological advances in erosion-control methods, such as reef balls or offshore breakwaters, could offer reasonable mitigation to chronic erosion. But so far, Moore responded, the future offers no easy or ready solution.

“The Science Panel has reviewed all technologies that are available and there is not anything new and flashy on the horizon,” Moore said. “This is a so well-known, challenging problem that’s been addressed in different ways with differing degrees of success and adverse impacts along coastlines throughout the world for a long time. So there’s just not a magic silver bullet.”

Those in the real estate business can learn more about the pros, cons and processes associated with living shorelines for erosion control via an online workshop set for next month.

The North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve in partnership with the Brunswick County Association of Realtors will present “Promoting Living Shorelines for Erosion Control – A Virtual Workshop for Real Estate Professionals” 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. via Webex. Connection details will be emailed once registered, which is required.

Real estate professionals will receive four elective continuing education credits from the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.

Workshop participants will also learn about different shoreline stabilization techniques, including living shorelines, the permitting process, the use of marsh plants and oyster shell to prevent erosion. The session will also cover a toolkit for designing and building more storm-resilient docks and piers.

Whitney Jenkins, training coordinator with the Coastal Reserve, which is part of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, will present “Living Shorelines: Benefits and Limitations,” according to the session agenda.

The reserve’s training program, since 2003, has provided “coastal leaders and professionals with science-based training opportunities to promote informed decisions regarding our coastal resources,” according to its webpage. This access to relevant scientific research and training is presented to improve understanding of the coastal environment and the impact of local decisions on coastal resources. 

Also on the agenda, Mariko Polk, a coastal policy specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant, will present estuarine shoreline-stabilization design techniques.

Genny Ivec, a marine fisheries technician with the Division of Coastal Management, will cover living shoreline permitting details.

Georgia Busch, coastal specialist with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, will discuss best practices for working with marsh plants and oyster shell.

Coastal Federation Coastal Advocate and Coastal Management Project Director Kerri Allen will cover the organization’s Resilient Docks and Piers Toolkit, which was developed in 2025 for homeowners, contractors, and local governments in response to the reinstatement of standards for residential docks and piers in the state building code.

“This resource combines practical guidance with real-world examples from communities across the state to make resilience achievable and relevant for all coastal areas,” according to the Coastal Federation, which also publishes Coastal Review. The organization said these standards for residential docks could be crucial in helping reduce marine debris during storm seasons, because most debris is attributed to poorly built docks and piers.

“The majority of the debris we see after storms comes from broken-up docks and piers that were never built to withstand serious weather,” said Allen in a press release at the time. “These new codes give us a real opportunity to protect our coastlines, our wildlife, and our neighbors from the impacts of that debris.”

Third in a series

Another year brought another wave of arguments over shellfish leases in North Carolina coastal waters.

Before summer officially began, legislators added language to a bill that would temporarily ban new leases in the waters behind Topsail Island. This provision was tacked onto legislation originally written to extend New Hanover County’s shellfish lease moratorium another five years, through to 2031.

This was the second consecutive year that representatives from Topsail Island’s three towns attempted to pause new leases in Stump and Topsail sounds.

House Bill 1113, sponsored by Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, also included a provision to extend a moratorium on new shellfish leases in Carteret County’s Bogue Sound until July 1, 2028. The bill was withdrawn from the legislative calendar and sent to the House rules committee on June 18. It hasn’t moved since.

New Hanover County’s request to continue blocking new leases from its waters was tucked into the state budget Gov. Josh Stein signed July 7. The law grants the county a two-year extension, not the five years originally sought.

That’s two more years that prospective shellfish farmers or those looking to expand their business will remain shut out of the waters in North Carolina’s two southernmost coastal counties. Brunswick County has had a shellfish lease moratorium in place since Harry S. Truman was in the White House.

Lease moratoria and poor water quality have resulted in areas closed to shellfish harvesting farther north, effectively bottlenecking growers into waterways that are still open, including those around Topsail Island in Onslow and Pender counties.

Clashes over shared public waters are not likely to ebb with the tide as North Carolina’s aquaculture or mariculture industry expands.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries received by its Aug. 1 deadline 49 shellfish lease applications for six counties: Carteret, Dare, Hyde, Onslow, Pamlico and Pender, according to information provided by the division.

New lease applications cover a combined 55 acres of bottom and water columns. That includes 15.75 acres in Bogue Sound, where what turned out to be a seven-year moratorium expired on July 1.

In total, six lease applications were submitted for Onslow and Pender counties – four for Onslow and two for Pender.

“We have heard from some private residents and also some fishing guides and some commercial interests about their concerns about, in particular, column leases,” said William Snyder, chair of the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission. “We know that those concerns are still out there. I think that you could say that there’s some disappointment that we were not able to get the moratorium first and then get a study to confirm or deny the concerns that we have.”

Balancing act

On a positive note, he said, two studies on shellfish leasing — one commissioned by the General Assembly and one lead by North Carolina Sea Grant in partnership with the Coastal Federation — are examining how to balance future shellfish lease site selections, help shape future policy to protect the industry, and ease user conflicts.

“We’ve got to hang our hats on how these studies play out and listen to see what that tells us in terms of conflicting uses of our public trust waters,” Snyder said.

The North Carolina Collaboratory is expected to present an interim report on its study at year’s end.

Last week, Sea Grant and the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, launched an online survey asking oysters growers in Pender and Onslow counties to share their experiences and perspectives on the use of public trust waters.

The organizations are hosting a meeting next month for shellfish growers.

Back in April, local elected officials, private property owners and recreational water users were invited a public meeting with Sea Grant and Coastal Federation representatives to discuss their concerns about leases in Stump and Topsail sounds.

People at that meeting overwhelmingly expressed worries about water column leases, or those where shellfish growers use floating gear to grow oysters at the water’s surface. Floating cages, they argued, impede boating and kayaking access, infringe on popular fishing spots, and impact waterfront viewsheds.

Recommendations shared with Sea Grant and Coastal Federation staff will help shape updates to the North Carolina Strategic Plan for Shellfish Mariculture, a plan commissioned by the General Assembly in 2017. This document is effectively the state’s roadmap for a sustainable shellfish industry.

The organizations also anticipate publishing next year a Geographic Information System, or GIS, database pinpointing areas where leases may or may not be suitable in the waterways behind Topsail Island.

“It’s important to acknowledge that many residents have some concerns about navigation and access and those are important to take into consideration as part of the conversation, just as the benefits of shellfish aquaculture,” Coastal Federation Chief Program Officer Ana Živanović-Nenadović told Coastal Review last month. “But ideally, those conversations should happen without having to close water bodies to new leases.”

Days after Bogue Sound’s shellfish lease moratorium expired, Carteret County Commissioner Marianne Waldroup and Rep. Celeste Cairns, R-Carteret, held a meeting with state fisheries officials, aquaculture specialists, marine scientists, the N.C. Fisheries Association and other stakeholders to discuss ways to minimize potential user conflicts in the sound.

Carteret Community College Aquaculture Department Chair David Cerino attended that meeting.

Cerino, who also grows shellfish, explained that there aren’t that many sites ideal for shellfish aquaculture in Bogue Sound. Areas dense with submerged aquatic vegetation, or plants that grow under water, portions of the waterway permanently closed around the Morehead City port, and areas closed to unexploded military ordnance, cut down lease space, he said.

“I think once it was shared that there wouldn’t be leases everywhere because they can’t site them there, most of the town representatives were less opposed to it being open for leases,” Cerino said.

The group agreed to hold future talks about identifying low-conflict spots in Bogue Sound and potential buffer zones from the land.

A history of public opposition

About 34% of the state’s coastal waters are permanently closed to shellfish harvest because of pollution and lack of monitoring capacity, according to the 2021-25 Oyster Restoration and Protection Plan for North Carolina.

Today, 6% of coastal waters remain closed to new shellfish leases, according to the Division of Marine Fisheries.

New shellfish enterprises have been blocked from waters in Brunswick County since 1949. Farther north, new leases have not been permitted in Core Sound since the mid-1990s. In 1996, legislators approved a permanent ban on new leases in the sound.

Those moratoria were implemented because of public backlash that leases violate the public trust, according to an April 2020 division report.

“Historically, public opposition to shellfish leases resulting from user conflicts has been a major concern,” states the report. “Shellfish moratorium have been imposed in recent years in areas where user conflict issues have been especially acute.”

Cerino called moratoria a “knee-jerk reaction” and a “nuclear option of just eliminating something because you’re maybe worried about a specific circumstance.”

“What that does is it funnels people to the areas that are still open because a lot of people are wanting to get into this business,” he continued. “I would like to see a moratorium on moratoriums, but I’m biased. They basically take away the opportunity to establish sustainable businesses that have positive environmental impacts and employment opportunities and increase our seafood production and improve local economies and water quality. There are definitely areas where we shouldn’t have shellfish leases, but they are not entire sounds, entire waterbodies that should be closed off.”

The rise in user conflicts has driven up the numbers of legal challenges against the Division of Marine Fisheries, according to the report.

But no growth goes without challenge, Živanović-Nenadović said.

“I think our waterfronts are consistently changing with our human activity. When you build a marina, you change the waterfront,” she said. “When the Coastal Federation builds a living shoreline, we change the waterfront. It’s important to always remember that those are valid and compatible uses of our public trust water bodies and have been deemed to have benefit to society, and that’s why they’re allowed and why we have a public permitting system in place for those uses.”

The challenge, she said, has been and continues to be bringing people together “to get to a point of shared values and understanding and accepting that these water bodies are for everybody to use.”

In 2019, the General Assembly charged the fisheries division with identifying potential shellfish aquaculture enterprise areas, or SEAs, in waters closed to new leases. SEAs are designed to speed up shellfish lease permitting and help reduce user conflicts by grouping leases in large pre-permitted areas.

The state had not established one of these areas at the time this story was published.

North Carolina Sea Grant and the North Carolina Coastal Federation are inviting oyster growers in Pender and Onslow counties to share their experiences and perspectives on the use of public trust waters.

The information gathered through a survey and focus groups will help ensure that future recommendations for shellfish mariculture development are grounded in the practical experiences of North Carolina’s shellfish growers while supporting a balanced approach to coastal resource management.

North Carolina Sea Grant is leading this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-funded project in partnership with the Coastal Federation to improve future shellfish lease siting in North Carolina. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Through surveys, focus groups, and participatory mapping exercises with oyster growers and other coastal stakeholders, the project will examine potential use conflicts with commercial and recreational fishing, boating, waterfront property owners, and other coastal water users. The goal is to identify practical solutions to help inform future shellfish lease siting. Additionally, findings will support policy recommendations ensuring future siting decisions are informed by both stakeholder input and real-world experience on the water. 

In addition to the survey, North Carolina Sea Grant and the Federation will host two focus groups for oyster growers from Pender and Onslow counties in September. The discussions will provide an opportunity for growers to expand on their survey responses, participate in mapping exercises, share local knowledge, and discuss opportunities and challenges related to shellfish lease siting with project partners. 

Oyster growers in Pender and Onslow counties interested in participating are encouraged to complete the survey and indicate their interest in attending a focus group at the end of the questionnaire. Meeting details and location information will be sent to those who register. 

Anyone who resides, works or plays in North Carolina’s 20 coastal counties interested in marine debris management is encouraged to take part in planned workshops to offer tools for eliminating or addressing abandoned and derelict vessels and encouraging better construction standards for docks and piers, often a source of storm-related pollution.

The Local Government ADV and Resilient Docks workshops are scheduled for Aug. 28 in Wilmington or Sept. 15 in Washington. Both sessions will run 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Register online to secure a spot.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation and the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve are leading the two workshops that will provide resources for implementing an inspection program for residential dock and piers, and for developing and implementing a program or ordinance for abandoned and derelict vessels.

Panel discussions will feature local and regional stakeholders sharing real-world experiences, implementation challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities for continued collaboration.

Among the resources are the Resilient Residential Docks and Piers webpage and the N.C. Marine Debris Action Plan: 2026-30. Resilient Docks and Piers is a toolkit that offers best practices for design and construction, permitting guidance, sustainable materials and legislative updates. The Marine Debris Action Plan is a multiagency, five-year effort to reduce marine debris in state waters.

Lunch will be provided, along with coffee and light refreshments in the morning. Full or partial mileage reimbursements may be available.

These workshops are made possible through the support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s office in the Wilmington area is holding later this month its quarterly “Ask an Advocate,” a casual coffee chat with Kerri Allen, the nonprofit’s coastal management program director and coastal advocate.

The discussion is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Fred & Alice Stanback Coastal Education Center in Wrightsville Beach. Those wishing to attend are asked to reserve a spot using the online form.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, is a member-supported nonprofit that focuses on protecting and restoring the North Carolina coast with offices in Carteret County and the Outer Banks as well.

“People care deeply about our coast, but sometimes they aren’t sure where to start or how they can make a difference,” Allen explained about the opportunity to discuss coastal management strategies and local and state issues.

“Ask an Advocate is about opening that door and helping people better understand the issues, answer questions, and find meaningful ways to get involved. We want folks to know that their voice matters, and that when communities are informed and engaged, they can have a real impact on the decisions that shape our coast,” she added.

Geologist Dr. Stan Riggs quoted the scientist Loren Eiseley, who said, “If there’s magic on this Earth, it’s contained in water,” to the more than 150 gathered Saturday for the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s 23^rd annual Pelican Awards.

“And water, if you think about it, is everywhere,” Riggs continued. “It’s everything. It’s what we’re made out of. It’s what drives our coastal system. Where the water comes in contact with the land, that’s a high, high-energy environment. Not on a pretty, sunny day, but when the storms come in, you know there’s energy there. There’s wind. There’s water. There’s power, and we have to learn to live with that. Doesn’t mean we pack our suitcases and walk away. We have to understand it.”

Riggs, professor emeritus of geology at East Carolina University, was at the podium inside Carteret Community College’s Joslyn Hall accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award “For Distinguished Leadership and Lifetime Excellence in Coastal Research, Science, and Stewardship.”

He was among the 13 individuals and groups recognized this year by the nonprofit organization’s staff in its office in Wanchese, headquarters in Carteret County, and office in Wrightsville Beach.

“Today we honor extraordinary people and partnerships that are making a lasting difference for North Carolina’s coast through collaboration, dedication, and shared commitment. Our honorees are helping to ensure a healthier coast for generations to come,” April Clark, president of the organization’s board of directors, said early in the program.

Riggs, who has been studying the coastal environment for more than 60 years, told the crowd that he had spent his career working with others to take a holistic approach in understanding the planet. About 15 years ago, he and other researchers representing a range of disciplines began pooling their resources to learn about North Carolina’s coastal systems.

“In 2010, there was a big change in North Carolina,” when some laws put in place in the 1970s and 1980s were threatened, and there was a population surge putting pressure on the coastal system and “we understood the science, but the science doesn’t do a darn bit of good for anybody if it’s just in a scientist’s head. And one of the things that became clear was that we weren’t making the science available to the public.”

He and a group of partners decided to start a foundation called North Carolina Land of Water, or NCLOW, that focuses on the education and application of science and its dissemination to the public. Then, in the late 2010s, he realized that there was a lot of information and data that nobody would ever see.

“So, I decided to sit down and start writing a book. One book led to two books, led to  — all of a sudden, I was up to number 10,” books that “I didn’t know what to do with.”

He then approached a bunch of publishers, but with the first book being around 850 pages, and wanting lots of photos, maps and history, a mixture of everything in the book, these companies “finally pointed their finger at me and said, ‘We’re in a business to make money, and you’re talking about a $200, $300 book,’” he said, in describing the rejections.

“I finally realized that ‘OK, if we’re going to make this happen, we got to do it ourselves’ but then it means we need a team of people who know how to do this,” he said, and a team appeared, leading to the recently published volume 1, “Cape Lookout National Seashore: Paradigm for a Coastal System Ethic.”

Riggs closed with words written by photographer and poet, John Riggs: “If water is life; abundant water is abundant life. And abundant life is abundant Spirit. She not only thrives in these wild places, she dances, she sings aloud, and she rages. My how she rages!”

Coastal historian

Historian Glenn Blackburn, professor emeritus of history at University of Virginia’s College at Wise, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award “For Excellence in Coastal History and Conservation Writing.”

Blackburn, author of “Saving Great Places” and “A Spectacular Coast and Its Guardians” spent the last two decades researching the Coastal Federation’s growth from when it was founded in 1982 to becoming a leader in coastal protection and restoration.

Blackburn told the audience that he first learned about the organization 20 years ago when learned how the organization spent 10 years fighting the development of an undeveloped island that was habitat to birds and turtles. Then he learned about a fight early in the organization’s history to stop peat mining on the Albemarle peninsula, saving thousands of acres of wetlands.

“Shortly after that, the Stump Sound fight,” when the organization teamed with the community to stop a developer from ruining oysters and fishing in the Onslow County waters.

It “began to hit me,” Blackburn continued. “This is an environmental group that wins. That’s unusual. This is a story that needs to be told. That’s what got me started on these two history books.”

During his opening remarks, Executive Director Braxton Davis shared a list of the organization’s milestones, including that later this year the organization plans to have a grand opening for its new headquarters called the Coastal Protection and Restoration Center and event venue, Pelican Landing, located on N.C. Highway 24.

The effort to raise the funds to build the new center began in 2020, construction began in February 2025, and staff have moved in over the last month.

With the grand opening planned for this fall, the organization recognized its Capital Campaign Cabinet with a Coastal Visionary Award “For Extraordinary Leadership and Commitment to Establishing the Coastal Protection and Restoration Center.”

Chief Development Officer Sarah King, when presenting the award, said the “truly inspirational” group’s steadfast work “allowed us to raise over $10 million to establish new coastal protection and restoration center.”

As part of the Coastal Visionary Award, King recognized honorary chair, Hugh Cullman, who “was actually the very first person that we shared this idea with, and he was so encouraging.”

Vic Medlin, speaking for the family members attending, accepted the posthumous award for Cullman.

“He loved the North Carolina coast,” and “completely believed in the federation’s vision of providing a better place to live, work, and visit, and he believed in that vision, and he showed it in his donations,” Medlin said. “And on behalf of the Cullman family, we’d like to say thank you again.”

Cabinet Chair Charles C. Meeker said the campaign was a team effort and reminded him “that the federation has a lot of friends, friends who care about the federation and its work, friends who are willing to give substantial donations to make the campaign a success.”

Northeast coast awards

Joy Cook “For Leadership and Dedication to Coastal Protection, Recreation and Cultural Resources.”

Now retired, Cook dedicated nearly 30 years to North Carolina State Parks, including nine as superintendent of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, thanked the organization and its staff for being “one of the easiest and most wonderful relationships that I’ve had the honor of working with.”

Jayne Young “For Outstanding Volunteer Service Advancing Coastal Environmental Education.”

The retired educator, who was recognized for volunteering her time supporting coastal environmental education and inspiring students, told the audience that it is “an honor to be recognized for something we just have so much fun doing.” Having been an educator, “you never know the one that’s going to come back to you years later and say, ‘Well, remember when we did this, and because of that, we’re doing this now.’”

Sean Ellis “For Exceptional Volunteer Contributions to Coastal Stewardship and Community Service.”

The organization said Ellis is being recognized for his countless hours supporting the oyster shell recycling program and maintenance projects around the Wanchese office.

Ellis, who was unable to attend, said in a recording that the award means a lot to him, and thanked his family for their support, his friends at the Coastal Federation, and “most of all you, the sponsors and people who are here today, who keep this program going. Thank you for your continued support and confidence.”

Central coast awards

North River Laurel Road Ladies Outreach Committee “For Grassroots Leadership Advancing Coastal Resilience and Community Action.”

Based in Carteret County’s North River, Laurel Road, and Merrimon communities, the grassroots group was recognized for being trusted leaders and advocates who have “united neighborhoods, amplified local voices, and built partnerships that are helping these historic coastal communities respond to increasing coastal hazards,” according to the organization.

President Matilda Stewart and Vice President Mary Ann Monroe told the crowd that they were truly honored to receive the award on behalf of their community, adding that the “achievement belongs to us as a whole group. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it is that our big goals are only achieved with the help of others.” 

Jason Vanzant “For Inspiring Future Coastal Stewards Through Education and Partnership.”

The schools in parks specialist for Hammocks Beach State Park was previously a classroom teacher who focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, that has partnered with the Coastal Federation to connect students with nature-based solutions.

Vanzant said that he is both honored and humbled to receive the award that represents so many others, including the staff, rangers and superintendent of the state park.

Thomas L. Kirmeyer and Nan Bowles “For Dedicated Partnership and Commitment to Advance Watershed Restoration.”

The Coastal Federation recognized the couple for demonstrating “extraordinary conservation leadership” for selling their 8.25-acre waterfront property along Ward Creek in Carteret County at half its market value.

Bowles said that when she is asked what she does, “I respond, I’m a member of the marsh community of Ward’s Creek, along with my husband Tom and our dog Spot. We live on the edge of the forest, on the edge of the marsh, on the edge of Ward’s Creek, which flows in two directions, on the edge of North River, on the edge of Back Sound, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, with water that flows around.

“In the 37-plus years we have lived here, we have gained interconnections with members of the community. Community members such as the other people who live on our road. Leaping lizards, jumping frogs, the mosquitoes who remind us of the importance of, that we can offer respect and honor, even when someone irritates Us. Dragonflies who are skillful at changing direction. Great blue herons who show us how to see the bigger picture. The marsh grass, black needle rush, and vibrant green spartina grass, both of them having strong, firm roots, and the jumping mullet bringing us healthy humor and laughter. And when we dig beneath these interconnections, we discover stories and lessons that have to point us the way to being the best humans we can be.”

Southeast coast awards

Lindsay Addison “For Dedicated Partnership Advancing Coastal Habitat Conservation and Restoration.”

The coastal biologist for Audubon North Carolina has spent more than a decade protecting coastal birds and their habitats.

Addison told the audience that she is appreciative and honored that the Coastal Federation selected Audubon North Carolina’s Coastal Program for this award and recognition.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say Audubon North Carolina manages 40% of the state’s nesting coastal waterbirds, and the way I feel about that is I feel to be a very fortunate, very lucky observer of these of these birds, these habitats, and in these landscapes,” Addison said, adding birds are an important part of the overall coastal ecosystems, and important indicators of the health of the coast.

Conserve the Point “For Community Leadership in Protecting and Stewarding the South End of Topsail Island.” 

The nonprofit organization based on Topsail Island formed in 2022 to preserve and protect the south end of Topsail Beach, called The Point, from development. In 2024, the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust purchased the 150-acre property to save the undeveloped property.

The group’s secretary Nancy Pettens, said on behalf of the board, that the award is a “tremendous honor” that belongs to every donor, every volunteer, everyone who thought this place was worth saving. “Most of all, I think it belongs to the Topsail Beach community, near and far, whose passion and generosity made it a reality for us and for future generations.”

Warren Darrell “For Outstanding Volunteer Leadership in Coastal Resilience and Community Engagement.”

The organization called him an “exceptional volunteer whose passion for learning and sharing coastal science inspires communities across southeastern North Carolina.”

“I love this coast,” Darrell said. “The work of the Coastal Federation helps to mitigate the harmful effects of global warming by absorbing atmospheric carbonate our shoreline from erosion and by providing his biological habitat.”

Coastal media partnership

Coastal Review, which is published by the Coastal Federation, this year recognized the Hatteras Island-based online news service, Island Free Press “For Excellence in Collaborative Coastal Community Journalism.”

The two publications have partnered for the last decade to expand coverage of critical coastal issues affecting Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.

Editor Joy Crist said she and owner Donna Barrett were “beyond honored to receive this award” and thanked the Coastal Federation for “allowing us to cover so many stories that are positive or hopeful in a news cycle that’s busy and sometimes discouraging.”

Funding has been cut for a state-run environmental education program and the two-member team that manages the 30-plus year outreach effort, a move widely criticized by educators and environmental groups.

Gov. Josh Stein on July 7 signed the $34 billion 2025-26 budget, the first full budget in more than two years, but it did not include the $275,000 needed to run the North Carolina Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs.

The office’s Environmental Education Program Manager Lisa Tolley and Environmental Education Program Consultant Marty Wiggins told Coastal Review during a conversation last week that, just days before the Fourth of July holiday, they had confirmation that their program and positions had been eliminated.

“We’re trying to figure out the path forward for the program,” Tolley said. “That’s where we are.”

There had been talk about the office within the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality being axed during summer 2025 when the North Carolina General Assembly attempted to draft a budget, but when the process stalled, a mini budget was passed that didn’t address the program.

In addition to establishing the first Environmental Education Certification Program in the nation, the now-eliminated office is a hub of environmental education information that connects educators with resources, events, grants, jobs and facilities through the website, online calendar, and email lists.

In a 12-month window, more than a million have interacted with the office through its website, event calendar and social media, which its website states.

Since finding out that the Office of Environmental Education, often called the O of EE or OEE, was eliminated, the public has been rallying behind the office. They’re showing their support by sharing their stories online and with representatives ahead of the legislature reconvening Monday. That’s when committees are rumored to begin reviewing budget corrections.

The nonprofit Environmental Educators of North Carolina, which collaborates with the state-run program, encouraged the public to reach out to House and Senate members “about how the resources and programs provided by the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs supports your work, your job training, your classroom, your community, or your business. Ask them to propose a technical correction to the state budget that will reinstate funding to support administration of the EE Certification program and the technical support and resources they provide.”

This is not the first time funding has been in jeopardy. “We have faced this challenge before — in 2011 and in 2017 — and work from the EE Community and supporters saved this vital office, and we can do it again,” the nonprofit states.

Wiggins said Wednesday that he and Tolley both were overwhelmed by the support for the program.

“Several program participants have shared how participating in the Environmental Education Certification program has changed their lives and has helped them find jobs, start their own businesses or create new career pathways. North Carolina has the strongest environmental education community in the country, and we are proud of the work we have done to support educators, schools and communities,” he said.

NCDEQ leadership has spoken out about the program being eliminated. NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson explained to the Environmental Management Commission during its meeting July 9 in Raleigh that the budget was overall “very positive for this department,” but there are concerns.

“One, the budget eliminates the Office of Environmental Education and the two employees who work there,” Wilson said, noting that the “incredibly successful and helpful program” had been around for 30 years, “and it is no more. So, we are trying to figure out what to do with that.”

He told the commission that the program has certified more than “1,600 educators and that knowledge has been spread to thousands and thousands of children, K through 12.”

The department also noted its concern in a press release the day prior about the budget eliminating the office, which has a long history of supporting K-12 educators to advance science education, and improving “public’s environmental literacy and stewardship of our natural resources.”

A DEQ spokesperson told Coastal Review that, as of Wednesday, there had been no update on the program’s status.

Tolley explained how the office got its start in the mid-1990s to reduce inefficiencies in the state government. At the time, there were smaller environmental education programs offered throughout the state, and the Office of Environmental Education was set up to streamline access to these resources.

“In the late ’90s, when the fish kills happened on the Neuse River, the staff got an appropriation to do an education campaign on river basins. I was hired to do that, and so the river basin highway signs you see are part of that campaign around the state,” Tolley said.

More program managers were brought in who focused on K-12 education, adult education, and then partnerships with business and community, but over the years cuts have brought the staff down to the two, she said, adding that they have worked really hard “to form partnerships with other groups so that we could operate a large statewide program with just two people.”

Tolley said that the office partnered with 10 other states to develop the custom form to add events to the calendar, jobs board and grants.

“The main program we run is the Environmental Education Certification Program, and that’s for classroom teachers, informal educators like park rangers or those at science centers, science museums, or botanical gardens, to name a few.

“We really are set up to serve teachers and educators throughout the state, and we kind of have used the program to build the capacity across the state for other small counties and big counties to offer environmental ed programming,” she said.

Tolley said last week that there were 600 currently working to earn certification, and there are more than 700 who maintain active status with the program.

The self-paced effort requires educators to complete seven instructional workshops, 50 hours of outdoor environmental education experiences and 30 hours of experiences that promote awareness of the state’s environmental education resources to earn the certification. Certified educators are required to complete 50 hours of continuing education every five years to maintain an active status.

The office also has partnered with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to host livestreamed talks, and with the state Department of Public Instruction to cohost gatherings of classroom teachers and nonformal educators like those at science education facilities and offers a K-12 environmental literacy plan for teachers.

The state office collaborates with the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, an organization that has tailored many of the programs and workshops to meet certification requirements.

Wiggins said that, since it’s just him and Tolley, they don’t have the capacity to teach workshops, but the nonprofit has designed what it offers to meet certification program guidelines, “That’s been a great partnership.”

Renee Strnad, Project Learning Tree state coordinator whose office is housed in N.C. State University Extension Forestry, is a past president of the nonprofit. She directs the environmental education curriculum, which provides professional development to K-12 educators to help them implement environmental education in their classrooms.

Strnad was hosting a Sustainable Forestry Teachers Experience workshop Tuesday in Alamance County when she took a few minutes to speak to Coastal Review about how much she values the environmental education office.

“For me, the whole idea that the office serves as this clearinghouse, as a one-stop shop, helps me advertise my programs to educators broadly. It’s very difficult to get information out to teachers directly.”

She added that the office has close ties with the Department of Public Instruction, which ensures that nonformal educators are aware of the newest language or pedagogy that they need to help teachers include environmental education in their classroom. The office serves as a “connection point for all those state agencies that are also trying to reach K-12 educators, kind of that bridge to the Department of Public Instruction,” she said.

Strnad acknowledged that there is criticism about the intentions of environmental education, but the certification program “outlines what good environmental education is, that you’re not taking a stance.”

The educator learns how to offer information that helps people think critically about issues and understand that a solution to an environmental problem in their community might not work in another community because of varied factors. The program also helped legitimize environmental education as a field, and many states have used North Carolina’s EE certification program as a model and a basis for theirs.

“We were the first state in the country to actually do an environmental education certification program, which was mandated by the state with the Environmental Education Act,” in 1993, she said. The environmental education program formalized a way for people to call themselves environmental educators.

It’s sad knowing that the state has this amazing history and other states have looked to North Carolina as a model program, and the funding is completely being cut, Strnad said.

The education team at the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, are all certified. Education Director Sara Hallas, who joined the nonprofit organization in 2008, said that the state program helped shape her as an educator.

“Since I moved here from out of state to start working, it greatly impacted my ability to refine my skills and knowledge about the NC coast and its unique habitats. It was a tremendous resource that helped me build a set of teaching tools when I was just starting my career; these tools are still useful today,” Hallas said in an email. “Additionally, they provide continued support through networking with other EE professionals across the state. The certification is well designed and requires continued education hours, which have helped me stay sharp and continue learning new things! I hope they can find a solution to continue being a resource for North Carolina.”

Publisher’s Perspective

North Carolina’s coast is one of our state’s greatest assets. It is an economic engine, a source of food and livelihoods, a natural defense against storms, and an irreplaceable part of our heritage.

That is why the budget recently approved by the North Carolina General Assembly deserves recognition. It makes meaningful investments that will benefit the coast, and the entire state, for years to come.

At a time when bipartisan accomplishments can seem increasingly rare, legislators came together to protect our waters, strengthen coastal communities, and ensure that future generations inherit a healthier, more resilient coast.

Among the important achievements is the establishment of permanent funding for the removal of abandoned and derelict vessels. These boats are more than eyesores. Left unattended, they pollute coastal waters, damage marshes and oyster habitat, threaten navigation and become even more hazardous after hurricanes.

For the past several years, the North Carolina Coastal Federation has partnered with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, and other organizations to build the state’s largest abandoned vessel removal program. Hundreds of vessels have been removed from public waters in the years following Hurricane Florence. That work has relied on a patchwork of temporary state, federal and private funding. Without a permanent solution, the program was in jeopardy.

The General Assembly changed that in this year’s budget by providing recurring funds to remove abandoned and derelict vessels. With stable funding, North Carolina can respond more quickly after storms, attract additional federal dollars and keep dangerous vessels out of our coastal waters for years to come. Sen. Michael Lee of New Hanover County deserves special recognition for his sustained efforts and support for this funding.

The budget also supports projects that improve water quality, strengthen coastal resilience and help preserve the natural resources that sustain both our economy and our quality of life. Healthy coastal waters and habitats support commercial and recreational fishing, tourism, military readiness, property values and local jobs throughout coastal North Carolina. Taken together, these investments recognize that protecting the coast is not simply an environmental priority, it is an economic one.

These accomplishments did not happen by accident.

They reflect years of collaboration among legislators, state agencies, local governments, conservation organizations, fishermen, business leaders and coastal residents who understand that good stewardship and a strong economy go hand in hand.

Sen. Norm Sanderson and Rep. Celeste Cairns, both representing Carteret County, also deserve particular praise for their leadership on the Coastal Federation’s budget requests this year.

And I want to recognize the many members and supporters of the North Carolina Coastal Federation. Our ability to advocate effectively — in coastal communities and in the halls of the Legislative Building in Raleigh — is possible only because thousands of citizens, businesses, foundations, and other partners invest in our mission. Their support gives us the expertise, credibility and persistence to work across party lines and help turn good ideas into public policy.

Advocacy is often measured by what makes headlines. More often, however, it is built through patient relationship-building, sound science, practical problem-solving, and a willingness to find common ground. This year’s budget demonstrates what can happen when those ingredients come together.

Of course, our work is far from finished. North Carolina continues to face growing challenges from storms and flooding, aging infrastructure, development pressures and changing coastal ecosystems. Meeting those challenges will require continued partnership, innovation, and sustained investment.

This budget reminds us that protecting North Carolina’s coast is not a partisan issue. It is an investment in our economy, our communities and the natural legacy we will leave to future generations. That’s something every North Carolinian can celebrate.

Coastal Review photographer Dylan Ray is the 2026 Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year in the North Carolina Press Association’s annual editorial contest.

According to the association, “The Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year award recognizes a photographer’s body of work for the contest year and is the most prestigious photography award we give.” The award is named for the photographer, developer and conservationist born in Wilmington in 1921 who “was part of the post-World War II era of tourism development in North Carolina and was friends and colleagues with notables from across the state,” according to a biography on the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources website. “He took close to a quarter-million photographs which are now part of the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives at UNC-Chapel Hill.”

Judges, in selecting Ray for the photography award, were to consider content and composition along with technical quality and ability to convey a story. See the gallery of Ray’s work below. Click on an image to see the context in which it first appeared.

Coastal Review competes against about two dozen other publications in the association’s online-only division. In all, Coastal Review received five awards.

Coastal Review Staff Writer Trista Talton was recognized with the first-place award in the News Enterprise Reporting category for “Oak Island residents say oceanfront lots unsuited for homes.”

Catherine Kozak received second place in the Beat Feature Reporting category for “Red Wolves Recovery Efforts,” an entry that included “Biologists heartened by red wolf program’s recent successes” and related coverage. Kozak was also recognized with a third-place award in Beat News Reporting “Barrier Island Challenges.” This entry included a two-part series, “Shifting sands, hardened beaches: A new review,” and other stories about erosion, the loss of homes and revived old coastal policy debates as pertaining to the Outer Banks.

Coastal Review Assistant Editor Jennifer Allen was awarded a second place in the Multimedia Project category for “‘Smell of money’: Menhaden Chanteymen’s music still echoes.”

The awards are for work published between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026.

Editors and publishers were notified of the contest decisions this week, with results downloaded alphabetically by administrators and sent out. Coastal Review was notified around midday Thursday.

The association plans to announce all winners, including the General Excellence awards, Sept. 10 during the association’s annual convention at the Embassy Suites in Cary.

“We will have a full day of sessions, training, networking, and a reception to kick off the evening,” said North Carolina Press Association Member Services Director Katie Mozingo in the email notification.

Contest organizers expressed thanks to contest judges from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association “and numerous volunteers nationwide.”

Coastal Review is a daily, nonprofit, news and feature service covering the North Carolina coast and published with editorial independence by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group dedicated to protecting and preserving the North Carolina coast. Coastal Review provides objective reporting, information and commentary on issues, policy and notable figures and history with a specific focus on the environment and people of the state’s 20 coastal counties. 

Lawmakers on Thursday sent their approved and long-awaited budget to Gov. Josh Stein, who on Tuesday signed the $34.4 billion spending plan, one that includes notable coastal environmental spending and policy provisions, as well as a blow for commuters who rely on the state ferries that have long been free to ride.

Republican leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly unveiled the measure, Senate Bill 257, on Tuesday, June 30. Despite short notice and the exclusion of Democrats in negotiations, the bill passed both chambers last week with bipartisan support. It’s the state’s first full budget in more than two years.

On Thursday, Stein told reporters he would carefully weigh its provisions, some of which further diminish the governor’s appointment powers.

“North Carolinians expect their elected officials to come together across our differences to deliver for people,” said Stein in a statement released upon signing the budget, in which he also added that the budget addresses serious concerns such as clean, safe water and disaster recovery.

Stein said the budget “makes meaningful investments” in community colleges and increases salaries for teachers and public safety officers. But the measure “has real flaws” and “unconstitutional and wrong-headed provisions,” the governor said.

“The legislature slashed more than 1,000 state government positions, making it harder for us to keep people safe and healthy,” Stein said in the statement.

The budget includes a provision mandating that the North Carolina Department of Transportation begin charging tolls on the state’s four free vehicle ferry routes. The measure does not set fare amounts. This prompted Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, and Sen. Norman Sanderson, R-Pamlico, to cast preliminary “no” votes earlier last week, but both senators voted affirmatively in the final tally. Sanderson had been successful in striking down proposed ferry tolls during his tenure in the legislature.

Coastal environmental advocates were largely pleased with the bill’s coastal provisions, including those pertaining to water, wastewater, and stormwater projects. Among these are Flood Blueprint and other resiliency projects, creation of a state-nonprofit partnership with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, to remove abandoned and derelict vessels from waterways, measures to protect wildlife and natural lands, and efforts to study and address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, pollution.

“This is a very strong budget for North Carolina’s coast,” said Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis. “From investments in removing derelict vessels and improving stormwater management to addressing PFAS, the legislature and governor have reinforced their bipartisan commitment to making our coastal waters cleaner and safer. These investments will also strengthen the coastal economy by protecting the natural resources that support our communities, businesses, and way of life.”

The nonprofit Coastal Federation was also more fully empowered to establish and administer a stormwater retrofit pilot cost-share program and award grants, including to support a temporary position in the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources. This position would be to provide compliance assistance for existing stormwater permitholders.

The Coastal Federation was also awarded a $1 million grant for its Center for Coastal Protection and Restoration in Carteret County. That project will be completed this summer.

The budget incorporates language from Senate Bill 1053, the 2026 Water Safety Act, introduced by Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, and with Sen. Danny Earl Britt Jr., a Republican representing Hoke, Robeson and Scotland counties, and Sen. Val Applewhite, a Democrat representing Cumberland County, as cosponsors.

This section defines “emerging contaminants” as PFAS and 1,4-dioxane and establishes an Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund under the Division of Water Infrastructure seeded with $45 million nonrecurring under the Department of Environmental Quality to support efforts to offset the compounds’ negative effects on municipal and county public water and wastewater systems. The fund will also go to support detection, reduction, and prevention of exposure to PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, and related research and development. Another $10 million is to cover costs of emergency drinking water supplies resulting from emerging contaminants.

“For nearly a decade, families in the Cape Fear region have carried the burden of PFAS contamination they did nothing to create,” Lee said in a statement in response to Coastal Review. “This budget delivers the most significant state investment yet in confronting that problem: a new $45 million Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund to help local utilities test for and treat PFAS, more than $10 million in additional help for families on private wells, and a statewide sampling initiative to trace these compounds back to their sources. The fund is also built for the long haul, because when polluters settle in court, those dollars will flow directly into cleaning up our water. Add the moratorium on new water transfers out of the Cape Fear basin, and this budget treats clean water as exactly what it is: a public health imperative and the foundation of our region’s future.”

The budget authorizes the State Water Infrastructure Authority to award grants from the fund on a priority basis to public water or wastewater system operators to cover costs associated with sampling, treatment, emergency response, remediation and technical assistance to eliminate PFAS and 1,4-dioxane discharges.

About $7.68 million in federal infrastructure money is budgeted for grants for projects addressing emerging contaminants. And $16.5 million in federal Clean Water Act Emergency Response funding will go toward grants to help wastewater systems address emergencies.

The budget appropriates $1 million in recurring funds to DEQ for positions and operating costs associated with the increased need for emerging contaminant research and response. The department may create up to five positions for this purpose. An additional $7 million in nonrecurring funds are provided for the collection of samples for PFAS and 1,4-dioxane research to be conducted by the North Carolina Collaboratory at the University of North Carolina, as directed in the Water Safety Act language.

The Collaboratory is appropriated $15 million for research, development, and remedial activities associated with PFAS and its effects on firefighters. This includes funding of a partnership with the Office of the State Fire Marshal and North Carolina State University to develop and implement a pilot program for deep-cleaning firefighter protective gear to mitigate PFAS exposure and remediation activities related to PFAS at or near fire stations.

The Collaboratory, in cooperation with DEQ, is to conduct a two-phased study to identify and quantify measurable industrial PFAS discharges in the state, first, by collecting samples from publicly owned treatments works and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permitholders and then sampling other significant dischargers. The final Phase 1 report is due to DEQ, the Environmental Management Commission and the Environmental Review Commission no later than March 31, 2028, and Phase 2 no later than March 31, 2029.

The Collaboratory must also conduct a study of PFAS contamination in biosolids.

The Collaboratory is further directed to conduct a Cape Fear River Basin study with $1.5 million appropriated for that purpose through the end of the decade, when a report is due, and conduct a study of long-term water supply needs in river basins experiencing high rates of growth.

Of the total $4.5 million in Collaboratory operating funds, $170,000 nonrecurring is to support the FerryMon water quality monitoring program that employs sensors mounted to state ferries, and $160,000 nonrecurring for the ModMon river monitoring, a Neuse River Estuary modeling and monitoring project.

DEQ’s total appropriation, net of $295.5 million in receipts, is $111.9 million.

Abandoned vessels

The budget directs the Wildlife Resources Commission to contract with the Coastal Federation to remove and dispose of commission-identified abandoned and derelict vessels with priority given to those in public waters. This refers to vessels left for more than 30 days in a wrecked, junked, or substantially damaged or dismantled condition, docked, grounded, or beached upon the property of another without owner consent.

The measure also provides for expedited vessel abatement during declared emergencies and liability protection for removal work absent gross negligence.

Lee told Coastal Review that owner protections are “built in” to the legislation. After a 30-day notice period, such vessels are deemed forfeited. Funding for removal is to come from boating registration fees, 10% of the total, which is estimated to generate about $1.01 million.

“Our coast has lived with abandoned and derelict vessels for too long,” Lee said. “This budget finally builds a standing program to get them out of our waters, with a dedicated funding stream and the Coastal Federation as the state’s partner on removal.”

The Coastal Federation launched its first coordinated, large-scale, marine debris cleanup in 2019 and has worked with the Wildlife Resources Commission on abandoned boat removals since 2021. The organization’s larger clean water effort dates back much earlier.

“Several of the investments included in this year’s budget strengthen programs that have been central to the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s mission of protecting and restoring the coast for decades,” Federation Chief Program Officer Ana Živanović-Nenadović told Coastal Review Tuesday. Noting the bipartisan support of coastal conservation, she explained how reducing amounts of polluted stormwater runoff keeps estuarine waters clean, supports shellfish harvesting and sustains healthy fisheries.

“Funding for abandoned and derelict vessel removal improves public access and navigation while restoring habitat. Together, these investments will deliver lasting benefits for North Carolina’s coastal ecosystems, communities, and economy,” she said.

Resilience spending

The budget appropriates $4.5 million for projects defined in the Flood Resiliency Blueprint, a planning tool geared to increase community resilience to flooding, and $850,000 for time-limited, associated DEQ positions. Another $250,000 is appropriated to the Resilient Coastal Communities Program to convert two temporary staff positions to permanent. This program administered by the Division of Coastal Management provides financial and technical assistance to help local governments in the 20 coastal counties become more resilient to flooding.

Other provisions

Lee said the budget also modernizes the state’s beach and inlet management planning with a required four-year cycle of planned maintenance and resiliency projects and with DEQ’s updated plan due July 1, 2027. The measure provides roughly $11.5 million combined for coastal storm risk management at Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and Kure Beach.

The budget eliminates two Department of Environmental Quality positions assigned to the Environmental Justice initiative. It also eliminates the state Office of Environmental Education.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, released a statement in which he said he was “glad” Stein had signed the bill into law and that he “recognizes how vital this budget is for the people of North Carolina.”

The North Carolina Democratic Party also released a statement, noting that after more than 1,000 days, the state finally has a budget that addresses some of the most urgent needs. “While this budget isn’t perfect, it takes real steps in the right direction,” party officials said.

Featured Image

The state’s ongoing drought is affecting water levels in the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s North River Wetland Preserve near Otway, where wading birds take advantage of conditions recently to feed on the fish, tadpoles, frogs and aquatic insects left with nowhere to go. Nearly the entire state was facing drought conditions at the time this was published, with most of the coast in moderate drought with increasing severity toward New Hanover and Brunswick counties and the western portions of most other coastal counties.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, the nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting and restoring the North Carolina coast and the publisher of Coastal Review, is set to honor stewards of the environment and others during 23rd annual Pelican Awards in Morehead City.

The event slated for Saturday, Aug. 1, at Joslyn Hall on the Carteret Community College campus at 3505 Arendell St. will pay tribute to the individuals, organizations, businesses and partners whose dedication and achievements have made a lasting difference for the North Carolina coast.

“For more than two decades, the Pelican Awards have recognized exemplary leadership, stewardship, and service that help protect and enhance our coast for future generations,” according to organizers.

Doors to the event will open at 3:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony set for 4 p.m. and a reception planned for 5 p.m.

Seating is limited. Advance registration is appreciated.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for individuals, businesses, and organizations interested in supporting the Coastal Federation’s work.

SNEADS FERRY — Nearly a dozen abandoned marine vessels left to rot in North Carolina’s coastal waters are expected to be removed by July.

Crews this week pulled a dilapidated commercial fishing trawler and a sunken cabin cruiser from Wheeler Creek, a working waterway nestled off the New River in Sneads Ferry.

Mainstream Commercial Divers Inc., an underwater construction, maintenance, inspection and commercial diving company headquartered in Murray, Kentucky, also removed two rusted, battered barges from waters in the Onslow County fishing village.

On Monday, crews removed two vessels from the waters around Carolina Beach. Removal of the stranded commercial shrimper Claire Skye is scheduled for later this year. The vessel, currently stranded in Stump Sound near Morris Landing Clean Water Preserve in Holly Ridge, cannot be moved until its resident osprey chicks leave their nest built atop one of the trawler’s outriggers.

This marks the latest wave of abandoned and derelict vessel, or ADV, removals spearheaded by the North Carolina Coastal Federation through a $450,000 grant from the BoatUS Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on safe, accessible recreational boating for all Americans and promotes environmental stewardship.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, was awarded the grant earlier this year to oversee the removal and disposal of 12 ADVs littering waters in Carteret, Chowan, New Hanover and Onslow counties.

Ted Wilgis, the Coastal Federation’s marine debris program manager, said Wednesday that the organization is actively working to remove another 30 ADVs.

“There’s probably another 10 to 20 more that we know of that we can’t get funding for,” he said, noting that money the organization has received through a four-year, $4.5 million federal grant, state appropriations, and BoatUS Foundation for ADV and marine debris removal is expected to run dry by late summer.

Along with seeking state funding for ADV removal, the organization is working with state lawmakers on legislation to establish a formal North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission abandoned and derelict vessel program, grant liability immunity to the commission, it’s agents and contractors, and other state agencies during removal operations, and permit emergency removals during declared emergencies.

“There are hundreds of vessels out there that haven’t been investigated yet,” Wilgis said. “There are areas where there are a lot of vessels that are kind of in a limbo state. There’s a big demand for removals and, especially in this economy, there’s going to be more and more.”

Unwanted and derelict vessels are often left by owners who can no longer afford to maintain them. During severe storms, some vessels break from their moorings and are either left adrift only to sink in tidal areas or strand in marshes, on shorelines or in reefs.

ADVs obstruct waterways and pose serious pollution risks because of their potential to leak fuel and other hazardous materials such as hydraulic fluid and oil. Most recreational boats are made of fiberglass, which can break down over time in the water.

ADV removal is usually a painstaking process that in some cases can take up to a couple of years to complete, depending on the location and condition of the vessel. Removal can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars for smaller recreational vessels to more than $100,000.

“It varies on where it is and how long it’s been out there,” Wilgis said.

BoatUS Foundation launched a national initiative supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program to remove hundreds of ADVs from coastal waterways. The project also includes the development of a national database to track ADVs.

More than $7 million in grants have been awarded to cover the costs of direct ADV removals in Alaska, Guam, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana, Maine, the U.S. Virgin Islands and North Carolina, according to BoatUS Foundation Project Coordinator Michael Moore.

The organization is hosting in early December its Turning the Tide Summit, a four-day event where government agencies, environmentalists, marine professionals and recycling and waste management experts from across the country will gather to discuss ways to responsibly and sustainably remove and dispose of ADVs and boating-related debris, and share new technologies and innovative recycling programs.

More than 450 ADVs have been removed from North Carolina’s coastal waters either through the Coastal Federation’s marine debris removal program, local governments, the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management or the Wildlife Resources Commission, Wilgis said.

In 2020, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized and funded the commission to inspect, investigate and remove ADVs associated with Hurricane Florence and other coastal storms. The agency also publishes a database that identifies ADVs and prioritizes their removal.

Beach towns and coastal counties have also in recent years taken steps authorizing their law enforcement agencies to remove abandoned vessels within their jurisdictions.

Through a partnership with a national nonprofit, the North Carolina Coastal Federation now owns more than 150 acres of protected land along U.S. Highway 70 at what is often called the gateway to Down East, Carteret County’s 13 unincorporated communities east of Beaufort.

The Conservation Fund purchased the land, placed a permanent conservation easement that limits future development on the 153 acres and conveyed ownership to the Coastal Federation, which called the acquisition, “another major step in the long-term protection of the North River landscape and coastal wetlands.” 

The newly conserved land is within the broader North River conservation landscape, where nearly 7,000 acres of wetlands, forests, and marsh migration corridors have been protected and restored over the past several decades, according to the Coastal Federation.

“This project represents the intersection of conservation, resilience, and public education,” Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis said in a statement. “These wetlands are not only vital to fisheries and water quality, but they also help protect coastal communities from flooding and storms.” 

A short public nature trail is planned designed to introduce visitors to the ecological importance of the North River region and the nearby North River Wetlands Preserve, one of the largest coastal wetland restoration and conservation landscapes on the East Coast, the Coastal Federation said in a press release.

The trail and interpretive exhibit will help visitors understand how coastal wetlands protect water quality, fisheries, wildlife habitat, and coastal communities from flooding and storm impacts. 

“Securing this property is a tremendous achievement for the North River landscape and for the future of coastal conservation in Carteret County,” Coastal Federation Senior Adviser Todd Miller explained. Miller helped coordinate the transaction on behalf of the Coastal Federation.

“This property reflects the continued growth of our land conservation program and the power of strong partnerships with organizations like The Conservation Fund, dedicated landowners, and our public funding partners,” Miller added.

North Carolina Land and Water Fund grants, donations and bargain-sale contributions from the property owners made possible the land purchase, conservation easement, transaction and title-related costs.

“This project demonstrates how collaborative conservation partnerships can permanently protect some of North Carolina’s most important coastal landscapes while also expanding opportunities for public education and climate resilience,” said Guenevere Abernathy, North Carolina State Director for The Conservation Fund. “We are proud to work with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, and the landowners to help conserve this remarkable property for future generations.” 

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Historian Glenn Blackburn, professor emeritus of history at University of Virginia’s College at Wise, has written his second book about Coastal Review’s publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the nonprofit’s history, people and accomplishments.

Released earlier this year, “A Spectacular Coast and Its Guardians” tells the Coastal Federation’s story and examines, according to the book’s subtitle, “its conservation, restoration, education, and advocacy work to protect and restore the North Carolina coast.”

The book chronicles the changes that have occurred on the coast since the organization was founded in 1982 to protect coastal water quality, with a shift toward helping coastal residents and the natural areas here adapt to the increasingly extreme weather that climate change has fueled.

“Through hundreds of interviews with staff, volunteers, fishermen, scientists, and community leaders, Blackburn’s books tell the story of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s grassroots beginnings and its coastwide work to protect and restore the places we love,” according to the Coastal Federation. The book is a follow-up to Blackburn’s 2018 volume, “Saving Great Places,” which focuses on five projects the Coastal Federation and coastal residents took on to protect the  coast, including the organization’s first big win, stopping a proposed peat mining operation that put at risk wetlands and fisheries in the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula.

Blackburn will be on hand 5:30-7 p.m. July 14 at the Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach office, at 309 West Salisbury St. for an evening of coastal stories, history, and conversation. Learn more and register online.

Guests will have the opportunity to meet the author, get a copy of his book personally signed, and learn more about the people and places that shaped the Coastal Federation’s history. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. You may purchase the book online.

An Advocacy Organization That Saved Land and Water

The Coastal Federation was a small but very effective advocacy organization in the 1980s and 1990s. Led by Todd Miller it was a polite but persistent advocate that worked in alliance with large numbers of ordinary people on the coast.

A very popular advocacy campaign was the Federation’s strong support for the right of all people to have access to North Carolina’s beaches. Another was a long-term, still ongoing campaign to keep our coastal waters clean and safe. Three others focused on specific places on the coast where commercial or housing development threatened the well-being of a beautiful place and the people who lived there.

First, was the 1982-1984 alliance with local fishermen that blocked a peat mining operation in the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula that would have destroyed 120,000 acres of wetlands and undermined fishing waters.

Second was the 1983-1987 Stump Sound fight in which the Federation and local fishermen worked together to stop a condominium development that would likely have ruined the fishing waters in a lovely sound.

Third was a 1992-2002 struggle by the Federation, local residents, and other environmental groups to prevent a housing development from taking over valuable wild land on Bird Island near Sunset Beach. Full accounts of these three public fights are in Saving Great Places found online at nccoast.org.

And there was a very small beginning of advocacy about the threat of sea level rise.

Advocacy in Defense of Public Access to Sandy Beaches

The most popular policy the Federation has ever had is its ongoing advocacy that everyone should be able to enjoy our sandy beaches and all our public trust lands and waters, particularly the salt marshes. A huge number of North Carolinians are beach lovers, people who want to go to the beach to play. They want to play in the water, on the sand, in their boats, and on their surfboards. They want to see the beauty of the world on a spectacular coast. They want to feel the wonder and majesty of the ocean. They want to smell saltwater and hear birds sing. And a large number are fishermen who want to enjoy the riches of salt marsh habitats, particularly oystering.

From the 1980s on, the Federation has continually worked to educate North Carolinians about their legal right to use the state’s beaches. This work aligns exactly with long-established state policy stipulating that North Carolina’s beaches are held in public trust for everyone. The public owns and has the right to use any part of a beach up to the mean high tide mark. The dry sand area between the mean high tide mark and the base of the first line of sand dunes may be owned by individual property owners, but the public has the right to use this dry sand area so as to have access to the wet beach. These two rights are public trust rights protected by the state.

The right of public access to beaches is generally supported in North Carolina, although there is one gated island — Figure Eight — that keeps the public out and a few private housing developments that provide little if any, public access to beaches in front of them. And there are some chronic problems — not enough walkways for visitors to get to the beach, not enough parking spaces and toilet facilities for people wanting to spend a day at the beach. The Federation constantly pushes state agencies and beach town governments to provide more walkways, more parking, and more toilets.

The Federation also strongly opposes the building of oceanfront seawalls, because seawalls lead to the destruction of the beaches that belong to everyone. When sea level rise and hurricanes cause ocean waves to crash across beaches into the foundations of oceanfront houses, the instinct of property owners is to build something — a seawall or a row of sandbags — to block the ocean. But when waves hit a wall, the wave energy explodes and the explosion begins to eat out the sand in front of the wall. With explosion after explosion over days and months, the eaten-out sand is pulled back into the ocean bit by bit, and the sandy beach slowly disappears. A property owner may gain some protection, but the public loses its beach.

In the 1970s state policymakers began to realize that oceanfront seawalls do more harm than good, and in the 1980s the Federation, along with Duke University coastal scientist Orrin Pilkey and many others, began to push for a ban on all hardened structures on oceanfronts. In 1985, the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) imposed a ban on seawalls and groins on the oceanfront (a groin is a wall perpendicular to a beach that is designed to capture sand from ocean currents thereby helping to restore an eroding beach). The ban eventually became state law early in 2003 after the Federation pointed out to Senator Marc Basnight that too many variances were being issued to the state’s seawall ban regulations by the CRC.

Within a few years of the original ban, a number of wealthy people who owned beach property allied with some developer organizations and began to try to find a way to circumvent the ban. Pressure on the CRC to modify the ban became so intense that in the early 1990s, the Federation had to organize a major letter-writing campaign leading to thousands of messages being sent to the CRC to demonstrate public support for the ban. The campaign succeeded in blocking the political pressure.

A few years later in the late 1990s, the Shell Island Resort on the northern end of Wrightsville Beach made another attempt to get around the ban. The Resort was built so close to Mason’s Inlet that inlet waters were threatening to erode the foundations of buildings, so the Resort’s owners (many of them out-of­state investors) sued the state seeking to get the right to build a permanent seawall. In 1998, the Federation joined the state in a legal defense of the ban on oceanfront seawalls on the grounds that a seawall would destroy the public beach. A court upheld the state ban, and the Resort was able to resolve its problem only by paying for a dredging operation to move the inlet away from its buildings.

The ban on oceanfront seawalls remained in place into the 21st century, but environmental attorneys believe that sea level rise will lead to more challenges to the ban. John Runkle, an attorney on the Federation’s Board, says bluntly: “If sea level rise speeds up, wealthy people who own oceanfront property will push hard for the right to build seawalls to protect their property” (John Runkle, July 18, 2009). Geoff Gisler of the Southern Environmental Law Center says the same thing in different words: “The conflict between nature and development will not go away. The desire to build terminal groins will be a continuing issue, as people will want to protect development in dynamic coastal areas through the use of hardened structures. These issues will be amplified by sea level rise” (Geoff Gisler, August 3, 2014).

Orrin Pilkey, the Duke scientist who has written numerous well-regarded books on barrier island beaches, is a long-time ally of the Federation. He insists that the most important thing we need to do on the coast is “preserve the beaches for future generations.” The Federation is very sympathetic to PiIkey’s argument (Dr. Orrin H. Pilkey, September 22, 2008).

Matthew Godfrey, a sea turtle conservationist with extensive experience in several regions, is the the featured guest this month for the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s “Green Drinks” speaker series in Morehead City.

This month’s session is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 28, on the third floor of Jack’s on the Waterfront at 513 Evans St.

The casual monthly gathering for people who care about the North Carolina coast is hosted by the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review.

“Whether you enjoy boating, beach days, or simply want to keep our waters clean and our communities strong, this is a relaxed space to connect with others, hear from local voices, and stay up to date on important coastal topics,” according to organizers.

Godfrey began working in North Carolina in 2002, after being hired by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to coordinate the North Carolina Sea Turtle Project. Since then, he has played a key role in monitoring and protecting sea turtle populations along the state’s coast.

Godfrey will give an overview of sea turtle nesting and nest protection in the state, highlighting some of the joys and challenges associated with sea turtle conservation along North Carolina’s coast.

Grab a drink from the bar and join the conversation. These events are free and open to the public, however registration is strongly encouraged.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation announced this week that Dr. Lela Schlenker has the nonprofit organization as its new coastal advocate for northeastern part of the state.

Schlenker comes to the Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, most recently from Avangrid Renewables, where she led the fisheries team across the company’s U.S. offshore wind projects and focused on communicating with fishing communities, identifying research needs, and coordinating marine policy.

Schlenker is a fisheries ecologist with a research career spanning topics such as the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on mahi-mahi, how climate and weather affect North Carolina shrimp populations, and the impact of catch-and-release fishing practices on white marlin. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with fishing communities along the U.S. coastline, building strong and collaborative partnerships. 

“We’re excited to have Lela join our team. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience on coastal issues,” explained Coastal Management Program Director Kerri Allen. “Lela is joining us at a time when there are several major issues facing the Outer Banks region, including threatened oceanfront structures, ongoing water quality concerns, increased pressure to lift hardened shoreline restrictions, and the growing need for long-term coastal resilience planning. Her scientific background, policy experience, and collaborative approach will be a tremendous asset for both the Federation and the coastal communities we serve.” 

Schlenker has an undergraduate degree from Smith College, a master’s from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and a doctorate in marine biology and ecology from the University of Miami.

Schlenker says that her career path was inspired by both a strong conservation ethic and an undergraduate research project in which she sampled fish aboard a commercial trawling vessel. 

“I am really looking forward to connecting with the community as well as working with managers, scientists, and policy makers to continue the great work the Coastal Federation has done and find new ways to protect beautiful coastal North Carolina,” said Schlenker. 

Schlenker started with the Coastal Federation on May 5 and will be based out of the office in Wanchese.

She has been delighted to call the Outer Banks home since 2020. In her spare time, she enjoys finding ways to be on, in, or near the water and growing as much butternut squash as possible in her garden.  

NEAR BEAUFORT — Officials wielded ceremonial gold-painted shovels Monday to break ground on an economic development project specifically tailored to the needs of coastal communities, a plan that one advocate likened to successful technology-incubation hubs but instead intended to support shellfish aquaculture jobs.

When construction begins at the recently cleared site this summer, the Shellfish Mariculture Hub will feature a 2,500-square-foot structure on county-owned land next to the boat ramp at Straits Landing, just across from Harkers Island. The building will be outfitted with cold storage, equipment, an outdoor workspace and crucial water access — shared resources for shellfish growers, officials said.

Tom Looney of Wrightsville Beach, a former vice president and general manager of Lenovo North America and a longtime board member with Coastal Review’s publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, said he had been involved a decade ago in developing the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, which works to recruit new business, assist existing businesses, help companies with international trade, promote the state as a tourist destination and counsel small companies and startups.   

“Today, it’s the number one workforce engine in the country for the last three out of four years,” Looney said. “We know how to attract businesses. We know how to create new businesses. What I learned in that role was, some of the most economically challenged regions in our state were our coastal communities. We had to find new ways to create jobs for people to feed their families, grow a business, have opportunity.”

Looney, who was an IBM man for more than 30 years, said that, since 2013, North Carolina’s oyster industry has grown more than 500%. Today, the state boasts one of the fastest-growing oyster industries in the country, generating more than $300 million annually.

“And let me tell you, folks, this hub will set it on fire, as far as North Carolina as a state,” Looney said.

That success will be the result of combined forces, including the shellfish aquaculture program at Carteret Community College, and provide a good return on the investments made by the legislature, the county, the Coastal Federation and others, he said. Looney praised Coastal Federation staff, including Chief Program Officer Ana Zivanovic-Nenadovic for shepherding the project.

“We’re doing it the right way. We’re creating jobs while protecting the culture and our coastal waters,” Looney said.

He said the mariculture hub would apply the same principle as American Underground, a Google tech hub for startups in Durham, but with oysters.

Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis said the hub project was “about putting down roots for an industry that has been proving its worth in eastern North Carolina and across the country for a long time now.”

Shellfish mariculture, Davis said, combines economic opportunity, environmental benefits and a unique cultural heritage in a way that few other industries can.

“It creates jobs, it supports working waterfronts, and it keeps seafood production local, which is fantastic,” Davis said. “And at the same time, our oysters are out there every day, quietly doing their work, cleaning the water, filtering the water, improving clarity and water quality across the coast. So, that all together is a combined return on investment that you rarely find and few industries can match. It’s driving economic growth while actively improving water quality and protecting the coast.”

Also on hand for the event was Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, and who also represents Carteret, Chowan, Halifax, Hyde, Martin, Warren and Washington counties. Sanderson explained how his district has a “very important role to play in our seafood industry,” as producers and consumers. He noted the move to transfer the Division of Marine Fisheries from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to the Department of Agriculture as part of the Republican-led legislature’s regulatory reform efforts. “Because too many times, it hinders the growth that we could use here on the coast to create jobs and to make our economies more stronger and more prosperous.”

Sanderson described his district’s rankings in the state Department of Commerce economically distressed counties tier system. Under this system, the department ranks the 100 counties’ economic well-being and assigns a corresponding tier number, 1-3. Commerce designates the 40 most distressed counties as Tier 1, the next 40 as Tier 2 and the 20 least distressed as Tier 3.

“I have four counties, five counties that are Tier 1s, which is the most economically distressed counties in the state of North Carolina. And so anything that we can do to help those counties is going to be a blessing,” Sanderson said.

He said the Mariculture Hub was one of the few projects to get legislative support from all corners.

“This one is an easy one to sell, because I think people, first of all, they love seafood,” Sanderson said, adding that he hoped that the project becomes a prototype for others.

“We have over 300 farmers now farming oysters for at least a secondary income. We’re hoping that it will eventually become primary income for them,” he said.

Rep. Celeste Cairns, R-Carteret and Craven, also spoke at the event Monday. She said the project was “a real collaboration among state folks, local folks, and great organizations like the Coastal Federation, and I know I speak for Senator Sanderson as well when I say, when everybody is moving and pulling in the same direction, it is a rare and beautiful thing.”

Cairns said she had been told the total number of leases and franchises was about 500.

“Each of those, whatever the number — it’s a lot and growing — and each of those folks represents a small business or family or an individual trying to make a livelihood on the water.”

The Rocky Mount-based Golden LEAF Foundation, created by the North Carolina General Assembly to award proceeds from the 1998 National Cigarette Manufacturer Settlement Agreement, uses that money to create economic opportunities in rural, tobacco-dependent and poorer counties.

Golden LEAF’s early support and $200,000 in backing in August 2022 helped build momentum for the project. Jason Rochelle evaluates funding proposals for the organization, works to implement Golden LEAF priorities, and oversees project monitoring and compliance.

“At the time, the project represented a strong vision, one rooted in supporting local aquaculture, strengthening coastal economies and creating new opportunities for shellfish growers in the region,” Rochelle said. “Today, it’s incredibly rewarding to see that vision move forward. The shellfish hub is a strategic investment in the future of Carteret County and addresses real needs identified by the shellfish farming community by providing shared infrastructure such as dock access, refrigeration, storage, grading and loading equipment and a central point for distribution. This facility will make a meaningful difference in the day-to-day operations of local growers.”

Rochelle said the hub would serve up to 15 operations and generate around $2 million annually.

“By locating the facilities near the fishing waters, growers will be able to spend more time harvesting, less time on logistics,” Rochelle said. “This increased efficiency will translate to higher production, increased income and the creation of high-quality jobs in this community.”

Assistant Carteret County Manager Matt Reynal said the project reflects “who we are as a county, from Harkers Island to Cedar Island and all across Down East, our connection to the water has always been central to how we live and work. Shellfish mariculture builds on that tradition.”

Reynal said that economic development “isn’t just about bringing in something new or shiny” to Carteret County.

“It’s about supporting the industries that are already here and ensuring that we have the infrastructure to grow,” he said. “That’s why the county was proud to provide this land. We see the long-term value and what this project supports working waterfronts local businesses and innovative opportunity that stays rooted in our communities, and that’s especially important for Down East.”

Chris Matteo, president of the North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association, said that when he was first told of the plan, he “immediately agreed to participate.” He said Coastal Federation founder Todd Miller and Looney had seen a similar model in Australia, and that infrastructure helped fuel a thriving shellfish aquaculture industry there.

“And today we are finally breaking ground on our shared vision. I’m very excited for our local shellfish farmers and for our industry. This is a special day, not just because we are breaking ground on a new building, but because we’re laying the foundation for the next stage of growth in our young industry,” said Matteo. “This project took years of persistence, collaboration and a shared belief that working waterfronts and shellfish mariculture are critically important to North Carolina’s coast.”

The fun part lies ahead, Matteo said.

“This shellfish hub will create job local jobs, support family businesses and keep waterfront communities working on the water. It will do so while helping grow one of the world’s most sustainable and healthy animal proteins, and as if that wasn’t enough, it will also improve our estuaries. Every oyster grown in our waters does more than feed someone. It is filtering water, creating habitat, rebuilding public trust stocks of marine species, and proving that economic growth and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand.”

Matteo said he was especially proud that shellfish farms in North Carolina filter more than 600 million gallons of estuarine water every day.

“This hub will help us grow that number further,” he said. “As a shellfish grower here in North Carolina, I can tell you firsthand, this hub isn’t just a nice to have. It solves real-world problems that growers across the state deal with daily. While shellfish farming has enormous potential, the reality is, starting and scaling a farm is not easy. For many growers, one of the biggest barriers has always been access to waterfront infrastructure.”

For small operations, the costs can be terminal.

“Shellfish farmers haven’t been limited by demand or ability,” Matteo said. “They’ve been limited by not having a place to work on the water, the equipment to process and refrigerate their product and an efficient way to get it to market.”

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is set to break ground next month in Carteret County on what officials describe as a first-of-its-kind facility intended to help shellfish growers overcome market barriers.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, says the Shellfish Mariculture Hub in Straits, an unincorporated Down East community with deep commercial seafood heritage, will serve as a shared resource for shellfish growers, marking a significant milestone in sustainable shellfish aquaculture in the state and supporting the local community. The Shellfish Mariculture Hub promises to enhance the production capabilities of shellfish farmers while promoting collaboration and innovation, according to the Coastal Federation, which plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. May 4.

Situated at the Straits Landing Boat Ramp, the facility will provide shared refrigeration, equipment and water access, all of which farmers need to grow a thriving local industry rooted in coastal heritage and vital to the state’s blue economy. 

“From costly water access to long hauls for refrigeration and distribution, oyster growers face logistical barriers at every step,” explained Coastal Federation Oyster Program Director Alyson Flynn. “This facility is the solution towards streamlining operations and strengthening the shellfish mariculture industry.” 

Construction of the 50-foot, square building is expected to begin this summer.

The Shellfish Mariculture Hub is part of a broader, coordinated effort to grow the state’s oyster industry into a $100 million sector by 2030 — creating jobs, strengthening the coastal economy, and advancing resilient working waterfronts. By addressing a critical industry gap, the hub will lower barriers to market entry for new growers while enabling existing growers to expand and scale their operations, supporting the next generation of shellfish farmers. 

“Not only is the hub a centralized support facility for growers, but it is also an innovative model for the future of shellfish mariculture—equipping growers to thrive and serving as a blueprint for industry growth and investment along our coast,” said Flynn. 

SURF CITY – Kerri Allen acknowledged early on what was also obvious to her audience.

“I do not need to tell anyone in here we have a really high density of leases,” the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s coastal management program director said. “In our public trust waters, when you have that many users, there are going to be conflicts.”

Several people sitting inside the Surf City Municipal Complex’s town council chambers that April 14 afternoon nodded in agreement, eager to share their thoughts on the subject.

With either temporary or permanent shellfish leasing moratoriums in North Carolina waters to its north and south, Topsail Island’s waters have become a hot commodity for oyster growers.

There are now nearly 190 shellfish leases in the waters behind the 26-mile-long barrier island from the New River and its adjacent estuarine waters south to Topsail Sound.

That’s a roughly 46% increase from the collective number of leases in 2018 in Onslow and Pender counties.

The squeeze put on the waters around Topsail Island has prompted ongoing calls for a temporary moratorium on new shellfish leases in the area.

The Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission, or TISPC, which is composed of elected officials from each of the island’s three towns – Topsail Beach, Surf City and North Topsail Beach – initiated a request for a temporary pause on leases more than a year ago. Commissioners in Onslow and Pender counties did the same.

Shellfish lease moratoriums in the state may be enacted only by the North Carolina General Assembly.

On April 10, 2025, Rep. Carson Smith, R-Pender, introduced legislation requiring a statewide study on shellfish leasing and the current lease moratorium.

House Bill 841 made it no further than the Senate’s Rules and Operations Committee.

“If there is a temporary moratorium, we don’t feel that’s unreasonable,” Allen said last week.

A pause would give the Coastal Federation and North Carolina Sea Grant more time to talk with those who live along and use the waters around the island and come up with suggestions to help shape future policy that would protect the industry, make it sustainable long term, and ease user conflicts, she said.

Additional focus groups, including one for shellfish growers, will be scheduled this fall.

Meanwhile, a temporary moratorium that has been repeatedly extended since it was first enacted in New Hanover County in 2019 is set to expire in July.

“It’s very reasonable to say if we were able to open up some of these other areas that could help alleviate the pressure that this area is seeing,” Allen said. “A lot of the oyster growers that we work with in this region live in New Hanover County and they would love not to have to drive up here to take care of their farms. We are actively trying to get New Hanover to not extend their moratorium. I do not have a good feel, one way or another, how that’s going to go yet, but we are having those conversations.”

Surf City Mayor Teresa Batts said officials on the island do not intend to wait for a decision before asking for a temporary moratorium.

“I know you’re going to go through the procedural steps, but the TISPC, we’re not going to sit back and wait,” she said. “If we see that New Hanover County is trying to extend their moratorium, then we’re going to try to slide in there on their session and piggyback on their moratorium.”

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, and North Carolina Sea Grant teamed up last year to launch a Geographic Information System, or GIS, database pinpointing areas where leases may or may not be suitable in the waterways behind Topsail Island. The GIS database is anticipated to be published next year.

Recommendations shared with the organizations will help shape the North Carolina Strategic Plan for Shellfish Mariculture, a plan commissioned by the General Assembly in 2017.

This document is effectively the state’s roadmap for a sustainable shellfish industry. It’s not meant to be a fixed document, rather one that evolves as the industry evolves and conditions change, Allen explained, adding, “which they very much have changed since 2017.”

In the years since, the state has seen a shift where shellfish farmers are using floating gear to grow oysters in the water column, a method that allows them to maximize the spaces in which they grow their product.

Unlike cages that are placed on the waterbed, those in water column leases poke up from the water’s surface.

And, as more water column leases have been granted, complaints have mounted about their impacts to the viewsheds of waterfront properties, boating and kayaking access, and infringement on popular fishing spots.

Fishing guide Capt. Ray Brittain offered to take Allen and N.C. Sea Grant Extension Director Frank López on his boat, and on his dime, to show them how the leases affect his business.

“There’s so many PVC pipes out there,” Brittain said. “You don’t need a thousand PVC pipes to mark,” a lease area. “We can’t fish in those. I mean, mark your outer edge to show people where it is, but a lot of it is just unnecessary stuff.”

Brittain was among nearly 30 attendees at the April 14 meeting, where participants were asked to break into two groups to discuss concerns and recommendations that will be documented and shared with local elected officials, legislators, and state agency officials.

Those at the meeting in Surf City last week touched on a host of issues, raising concerns related noise associated with shellfish farming activities, nighttime navigation around shellfish leases, the density of leases around Permuda Island Reserve, and linear placement of leases along estuary island shorelines blocking anglers from following fish.

Some asked for shellfish farmers to be required to carry liability insurance, while others suggested the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries create a more robust public notification system announcing lease applications that would include property owners whose land is within and adjacent to the viewshed of a proposed lease.

Other recommendations included an implementation of buffers by moving leases further from shorelines based on specific locations within a waterbody, potentially increasing lease fees, decreasing the length of time a lease is valid, and the possibility of commissioning studies on the impacts of floating cages on the ecosystem.

The Coastal Federation and Sea Grant are accepting comments online through the Stump Sound shellfish mariculture planning – stakeholder input form through Aug. 1.

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.  

Share your experiences and learn more about the issues surrounding shellfish aquaculture in Stump Sound and Topsail Sound next week during an informational presentation and listening session.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation and North Carolina Sea Grant are hosting the session from 1 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in the town council’s chambers at the Surf City Municipal Complex, 214 W. Florence Way, Hampstead.

“Your feedback will help shape a balanced, informed path forward,” according to a promotional flier for the event.

The session will cover conflicts and perceived and actual problems regarding shellfish leases, such as those associated with viewshed and property values, navigation and safety, congestion and density.

“We know coastal waters mean different things to different people, and we want to hear from you,” according to the flier.

Coastal Federation Advocate Kerri Allen and Sea Grant Extension Director Frank Lopez are to facilitate the session, which is to be a scripted presentation and listening session, not a public hearing.

In April 2025, Rep. Carson Smith, R-Pender, introduced legislation to require a statewide study on shellfish leasing and current lease moratoriums. That measure, House Bill 841, was cleared by the House but stalled in the Senate, where it passed a first vote but was then referred on May 7, 2025, to the rules committee, where it remains.

Organizers of the listening session noted that space is limited and registration is required.

Those unable to attend but who wish to share their input may submit comments to https://forms.gle/sCJ1uLGCgbhig6Zr8.

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The North Carolina Coastal Federation has acquired 787 acres along the North River in Carteret County, expanding the North River Wetlands Preserve to close to 7,000 acres.

The property, purchased for just shy of $1.9 million, is expected to further the nonprofit organization’s mission to protect water quality, while supporting military operations. The new land is also going to provide a new official portion of North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the environmental group said Monday.

The North River Wetlands Preserve was once mostly ditched and drained farm land but has been restored over the past two decades into one of the largest rehabilitated wetland systems in state.

The new property was purchased through a partnership of state, federal and nonprofit funding, including $590,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense, $449,000 from the Complete the Trails Program for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, and $964,691 from the N.C. Land and Water Fund for acquisition and transaction costs. 

With the property acquisition April 2, the preserve includes the headwaters of the North River, Wards Creek, and Jarrett Bay, “forming a connected natural system that filters runoff, improves water quality, and sustains productive fisheries downstream,” according to the organization.

“The newly protected tract includes forested wetlands, upland areas, and approximately 6,900 linear feet of tributaries flowing into the North River—a designated Primary Nursery Area and contributor to the Outstanding Resource Waters of Core and Back Sounds,” the organization added.

The Coastal Federation said it plans to begin restoring the site’s natural hydrology by reconnecting wetlands, improving drainage patterns, and enhancing long-term resilience to sea level rise. 

Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis explained in a release that the acquisition reflects the kind of forward-looking investment North Carolina needs.

“One that protects water quality, strengthens coastal ecosystems, supports military readiness, and creates meaningful public access. Expanding the North River Wetlands Preserve to nearly 7,000 acres ensures this landscape will provide lasting benefits for communities, fisheries, and future generations,” he said.

The land will be a new official section of North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which is a 1,400-mile route connecting the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks, and is managed by North Carolina State Parks. 

“The acquisition of this property represents a transformational moment for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in this area,” Brent Laurenz, executive director of Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, said in a release. “We’re so appreciative of the partnership with the Federation to acquire this property for both the significant addition it will make to the MST and for its long-term conservation value.” 

The Department of Navy used funding from the Defense Department’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration, or REPI, Program, to secure a permanent restrictive use easement over the property where low-altitude helicopter training routes associated with Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point operations are held.

“This project represents years of work bringing together the right partners and funding to protect a truly special place,” Todd Miller, senior adviser to the Coastal Federation and project manager for the acquisition, said in a statement.

“By securing this property, we are safeguarding the headwaters of the North River, expanding one of the most important coastal preserves in the state, and creating a permanent route for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. It’s a powerful example of how conservation can deliver clean water, public access, and support for our military at the same time,” he added.

This project is part of the organization’s “Lands for a Healthy Coast” initiative, which focuses on conserving strategic coastal landscapes that protect water quality, sustain fisheries, and build resilience to climate change. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Additional partners on the project include the North Carolina General Assembly, and Morehead City attorney John Harris.

This story has been updated to include a corrected description of land ownership. Information initially provided to Coastal Review had incorrectly identified the owner.

More people moved to North Carolina last year from different parts of the country than any other state in the nation.

North Carolina’s population grew by almost 150,000 people, trailing behind only Texas and Florida, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released last month.

As political leaders grapple with the demands that growth is placing on essential services like water and sewer, public safety and education, pressure is mounting on conservation groups to acquire, conserve and preserve land.

This month, more than 2,000 acres in coastal counties have been secured for permanent protection from development.

These newly protected areas are filled with natural landscape features that reduce flood risk, improve water quality, and provide habitat for plants and animals that are increasingly getting squeezed out by encroaching development.

In Brunswick County, one of the fastest growing in the state, North Carolina-based conservation nonprofit Unique Places to Save acquired land that serves as a corridor between two protected natural areas, bridging what amounts to nearly 10,000 acres of conserved landscape.

“We really want to be able to maintain large, connected natural areas for habitat for species and to maintain biodiversity of our natural areas,” Unique Places to Save Executive Director Christine Pickens told Coastal Review in a recent telephone interview. “And, particularly, in the southeast of North Carolina, we have some really cool endemic species and really wonderful habitats that you don’t find anywhere else.”

Within the 1,040-acre tract nestled between the towns of St. James and Boiling Spring Lakes are forested wetlands, Carolina bays, sandy pine and wet sandy pine savanna.

The tract, referred to as Boiling Springs Wilderness, specifically connects thousands of acres of privately conserved land including Orton with the North Carolina Boiling Spring Lakes Plant Conservation Preserve.

“When you connect these large areas, you’re connecting a mosaic across the landscape and there’s tiny variations of habitat availability,” Pickens explained. “What that does is allow species that use that area for habitat or refuge or migration to use those slight variations of habitat. When we experience extremes in weather, precipitation or drought or big storms, having just a little bit of wiggle room in terms of available habitat goes a long way to allowing species to be resilient to some of these extremes and some of these changes.”

Habitat that is free from being sliced up by ditches or roads is valuable to species that rely on that habitat, she said.

Take the red cockaded woodpecker, for example. These birds, which were reclassified in late 2024 from endangered to threatened, live in groups, or clusters, helping each other raise their young.

They depend on large, connected natural areas – typically anywhere from 125 to 200 acres – where living pine trees, preferably mature, longleaf pine forests, grow.

Boiling Springs Wilderness includes varying types of soils that support different sets of plants, trees, shrubs and forbs, more commonly referred to as herbs.

A good deal of pond pine and a “little bit” of young longleaf pine grace its landscape, Pickens said.

The headwaters of Orton Creek are within the project area, as are wetlands that blanket the Castle Hayne aquifer, a drinking water source for thousands of Brunswick County residents and tens of thousands in other coastal North Carolina areas.

“That’s a long-term way to protect water quality,” Pickens said. “The areas around streams act as buffers to absorb nutrients, runoff, excess components in surface water that soak in, and they get absorbed by the plants and the roots and the soils around streams. That prevents excess nutrients getting into waterways.”

Then there are the wetlands, which function like nature’s sponges, absorbing stormwater that might otherwise flood developed properties.

“Every chance we get to conserve wetlands is really important right now,” Pickens said.

That’s because state lawmakers decided to align North Carolina’s definition of wetlands with that of the federal government, which is in the process of changing the interpretation of waters of the United States that may omit protections for millions of acres of wetlands in the state.

“It may result in more wetlands being nonjurisdictional, therefore a lot more likely to be converted to uplands through ditching and draining. These conservation easements are perpetual. Once we protect it, that’s it,” Pickens said.

The Boiling Springs Wilderness project was funded through a $3.68 million North Carolina Land and Water Fund grant.

Unique Places to Save will own and manage the tract, while the state will hold the conservation easement. The Coastal Land Trust will steward that easement.

Last year, Unique Places to Save applied for another state Land and Water Fund grant to protect about 500 acres of predominately wetlands between the town of St. James and N.C. Highway 211.

“We’ve got a provisional award from the Land and Water Fund so if they have enough funding we may get funded this year for that effort,” Pickens said.

She touted efforts among other groups that work to conserve land throughout the state, including the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Plant Conservation Program, North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, and Cape Fear Arch to name a few.

Tyrrell County parcel transferred

Last week, national nonprofit The Conservation Fund finalized the transfer of ownership of about 1,550 acres of coastal wetlands and forestland in Tyrrell County to the Coastal Federation.

“This partnership reflects years of careful conservation planning and cooperation,” Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis stated in a release. “This acquisition protects important coastal wetlands that help filter water, support fish and wildlife habitat, and provide natural flood buffering in on the of the state’s most ecologically significant regions.”

Portions of the Tyrrell County property, which is valued at an estimated $1.7 million, are in the Land and Water Fund’s Stewardship Program, one designed to establish, monitor and enforce perpetual conservation agreements.

The property will be included as part of the Coastal Federation’s Land for a Healthy Coast program, which focuses on protecting estuaries, reducing polluted runoff, buffering floods, and boosting long-term coastal resilience.

“Some lands are simply too important to risk losing,” Coastal Federation founder and senior adviser Todd Miller said in the release. “When a property protects water quality, supports fisheries, and strengthens the natural defenses of the coast, we believe it’s our responsibility to step forward and ensure it is permanently conserved and well managed.”

The next installment of Morehead City Green Drinks, a casual monthly gathering for people who care about the North Carolina coast, will feature Paula Gillikin, a natural resource manager who coordinates stewardship activities across the 10 sites of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve.

Gillikin, who also manages the herd of wild horses that lives on the Rachel Carson Reserve, will discuss her work, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at Jack’s on the Waterfront, 513 Evans St., Morehead City.

Grab a drink from the bar and join the conversation. The Green Drink events are free and open to the public, however registration is strongly encouraged. Register online.

“Whether you enjoy boating, beach days, or simply want to keep our waters clean and our communities strong, this is a relaxed space to connect with others, hear from local voices, and stay up to date on important coastal topics,” according to the host, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Kerri Allen is among the newest recipients of the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Alumni Association Distinguished Awards.

The program, which honors graduates whose exceptional accomplishments, integrity and service have made a lasting impact on the university and broader community, will recognize awardees during homecoming festivities set for Feb. 9-15. A formal celebration is scheduled for June.

Allen, who graduated from UNCW with her bachelor’s in geosciences in 2011 and her master’s in 2013 in coastal geology, was selected as the “Distinguished Citizen of the Year.” She is being honored along with Trevor Todd, class of 2016, for “Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year,” and Edward A. “Ed” Sundy Jr. class of 1973, for “Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.”

“Ed, Trevor, and Kerri remind us of what it truly means to be a Seahawk. They each use their talents to lift others—whether through education, environmental stewardship, or service to communities across our region,” UNCW Alumni Association Executive Director Lindsay A.T. LeRoy said in a statement. “Their dedication reflects the heart of UNCW’s mission: empowering people to create positive, lasting change. I’m incredibly proud to celebrate alumni whose impact reaches far beyond our campus.”

Allen is “a coastal advocate, scientist and community leader whose work has transformed environmental policy and conservation efforts across North Carolina,” according to information the university provided.

As Coastal Federation’s coastal management program director, Allen works with state and federal agencies, the General Assembly, scientists, businesses and residents to advance policy solutions that protect and restore the state’s coast. She has helped guide statewide initiatives addressing emerging contaminants, marine debris, living shorelines, and oyster habitat restoration. She recently helped lead the effort that made North Carolina the first state in the nation to ban unencapsulated polystyrene in floating docks.

She served as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hollings Scholar in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Her early career included research in coastal hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and climate education, and she spent time as the education manager at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Florida.

Allen serves on several advisory boards, including the UNCW Earth and Ocean Sciences Advisory Board, N.C. State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues, and multiple N.C. Department of Environmental Quality river basin committees. Allen helped lead We the Water, a 340-mile paddling initiative to raise awareness of water quality and environmental stewardship that generated more than $50,000 for conservation efforts.

Her leadership and impact have been recognized through honors such as the Pelican Award, Bill Petit Award and Wilmington’s 40 Under 40.  

Todd teaches third grade at Castle Hayne Elementary School, and has been awarded both the New Hanover County Schools Elementary Educator of the Year Award for 2020-2021 and the 2020 National University Teacher Award for North Carolina.

Todd volunteers for the children’s and youth ministry at Scotts Hill Baptist Church. He has served on the North Carolina Azalea Festival’s Parade Committee since 2016. Todd earned the 2022 Wilmington’s 40 Under 40 Award for the significant impact both inside and outside the classroom.

Todd is a member of the Clocktower Society and serves as a Watson College of Education representative to the UNCW Alumni Board of Directors and a partnership teacher.

Sundy, a mathematics major with a business minor, has been with Reeds Jewelers since graduating more than 40 years ago. He rose through the organization and helped launch the company’s first mall store in Myrtle Beach. He earned the Roberta Zimmer Award in 2015 in recognition of his leadership philosophy and positive impact on colleagues and customers.

For more than 30 years he has helped with disaster response and humanitarian aid by leading volunteer teams in cleanup, demolition, rebuilding and long-term recovery efforts after storms and major flooding events. Sundy spent two decades leading youth mission teams in impoverished communities, repairing homes and mentoring young volunteers. In 2019 he became site manager for the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Disaster Response Team. He is a member of the Golden Wing Society, and the Clocktower Society.

Coastal Review is published by the Coastal Federation.

NEWPORT — State Rep. Celeste C. Cairns, R-Carteret and Craven, members of the Carteret County Board of Commissioners, county staff, area town officials and project partners broke ground Friday for a new public boat launch in the growing western part of Carteret County.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the Western Carteret County Boat Launch Facility at 4411 N.C. Highway 24, Newport, has been in the making for a long time, said Commissioner Mark Mansfield, the county board’s vice chairman, at the event. “As you can see, the western part of the county has been deficient in access to the water for quite some time, and this will hopefully enable us, with all the growth that’s going into the western end of the county, provide access to the waterways, which actually helps with the tax base and the property values in this area”

Former Commissioner Robin Comer, who was in office years ago when the project was conceived, was also on hand for the ceremony. He said the launch site is on one of the last available parcels that would facilitate the kind of facility needed in this part of the county where residential development has been rapid.

“This project became so popular — and when I say popular everywhere — everywhere we went to try to round up money for this thing, everybody was on board,” said Comer during his remarks.

Comer said the state provided money, as did the federal government using funding from a Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point program to buffer its nearby auxiliary airfield from residential encroachment. “And everybody wound up, everybody we asked, wound up putting money, time and effort in this thing.”

He said that Emerald Isle businessman Ronnie Watson represented the site’s then-landowner, Steven Stroud.

“If anybody knows Steve, he’s a tough businessman, so a lot of appreciation goes there to (Watson),” said Comer.

Cairns, in her remarks, credited her predecessor, former Rep. Pat McElraft, who served eight consecutive terms ending Jan. 1, 2023, for providing the initial momentum that made the project possible.

“I’m here to celebrate this occasion, that it has finally come to fruition with all the hard work that your county commissioners and my predecessor and others have put into it,” Cairns said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for folks on the western end of the county to be able to get access to the water. A wonderful collaboration with the Coastal Federation conservation folks. It’s just beautiful all the way around this great project. And I’m just honored, as I can be, to be a part of it today.”

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, is developing an abutting parcel for its new Center for Coastal Protection and Restoration being built on Bogue Sound. Construction on that project began in late 2024 and is anticipated to wrap up later this year. The center will share access with the county facility through a common driveway.

County Commissioner David Quinn, who represents the Newport area, expressed how meaningful the boating access is to residents here.

“If you’ve lived in Carteret County, you know that the water isn’t just scenery, it’s part of our daily life. It’s how we relax, it’s how we work, it’s how we make memories with our families,” Quinn said. “Bogue Sound has always been central to who we are, and having safe, dependable access to it matters. That’s exactly what this facility is going to provide for folks who live here year-round and for visitors who come to enjoy the coast. This gives people a safe, convenient place to get on the water. It also helps take pressure off of other boat ramps that have been overcrowded for years.”

Quinn said that with six launch ramps and a transient floating dock, boaters will be able to get in and out more efficiently with less waiting and less congestion, especially during peak season.

“That makes a real difference for families, makes a real difference for fishermen, makes a real difference for anyone that’s trying to enjoy a day out on Bogue Sound without frustration,” he said. “But in Carteret County, access alone isn’t enough. We also understand, if we don’t take care of the waters, then the waters will not take care of us. This project was built with that in mind.”

He explained that the 159-space trailer and vehicle parking lot will help keep vehicles out of sensitive areas. A channel connecting to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was designed to minimize the environmental impact while still proving easy for navigators.

“One of the most important features is the living shoreline,” Quinn noted. “Instead of concrete walls, we’re using natural systems that protect marshes, reduce erosion and preserve submerged vegetation that helps improve water quality and it keeps it healthy for a long time for fishing, for boating and, more importantly, for future generations. This site isn’t just about boats, the nature trails connecting Bogue Sound to the Croatan National Forest will give people another way to experience our outdoors, whether that’s a quiet walk, learning about the marsh, or just slowing down and enjoying where we live.”

He said the partnership with the Coastal Federation was important.

“It shows what can happen when public access and environmental stewardship work together instead of against each other. That kind of cooperation reflects Carteret County values: It’s practical, responsible and rooted in long-term thinking,” Quinn said.

Quinn said that in addition to the expected economic benefits of the facility, the project strengthens our connection to the water and to each other.

“It’s a place where kids learn to fish, neighbors cross paths, families spend time together, making memories together, the same way generations did before us,” said Quinn. “Found here in this body of water is the mind-clearing quiet of nature, and the small sounds of its islands are stark and healing, the squeaky flap of a cormorant’s wings overhead, the sizzle of salt foam over broken shells in a backwashing wave, the clicking of sandfiddler claws as they scuffle in the mud, and the splash of a jumping mullet breaking that flat water.

“My granddaddy was a commercial fisherman on these waters. My daddy was born here. I was raised on Bogue Sound. It isn’t just a place that I love, it’s who I am. I want to see my sons and future generations of Carteret County citizens to enjoy, to protect and to appreciate this beautiful place we call home.”

The North Carolina Coastal Federation has received funding to remove a dozen abandoned and derelict vessels from waters in Carteret, Chowan, Hyde, New Hanover and Onslow counties.

BoatUS Foundation announced last week that the Coastal Federation, along with nine other organizations spanning five states, one reservation and two territories, has been selected for the funding.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program funds this program administered by BoatUS Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes safe, clean and responsible boating. The Coastal Federation is a nonprofit member organization that works to protect and restore the state’s coast.

“This award provides critical support for removing vessels from working harbors,” Coastal Federation Marine Debris Program Director Ted Wilgis said in a release. “These communities, already facing tight budgets and rising expenses, do not have enough resources or funding to remove and dispose of these vessels. This award will enable the North Carolina Coastal Federation to continue its partnership with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and local governments to remove and dispose of ADVs affecting the livelihood and environment of our coastal communities.”

The award for $550,000 is to go to the removal and disposal of vessels ranging in size from 24-foot recreational boats to commercial fishing trawlers up to 75 feet long out of waters in Edenton, Engelhard, Swan Quarter, Morehead City, Beaufort, Marshallberg, Sneads Ferry, Holly Ridge and Carolina Beach, according to the nonprofit.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, is launching a leadership and professional development program focused on coastal issues.

The cohort-based Coastal Leadership Institute is designed for individuals who play leadership roles in coastal North Carolina communities, as well as leaders from across the state whose work influences the coast.

The institute is designed as a six-month program with two full-day sessions per month beginning in March. The cohort size is limited to about 20–25 participants. Registration is now open for the inaugural class.

“The Coastal Federation has established a strong reputation as a convener of people and organizations interested in protecting and restoring the coast,” said Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis, “so the launch of this new Institute is a natural fit for us and will be important to advancing our mission.”

Through facilitated discussions, expert-led sessions, and site-based learning, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the forces shaping coastal communities, examined through economic, environmental, natural, and cultural history lenses, while building strong professional relationships that support effective leadership in complex coastal settings, institute organizers said.

“Coastal issues rarely have simple solutions,” said Coastal Federation Chief Community Engagement Officer Amanda Lyle. “By bringing together leaders from different communities and sectors, the Institute creates space for shared learning and helps build the capacity for informed decision-making.”

The tuition of $1,000 per participant covers program materials, meals, transportation for site visits, lodging, and alumni programming access. Scholarships are available.

The six sessions will convene in March, April, May, September, October, and November, with a summer break.

An orientation is set for March 9-10 in Beaufort. This session will also explore how the cultural, historical, and ecological context of coastal North Carolina factor into the region’s identity, challenges, and leadership needs.

Subsequent sessions will cover coastal and marine sciences, growth and economic development, coastal policy and management issues, and natural resource conservation and restoration. This year, sessions will primarily take place in Carteret County and the Wilmington area.

The program is intended to become an annual offering that brings together emerging and established leaders from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including business, local and regional government, military, education, nonprofit, and industry.

The Institute is geared to create a space for thoughtful dialogue, practical learning, and a trusted peer network that continues well beyond the program.

 “We really couldn’t do this without our partners and supporters – the many individuals and organizations who have committed to sharing their expertise, insights, resources and time with the participants and to helping create new professional connections for the betterment of our coast,” Davis added.

The inaugural Coastal Leadership Institute cohort is partially subsidized through the support of the Duke Energy Foundation, the Carlyle Adams Foundation, and the RBC Foundation.

More details and the application are online.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation has launched its 12th annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, an initiative to locate and remove displaced and potentially dangerous fishing gear from the northeast and central regions of the coast.

The project takes place each year during the annual closure prohibiting the use of crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots in internal coastal waters north of the N.C. 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.

During this year’s closure, which is Jan. 8-31, the 21 commercial fishermen and women hired for the project are to remove from designated areas any lost crab pots and other hazards from specific areas within Marine Patrol Districts 1 and 2.

After collection, recovered crab pots will be recycled as much as possible, and those retrieved from the Albemarle and Pamlico Sound region will be available for rightful property owners to reclaim post-cleanup. 

“I’m glad to be involved and do my part to keep the sounds clean. It’s important for the blue crab fishery and much more. Without clean waterways, there would be so much at risk,” Joe Speight, a longtime participant from Kitty Hawk, said in a statement.

N.C. Commercial Fishing License Resource Fund Program funds the project.

Coastal Federation Coastal Education Coordinator Sara Hallas Hemilright, who leads the project, stressed the significance of this collaborative effort.

“This project brings together unique partnerships for a common cause of clean waterways. Our commercial fishers are true experts of the local waters, and it’s an honor to work alongside them to ensure the success of this cleanup and recovery effort,” she said in a statement.

More than 24,000 lost crab pots have been recovered since the project began in 2014. Collaborative efforts between commercial watermen and the N.C. Marine Patrol resulted in the recovery last year of 2,136 pots along the entire coast.

To learn more about the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project and its impact over the years, visit program’s the website.

Chris Doley’s legacy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is closely tied to his long and deeply influential partnerships with community-based organizations working on the frontlines of coastal restoration. Among those, his relationship with the North Carolina Coastal Federation stands out for its longevity and impact and for the role it played in advancing community-driven habitat restoration in North Carolina and beyond.

Chris became involved with the Coastal Federation’s work in the mid-1990s, during the formative years of NOAA’s Community-Based Habitat Restoration efforts. At that time, the Coastal Federation was in its second decade of work and was beginning to expand into fisheries habitat restoration as an emerging program area. The organization was advancing an idea that was still gaining traction nationally: that locally driven, science-based restoration — done with communities, not just for them — could deliver durable ecological results.

Chris was never just a grant manager. He became a trusted partner, sounding board, and advocate within NOAA — someone who understood both the realities of federal programs and the practical challenges of getting projects done on the ground. His willingness to listen, ask hard questions, and support promising ideas proved instrumental during a period when both NOAA’s restoration programs and the Federation’s habitat work were still taking shape.

With support provided through what would become NOAA’s Restoration Center, the Coastal Federation began to build one of the country’s more visible and respected nonprofit coastal restoration programs — rooted in applied science, community engagement, and practical outcomes.

Building a Restoration Agenda from the Ground Up

Working closely with Chris and NOAA’s habitat restoration staff, the Federation developed an increasingly integrated restoration approach — linking living shorelines, oyster reef restoration, salt marsh recovery, and water quality improvement into a more cohesive strategy. This systems-based framing was not yet common practice in the 1990s and early 2000s, when many restoration projects were relatively small, site-specific, and narrowly focused.

Chris encouraged partners to think beyond individual projects — at scale and to achieve significant ecological outcomes beyond individual project boundaries. Early NOAA support enabled the Federation to pilot some of North Carolina’s first living shoreline projects in the early 2000s, well before the practice was widely accepted or routinely permitted. These projects demonstrated that oyster reefs and marsh vegetation could stabilize shorelines, protect property, and improve habitat—often performing as well as or better than hardened shoreline structures, particularly during storm events.

The success of those projects didn’t just validate a new technique; it reshaped the Federation’s restoration agenda. Living shorelines became a core program area, and the lessons learned in North Carolina helped inform NOAA (and other federal agency) guidance, state permitting reforms, and restoration programs nationwide.

Oyster Reefs, Scale, and Staying Power

A similar trajectory emerged with oyster restoration. With Chris’s backing, the Coastal Federation undertook increasingly ambitious reef restoration efforts, including a major NOAA-supported initiative in 2009-2010, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That effort restored nearly 50 acres of oyster reefs and helped establish permanent oyster sanctuaries in Pamlico Sound, at the time among the larger oyster restoration efforts in the region.

More than a decade later, that long arc culminated in another milestone: the 2022 NOAA-supported investment to complete North Carolina’s 500-acre oyster sanctuary network. This project reflects decades of shared learning, trust, and persistence between NOAA and its partners.

Restore America’s Estuaries and Broader Influence

The Coastal Federation is a founding member of Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE), established in 1994 to connect community-based restoration organizations and share effective practices nationally. Chris supported NOAA’s engagement with RAE, recognizing that strong regional organizations could anchor a growing national restoration movement.

Through RAE and other collaborative forums, restoration approaches refined in North Carolina, such as community-driven project delivery, living shorelines, oyster sanctuaries, and volunteer engagement, were shared, adapted, and applied in other regions, helping advance restoration practice across the country.

Enduring Impact

From my perspective, what set Chris apart was his quiet confidence and deep respect for the people doing the work on the ground. I recall sitting with him in quiet corners of crowded conferences and workshops, where he would ask thoughtful, practical questions or offer observations about how our partnership was evolving. He simply wanted to understand, to learn, and to find ways to be an even better partner.

Chris Doley rarely sought the spotlight, but his influence is clear in the durability and credibility of NOAA’s community-based restoration programs and the projects they have supported. He created space for partners like the Coastal Federation to experiment, learn, and improve — while never losing sight of ecological outcomes and the public good.

As Chris retires after more than 35 years at NOAA, the North Carolina Coastal Federation — and countless partners across the country — continue to build on the foundation he helped establish. The restoration agenda he supported in North Carolina now informs broader policy discussions, restoration practice, and investment strategies nationwide.

Thank you, Chris, for believing early, backing consistently, and helping turn local action into lasting impact.

To get a sense of just how severe Battery Island’s shoreline is changing, look no farther than its trees.

As waves lick away at the fringes of this little island in the middle of the Cape Fear River near Southport, trees rising off its shores are toppling.

“The mature trees that the birds nest in are being lost along the shore,” said Lindsay Addison, coastal biologist with Audubon North Carolina.

Each tree that plops into the river is one fewer on an island that is globally significant for nesting white ibis and home to one of the largest wading bird colonies in North Carolina.

To Battery Island’s east rests Shellbed Island, a large marsh system edged by elevated banks of old oyster shells called shell rakes.

In good condition, these rakes do not flood at high tide or during storms, making them a crucial and rather niche nesting habitat for American oystercatchers.

“The Cape Fear River supports almost 30% of the state’s nesting American oystercatchers. And about half of the American oystercatchers that nest on the Cape Fear River nest in these types of habitats. So, it’s a very important habitat type for American oystercatchers and they are a state listed species,” Addison said.

Like Battery Island, waves have altered Shellbed Island’s edges, where the elevated shell rakes have been flattened out and pushed back into the marsh by coastal storms.

In an effort to protect the threatened bird habitat on these islands, Audubon and its partners, Sandbar Oyster Co. and the North Carolina Coastal Federation, have teamed up to design and install two pilot living shoreline projects and test their effectiveness at protecting the low-lying islands on the river.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, is contributing $13,800 in cost share for the $51,500 projects. Of the Coastal Federation’s contribution, $5,250 has been set aside for Battery Island and $8,550 for the project at Shellbed Island.

Georgia Busch, a coastal specialist in the Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach office, said these projects, “align with our mission for preservation of critical habitats in our coastal and estuary systems.”

“But, particularly in the lower Cape Fear River, there’s a need for some extra reinforcement of those habitats there. Historically, the birds have used this area for a long, long time and we just want to make sure that stays intact. These sites were chosen for both their exposure and their critical points in the river,” she said.

Battery Island’s shores have for years been battered by waves from large vessels that navigate the river to and from the Port of Wilmington, recreational boats that skim the waters around Southport, and the Bald Head Island ferry.

“What makes Battery Island special for the nesting birds is it’s relatively small, it’s far enough away from the mainland that it doesn’t have any mammalian predators on it, and so that allows this colony to have a lot of success,” Addison said.

There’s also little human disturbance on the island. The island, which is managed by Audubon, is closed to people March 1 to Sept. 15 each year.

A test section of about 70 linear feet of living shoreline will be installed along the roughly 100-acre island’s southwest corner, which has experienced some of the most severe erosion.

A reef constructed of Sandbar Oyster Co.’s Oyster Catcher reef building substrates, which are made with plant-fiber cloth, infused with different cement mixtures, and molded into different shapes to promote sediment accumulation and marsh growth.

The test project at Shellbed Island has been designed to prevent shell rakes from washing away.

Power hurricanes, including Florence in 2018 and Dorian in 2019, pushed the shell rakes back into the marsh and flattened them out. And the oyster reefs that at one time provided an abundance of oyster shell in the river are not as plentiful because of overfishing, pollution and habitat degradation.

“There’s still plenty of spat, larval oysters, in the water, but there isn’t a lot of substrate for them to settle on because oysters typically grow on other oysters,” Addison explained. “When you put in a living shoreline-type of material, or almost any hard substrate, you’ll get oysters recruiting onto it. What we would like to do is to help jumpstart some oyster populations in areas of these shell rakes.”

The project at Shellbed Island includes installing roughly 67 feet of living shoreline in front of the shell rakes and material behind the shell rakes, “so that when nature moves those loose shells around, it can build back up into a more sustainable nesting habitat where the oystercatchers are not losing so many of their nests to overwash,” Addison said.

Audubon has a received a grant for a separate project to place loose oyster shell directly on the existing rakes.

Busch explained the test projects are a first-of-their kind because they will be at isolated islands “where we’re really only looking at habitat and this will be really helpful for testing out the strength and feasibility of the Sandbar Oyster Company’s products and of living shorelines.”

“These sites were chosen for both their exposure and their critical points in the river,” she said. “We want to see how this product will work somewhere where we get a lot of wave energy. We’re going to find out.”

Addison said she has “high hopes” for the living shorelines in curbing erosion at the islands.

“If it turns out to look like it’s working well then we could seek larger pots of money and expand our permit to be able to do this at a larger scale,” she said.

Audubon is continuing to fundraise for the projects. Donations may be made by contacting Addison by email at lindsay.addison@audubon.org.

Updated at 8 a.m. Thursday to include the link to the Federal Register, which published the proposed rules Thursday after the story posted, and public comment information.

The two federal agencies with jurisdiction over navigable waterways have published amendments to the existing “waters of the United States” rule that they say will “establish a clear, durable, common-sense definition” of the term, and a public comment period has opened.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army’s changes have heightened worry among conservation groups that federal protections for isolated wetlands might be weakened further than they were soon after the 2023 Supreme Court decision that found wetlands must be connected by surface water to a navigable body of water to fall under the 1972 Clean Water Act.

The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers said in a release Monday that the newly proposed changes were to “fully implement the court’s direction by focusing on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water—such as streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes—and wetlands that are connected and indistinguishable from such waterbodies.”

As part of the announcement, leadership posted the prepublication notice they planned to submit to the Federal Register, which was published Thursday, starting a 45-day public comment period.

Comments must be submitted by Jan. 5, 2026, and identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OW–2025–0322, through www.regulations.gov, by email to OW-Docket@epa.gov, or mail to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Water Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.

Language in the Clean Water Act states that the “term ‘navigable waters’ means the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.” However, the act doesn’t define what “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, actually are, leaving the EPA and Corps to determine the geographic scope of the rule.

Over the last five decades, pushback and litigation have forced the two agencies to revise the definition several times.

The current regulatory definition, according to the EPA, was put in place in September 2023 to align with the May 2023 Supreme Court ruling on the Sackett v EPA lawsuit.

The Sacketts filed the lawsuit after the agency ordered the Idaho couple to restore where they had begun backfilling with dirt the section of their property that the EPA considered to be wetlands of a nearby navigable waterbody. The judges sided with the Sacketts that federally protected wetlands must have an obvious connection to waterbodies like streams, oceans, rivers and lakes.

To conform to the Sackett decision, the EPA and Army amended in September 2023 the latest final rule, which had been put in place that January.

EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle shared with Washington, D.C., lawmakers Monday afternoon an overview of the proposed rules.

“I know that across the country, news of today’s proposal is going to be met with a lot of relief and happiness from farmers, ranchers, other landowners, governments that have been looking for a simple, prescriptive definition that the whole country can operate off of, and would allow individuals to know whether or not there’s a ‘water of the United States’ without having to go hire an attorney or a consultant, having to pay someone to Tell them,” Zeldin said Monday during the announcement livestreamed on the EPA’s YouTube.

The EPA secretary explained that the proposal “includes practical, common-sense revisions that will make a real difference,” and adds definitions for what he called “key terms” such as “’relatively permanent,’ ‘continuous surface connection’ and ‘tributary’ to appropriately limit the scope of what is consistent with” the Sackett case.

“We’re establishing that jurisdictional tributaries must connect to traditional navigable waters, either directly or through other features that provide predictable and consistent flow. We’re adding a new exclusion for groundwater and revising exclusions for certain ditches prior converted cropland and waste treatment systems,” Zeldin continued. “We’re incorporating locally familiar terminology such as wet season to help determine whether a water body qualifies as WOTUS. And we’re strengthening state and tribal decision-making authority by providing clear regulatory guidelines while recognizing their expertise in local land and water resources.”

He explained that the proposed rules were developed based on input from multiple sources, including preproposal recommendations, docket information from nine public listening sessions and consultation comments from states, tribes and local governments.

Telle addressed the audience after Zeldin.

“Since 1972 Americans have struggled to understand what Congress meant when it included the term ‘waters of the United States’ in the Clean Water Act. Did it apply to them? Did it not? The definition of that term has been often abused, sometimes stretched beyond recognition over time, and it’s left Americans uncertain about whether they were complying with the Clean Water Act or not,” he said Monday, adding that “under President Trump’s leadership, the EPA and army Civil Works, which oversees the Corps of Engineers, are kicking off the formal process that will give American certainty about their property once and for all.”

Several Republican officials thanked Zeldin from the podium for initiating the proposed amendments including West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey who said that “for too long there’s been great deal of uncertainty” about the WOTUS rule.

“Unfortunately, it left many people holding the bag. Farmers, contractors, small business owners guessing whether their ephemeral stream or a backyard ditch was going to be classified as a waters of the United States rule and potentially subject them to significant penalties,” he continued.

Alabama Congressman Gary Palmer said he was confident that the rule will prioritize clean water while protecting farmers, ranchers, landowners and businesses alike.

Conservation groups have been vocal about these revisions opening up isolated wetlands to development and degradation since the announcement was made.

“Wetlands are the lifeblood of our coast, and should be held to the highest standards of protection,” North Carolina Coastal Federation Coastal Advocate Kerri Allen explained. “The wetlands most impacted by these proposed rollbacks are the very wetlands that hold water during storms and help protect downstream waters. With the proposed changes, our coast will face irrevocable damage that impacts not only our wildlife and fisheries, but also our coastal economy and communities.” The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Mark Sabath said Monday in a statement that this proposed rule, if adopted, “could have catastrophic ramifications for communities already plagued by flooding, water quality concerns, and drinking water shortages. After critical, longstanding protections for clean water and wetlands were drastically narrowed by the Sackett decision, we need stronger protections, not weaker, to safeguard our communities and environment.”

League of Conservation Voters Healthy Communities Program Director Madeleine Foote had a similar reaction.

“The Trump administration’s Polluted Water Rule is another blatant giveaway to big corporate polluters that will jeopardize the waters that our families and communities rely on for drinking, recreation, and fueling our local economies,” Foote said.

“In 2023, the Supreme Court’s devastating Sackett decision stripped federal protections from millions of miles of streams and tens of millions of acres of wetlands, and now corporate polluters are pushing their friends in the administration to go even further in decimating our clean water safeguards. They won’t be happy until the Clean Water Act is nothing more than words on a page and they can pollute our waters with abandon,” Foote continued.

Environmental Defense Fund Associate Vice President Will McDow stated Monday that the new proposed WOTUS rule from the Trump administration that will redefine which wetlands and waters have Clean Water Act Protections. 

“We already spend billions annually responding to disasters that were created by building in risky areas. With today’s proposed WOTUS rule, commercial developers will be allowed to pave over wetlands to build unsafe housing that either floods or increases flooding to neighbors,” he continued. “This rule brings tremendous uncertainty and risk to our nation’s drinking water, flood protections and critical habitats. Based on our peer-reviewed analysis, new requirements for wetland protections could leave nearly all wetlands without Clean Water Act protections. Requirements in the new rule are not based in science, difficult to implement in practice and will create a dangerous lack of clarity.” 

Guest Commentary To stimulate discussion and debate, Coastal Review welcomes differing viewpoints on topical coastal issues.

This fall has been one of the wettest in my memory — and yet, we haven’t had much significant rainfall, or a single hurricane or tropical storm make landfall. Still, the water lingers.

King tides have been washing over docks, creeping across yards, and flooding roads that once stayed dry except in the worst storms. For those of us living Down East in Carteret County, it’s a clear sign that something deeper is changing.

I’ve lived in Atlantic for six decades. I’ve never seen the roads hold water like this. The fields don’t dry out anymore. The ditches stay full — they just don’t drain.

When ditches stop working

For generations, Down East communities-built ditches moved water off the land and into nearby creeks or sounds. Those systems were based on one simple principle: gravity. Water flows downhill, and as long as the outlet of a ditch was lower than the land it drained — and the tide stayed low enough — water could flow freely.

But that balance has been shifting. The “hydrologic head,” or the difference in elevation that drives water to move from land to sea, has been shrinking as sea level rises. When the sea surface and ditch outlet are nearly the same height, there’s no longer enough downward pressure to push the water out. Even small rises in tide height or groundwater level can stop drainage altogether.

Today, many ditches are effectively at or just above mean high tide. That means during normal tides, water from the creeks seeps inland through the ditches, instead of the other way around. Even when a ditch still looks dry at low tide, the groundwater beneath it is now closer to the surface, leaving the soil perpetually saturated. Digging the ditch deeper doesn’t help — it only invites more saltwater in and raises the groundwater table even higher.

In short, the plumbing that once kept the land dry is backing up.

Ghost forests: symptom of a deeper change

Drive Down East in Carteret County, and the change is plain to see. Along North River, Core Sound, and the backroads of Cedar Island and Atlantic, stands of gray, lifeless trees rise like skeletons from the marsh — the ghost forests of a drowning coast.

Where there were once loblolly pines, red maples, and black gums, saltwater now seeps through the soil, killing the trees from the roots up. These ghost forests are not isolated patches — they are expanding corridors of dead timber that trace the slow inland march of the tides. They are, quite literally, the frontline of sea level rise.

The loss of these forests shows that this isn’t just a surface flooding problem. It’s the entire groundwater system responding to rising seas — a shift in the coastal hydrology that’s transforming once-productive working lands into wetlands and marsh.

What the future holds

If sea level continues to rise at its current pace — or faster, as most scientists expect — the next two or three decades will bring dramatic change to Down East Carteret County.

• Farming will become progressively more difficult, as fields stay too wet or too salty for crops or equipment.
• Roads will flood more often and for longer periods, isolating communities during high tides.
• Septic systems will fail, as the groundwater table rises to meet the drainfields.
• Homes and businesses built on low ground will face chronic flooding, declining property values, and higher insurance costs.

And yet, all this is happening without a single hurricane this year. The water is simply no longer leaving.

Working with water, not against it

The North Carolina Coastal Federation and many partners are working to restore natural hydrology on thousands of acres of previously ditched farmland and forestland. By filling or plugging ditches and re-establishing wetland systems, these projects allow the land to store and slowly release water — the way nature intended.

Restored wetlands act like natural sponges and filters, reducing flooding, improving water quality, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife. More importantly, they show that living with water is possible — but only if we plan for it, rather than trying to drain it away.

Facing reality

The ghost forests now lining our creeks are not just dying trees; they’re a warning. They tell us that the old ways of managing water — cutting deeper ditches, pumping harder, pushing it away — will not work in a world where the sea itself is rising.

Down East has always lived close to the water and thrived because of it. But if we want our communities to endure, we’ll need to give the land room to breathe again — to let it hold water where it must and adapt to what’s coming.

Because the water isn’t waiting.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is putting out a call for commercial fishers to join the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project taking place in January.

An effort in place since 2014, the nonprofit organization hires commercial fishers to collect crab pots during the annual closure Jan. 1-31 of internal coastal waters north and east of the Highway 58 bridge over Bogue Sound to Emerald Isle to all crab, eel, fish, and shrimp pots.

Commercial watermen and women along the northern and central coast are invited to submit an application through the organization’s website until Dec. 12. Captains must have a valid North Carolina standard commercial fishing license.

The project is scheduled to take place in the southeast region during the closure from March 1 to 15. A call for applicants will go out early next year.

“Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds in a variety of ways. Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating serious hazards for boaters, wildlife, and fishermen,” the organization said in a release.

In partnership with North Carolina Marine Patrol, 2,136 pots were removed in 2025 from select areas on the coast.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, in partnership with the North Carolina Sea Grant, have received a $529,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to “strengthen and expand” the state’s growing shellfish mariculture industry.

The Coastal Federation said Thursday in a release that the money will help build on more than a decade of collaboration among the organization, state agencies, industry leaders, N.C. Sea Grant, and other partners across the “coast to grow a thriving mariculture sector that supports local oyster growers, clean water, and coastal economies.”

The previous work includes the Coastal Federation’s community-supported efforts to restore oysters and the work being done through the North Carolina Oyster Blueprint, which recommended developing a network of shellfish aquaculture hubs. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

“This support from NOAA is a major step forward for North Carolina’s mariculture industry,” Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis said in a statement. “It will provide growers with additional stability, infrastructure, and tools they need to build strong businesses while protecting the clean water and healthy habitats our coastal economy depends on.”

The funding is to be used for a handful of purposes, including the management and operations of the Shellfish Mariculture Hub in Carteret County. The first-of-its-kind hub is designed to provide growers with reliable support for water access, storage, logistics, and distribution, filling what the nonprofit calls a critical gap in the industry.

“Ensuring strong and effective management will be essential for the Hub’s long-term success,” recipients said.

The grant also will go to initiating a stakeholder group made up of growers, researchers, state agencies, and industry partners to establish North Carolina’s first commercial shellfish hatchery. The group will evaluate options and determine the best path forward to secure the reliable seed supply needed to sustain and expand shellfish farming across the state, officials said.

In addition, funds will go to expand outreach for the NC Oyster Trail, which highlights the cultural, economic, and environmental importance of shellfish while strengthening tourism and community ties. There are more than 90 sites on the trail, including shellfish farm tours, seafood restaurants and markets, and educational organizations like aquariums and museums.

“The NC Oyster Trail is a critical marketing tool to ensure high demand for our state’s shellfish as well as continued support for coastal protection and restoration. It’s a gateway to understand the full impact of the oyster on our coast,” said North Carolina coastal economics specialist Jane Harrison.

The grant also will go to support growers near Stump Sound, a community in North Topsail Beach where shellfish farming takes place alongside a variety of other coastal uses.

“By fostering dialogue and cooperation, the effort will help ensure that Stump Sound continues to be a place where diverse coastal traditions and industries can thrive together,” the organization said.

NEWPORT — The 2025 hurricane season is the first since the state’s building code reinstated standards for residential docks and piers. In an effort to help local governments and coastal property owners better understand these new building codes, the North Carolina Coastal Federation has compiled a comprehensive guide, the first of its kind in the state.

Coastal Advocate Kerri Allen with the Coastal Federation explained the addition of these standards could help reduce harmful marine debris, since the majority of debris found post-storms has been attributed to poorly constructed docks and piers.

“The majority of the debris we see after storms comes from broken-up docks and piers that were never built to withstand serious weather,” Allen said. “These new codes give us a real opportunity to protect our coastlines, our wildlife, and our neighbors from the impacts of that debris.”

Building to code is essential for several reasons. First, it enhances safety by reducing the risk of injury and structural failure. Code-compliant structures are also designed for long-term durability, helping them better withstand high winds, storm surge, and sea level rise. Legal compliance is another critical factor, as adhering to building codes helps avoid costly fines or permit issues.

From a financial perspective, investing in a resilient dock can save homeowners up to $100,000 over 35 years by reducing the need for major repairs and replacements. Equally important, code-compliant construction demonstrates environmental responsibility by helping prevent marine debris and protect sensitive coastal ecosystems.

“If you’re investing in a dock, do it right the first time,” Allen added. “Work with a qualified marine contractor and engineer who knows the local conditions and can guide you through the permitting process. Cutting corners may save money up front, but it usually ends in expensive damage, not to mention environmental harm.”

Allen emphasized that most people don’t immediately think of their dock when they consider safety or environmental impact, but they should. “It’s easy to overlook, but your dock might be one of the most important things you can build responsibly. This is one of the best ways waterfront property owners can reduce their footprint and protect their community,” said Allen.

5 Steps to Build a Code-Compliant Dock

1. Hire Qualified Professionals Choose a licensed marine contractor and engineer with strong references and coastal experience. Jobs over $40,000 require licensed professionals in North Carolina
2. Design with Compliance in Mind Ensure your design complies with the North Carolina Building Code (Section R327) and the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) regulations, as well as any local requirements.
3. Select the Right Materials Use weather-resistant, marine-grade materials (e.g., composite decking, treated lumber, galvanized fasteners) and avoid cheap or untreated wood, especially near seawater.
4. Monitor Construction Have your engineer inspect progress to ensure the structure is built as designed and keep documentation of any changes or inspections.
5. Final Inspection & Certification Secure a final inspection from your local authority and keep copies of all permits, plans, and approvals for future reference.

This work was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program. You can read the full guide here or by visiting the Coastal Federation’s website, https://www.nccoast.org/resource/resilient-docks-piers-toolkit/.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Acres of wetland habitat undergoing restoration need a few days to dry out after a rain-soaked weekend before volunteers can get to work planting at Carolina Beach State Park.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation has rescheduled a volunteer planting originally planned for Monday to 10 a.m. to noon Thursday.

Volunteers may register to help plant native vegetation within the 10-acre project area, which was selected by federal and state agencies to address environmental damages caused by decades of creosote contamination that occurred during operations at a former wood treatment plant in Navassa.

The former Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. site in the Brunswick County town, which is a little more than 30 miles upstream of Carolina Beach, was listed on the federal Superfund’s National Priorities List in 2010.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, and project contractor designed the native tidal wetland restoration project to include removing invasive species, creating a slough through the removal of fill material and grading, planting native vegetation, and monitoring the project once it is complete.

Rainfall from a system that began over the weekend and continues to sweep up the East Coast have flooded the trail and wetland area.

“That said, this flooding is actually a great reminder that the wetland is doing exactly what it was designed to do – absorbing, filtering, and holding stormwater to reduce flooding elsewhere and improve water quality,” according to the Coastal Federation. “Wetlands act like nature’s sponges, capturing runoff and allowing sediment and nutrients to settle before the water slowly filters back into our coastal systems.”

Volunteers are recommended to bring tall boots or waders and gloves. These items will also be provided on site to volunteers who may not have them. It is recommended that volunteers dress in layers they do not mind getting dirty.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is planning to serve a spread of steamed local oysters, a low country boil, vegetarian options, and other favorites during this year’s “A Roast for the Coast.”

The fundraising event for the nonprofit begins at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24 on the grounds of the New Hanover County Arboretum in Wilmington. The event is to be held rain or shine.

Proceeds will go to the organization’s efforts to restore native oysters, such as its oyster shell recycling program. The shells collected are used to build and restore oyster reefs in the lower Cape Fear River and along the coast.

Tickets can be purchased online. Cost is $70 for Coastal Federation members or $80 for nonmembers and includes two drink tickets for wine or beer, plus unlimited nonalcoholic beverages. 

The online silent auction opened Tuesday. Bidders do not need to attend the event to win. 

Attendees have access to a $10 voucher for Uber rides using the code, rqmkbnvbzkk, or this link.

Those who register by 5 p.m. Sept. 30 and use the code EARLY will receive 10% off their ticket price.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH — When the Army Corps of Engineers issued its final decision on the terminal groin project here more than eight years ago, the document conveyed a prescient warning.

A terminal groin “may increase erosion along the easternmost point of Ocean Isle Beach, down-drift of the structure.”

Today, the shoreline east of terminal groin is being gnawed away, vanishing beach in front of a neighborhood of grand, multimillion-dollar homes built shortly after the $11 million erosion-control structure was completed in spring 2022.

A wall of sandbags fends off waves from reaching some of the waterfront homes on the ocean side of the gated community that’s advertised as “luxurious coastal living.”

Several lots remain vacant because the properties no longer have enough beachfront necessary to meet the state’s ocean setback requirements.

“I would have never developed the property if I had known this was going to happen,” said Doc Dunlap, a developer with Pointe OIB, LLC. “It’s just devastating to tell you the truth. I even had plans myself to build there, have a summer home.”

The caveat written in the federal record of decision all those years ago, one that was a central argument in a lawsuit to try and stop the terminal groin from being built, was not explicitly pointed out to the developers of The Pointe, they say.

In an email responding to Coastal Review’s questions, the Division of Coastal Management said it, “is not aware of any specific notification to those property owners other than the standard (area of environmental concern) hazard notice.”

“We were just under the impression that all of this was going to be extremely positive and help protect this part of the beach,” said Jimmy Bell, who contributed to the planning and implementation of the community. “And then, once we started experiencing this massive erosion, I started researching groins more. We had engineers and other people that were helping, and we were informed and under the impression that it was going to all be good, and now it’s turning out to not be quite as good.”

Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith pushed back on those claims.

“My heart breaks for them, but the developers knew that that groin was going in,” she said. “They knew it was not designed to protect that area. It was not designed to harm it, but they also know that adjacent 2,000 feet west of them was a line of sandbags and most of them had been there for years.”

The developers are now seeking legal representation as they continue to try to figure out how to protect the oceanfront properties within the 44-lot neighborhood.

“Mr. Dunlap is extremely disappointed in the decisions made that resulted in the placement and construction of the terminal groin and the erosion damages it has caused,” John Hilton III, corporate counsel to Pointe OIB, stated in an email. “He is committed to holding those who made these decisions legally accountable and also seeking a remedy to correct the ongoing erosion.  We are working to obtain local legal counsel to explore and pursue all available options.”

Erosion-battered shore

The east end of the island at Shallotte Inlet historically accreted and eroded naturally as the inlet wagged back and forth between Ocean Isle Beach and Holden Beach up until Hurricane Hazel hit in 1954.

When the powerful hurricane – likely a Category 4 storm using the Saffir-Simpson scale developed in 1971 – made landfall in October 1954 near the South Carolina border, it caused the inlet channel to move in a more easterly direction, accelerating erosion at the east end of the barrier island.

Erosion has remained persistent in that area since the 1970s, according to N.C. Division of Coastal Management records.

The worst of the erosion occurred along about a mile of oceanfront shore beginning near the inlet. An encroaching ocean claimed homes, damaged and destroyed public utilities, and prompted the N.C. Department of Transportation to abandon state-maintained streets.

In 2005, the town was permitted to install at the east a wall of sandbags to barricade private properties and infrastructure from ocean waves.

Sandbags revetments are, under state rules, to be used as a temporary measure to hold erosion at bay.

In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly repealed a decades-old state law that prohibited permanent, hardened erosion-control structures from being built on North Carolina beaches.

Under the revised law, a handful of beach communities, including Ocean Isle Beach, get the option to pursue installing a terminal groin at an inlet area.

Terminal groins are wall-like structures built perpendicular to the shore at inlets to contain sand in areas of high erosion like the east end of Ocean Isle Beach.

These structures are controversial because they capture sand that travels down the beach near shore, depleting the sand supply to the beach immediately downdrift of the structure, stripping land that is natural habitat for, among others, sea turtles and shorebirds.

Ocean Isle Beach Sea Turtle Protection Organization Island Coordinator Deb Allen said that beach conditions east of the terminal groin have hindered turtles from nesting there this season. Escarpment, sandbags and debris that Allen believes is coming from the development have impeded turtles from accessing the sandy areas they seek to lay their eggs.

As of early September, the organization had recorded four false crawls, which is when a female turtle crawls onto a beach only to return to the ocean without laying eggs, and three nests east of the terminal groin, Allen said.

The potential for that type of impact to wildlife was argued in a lawsuit the Southern Environmental Law Center filed on behalf of the National Audubon Society in August 2017 challenging the Corps’ approval of Ocean Isle Beach’s project.

The lawsuit claimed that the Corps failed to objectively evaluate alternatives to the terminal groin, including those that would be less costly to Ocean Isle residents and less destructive to the coast, particularly to what was then the undeveloped area on the island’s east end.

The lawsuit, which later included the town, came to an end in March 2021 after a panel of appellate court judges affirmed a lower court’s decision that the Corps fairly considered the alternatives included in an environmental impact statement, or EIS, examining the proposed project.

“As we went through and talked about the impacts of terminal groins in the EIS, this was the central argument – will the land east of the groin erode at a more rapid pace? And, everything we could point to, all of the science, said yes,” said Geoff Gisler, program director of SELC’s Chapel Hill office. “There’s only so much sand and the way that these structures operate is they keep more of it in one place and necessarily take it from somewhere else. That’s why we have seen over and over again that when you build a groin towards the end of an island, what happens is the island erodes at the end. That there is less sand going to the east end is not an accident.”

‘Righting this wrong’

Gisler said the SELC will be following how the town and the Corps respond to the erosion that is occurring east of the terminal groin.

“The town committed and the Corps committed to righting this wrong if it occurred and that’s what we’ll be looking at,” he said.

Under conditions in the town’s federal permit, the town is required to monitor the sand spit east of The Pointe as well as the town’s shoreline and that of neighboring Holden Beach to the west.

Should those shorelines erode past boundaries identified in 1999, “consideration will be given to modifying the structure to allow more sediment to move from west to east past the structure,” according to final EIS.

The town also has the option to nourish an eroded shoreline.

“In the event the negative impacts of the terminal groin cannot be mitigated with beach nourishment or possible modifications to the design of the terminal groin, the terminal groin would be removed,” the EIS states.

The Corps and the Division of Coastal Management are reviewing the monitoring report submitted by the engineering firm hired by the town, Coastal Protection Engineering of North Carolina.

That report indicates that erosion “has exceeded the 1999 shoreline threshold for the area immediately east of the groin.”

“However, the applicant is working on a modification request to alter this threshold as the shoreline had eroded landward of part of that threshold prior to construction of the groin,” according to the division.

A beach maintenance project scheduled for fall 2026 to inject sand west of the terminal groin is anticipated to increase the rate of sand that bypasses the terminal groin and “would serve to ‘feed’ the shoreline immediately east of the groin with additional material,” according to the town’s engineer.

But The Pointe’s developers and property owners say they can’t wait another year.

“There’s got to be an exception to the standard application restrictions (i.e., sandbag placement and height) the (Coastal Area Management Act/Coastal Resources Commission) process has today to protect near term east of the groin due to emergency status and a path longer term that can get us to a point of evaluating what we can do for the groin from a redesign standpoint that would protect all both west and east of the groin,” property owner Brendan Flynn said. “What we’re dealing with now in my view is we need to have another review of what could be done to enhance the groin’s performance to benefit and protect the other part of this island.”

Smith said that the terminal groin is doing what it was designed to do.

“It is building up right adjacent to the groin,” she said. “It just has not built anything far enough down to protect this new development. I wish Mother Nature would reserve herself and build it up right now instead of taking it away. I wish I had some magic bullet for them too, but I don’t today. It’s really up to them to take some action.”

Kerri Allen, director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s southeast office in Wrightsville Beach, called the situation “heartbreaking,” but not surprising. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

“When you alter the natural movement of sand with a hardened structure like the terminal groin, you might protect one stretch of beach, but you inevitably put other areas at greater risk,” she said. “And, unfortunately, the erosion we’re seeing east of the groin is exactly what experts warn could happen.  That being said, the purpose of this groin was to protect existing infrastructure that was already at risk. Instead, new homes were built in an area that’s incredibly vulnerable and these homeowners are now facing devastating losses. Moving forward, we need to focus on solutions that don’t just shift the problem from one place to another and ensure that public resources aren’t used to subsidize these risky, short-term development decisions.”

“I think this is a pivotal moment for Ocean Isle and for other coastal towns,” she continued. “We have an opportunity to step back, look at the science, and commit to managing our coast in a way that protects both our communities and the natural systems that sustain them. That means resisting the temptation to build our way out of these challenges because, ultimately, the ocean always wins.”

NEWPORT — Duke Energy Foundation has awarded the North Carolina Coastal Federation, based here, a $50,000 grant as part of its effort to support local conservation efforts and environmental impact programs across North Carolina.

The nonprofit organization founded in 1982 works toward and advocates for clean coastal waters, abundant salt marshes, thriving oysters, effective coastal management, and a coast that is free of marine debris. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

“North Carolina’s natural surroundings are an asset to our communities, our residents and our economic growth,” said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s North Carolina state president. “We’re proud to work alongside local nonprofits to promote our state’s natural resources and build communities that are great places to live, work and play.”

The money will be used to support the Coastal Federation’s new Coastal Leadership Institute, a six-month-long program designed to strengthen leadership across North Carolina’s coastal communities. Led by the Coastal Federation, the institute will “bring together a diverse cohort of emerging and established leaders to explore the complex issues shaping our coast through six monthly sessions exploring topics including applied coastal sciences, growth and economic development, natural resource conservation and restoration, disaster preparedness and resilience planning, and coastal policy and management,” according to the announcement.

The institute is set to launch in 2026 in Carteret County.

Duke Energy Foundation has provided grants totaling $6.6 million to support environmental impact programs across North Carolina over the past five years.

For more information visit the Duke Energy Foundation website.

To learn more about the Coastal Federation, visit nccoast.org.

CARY — In an update to our earlier report on the North Carolina Press Association’s recognition of Coastal Review’s editorial excellence, last week the North Carolina Bar Association presented a special award to Assistant Editor Jennifer Allen for her reporting on legal matters.

The award was presented along with other awards during the press organization’s annual convention held Thursday and Friday at the Cary Embassy Suites.

Allen received the Media and the Law Award of Excellence for her story, “Coastal commission lawyer: CAMA a 50-year ‘balancing act,’” published Dec. 16, 2024.

According to the contest rules, judges were to look for “insightful coverage of law-related topics that foster greater public understanding of the legal system and the role of lawyers in today’s society.”

Allen’s report detailed the history and implementation of the state’s 50-year-old Coastal Area Management Act, better known simply as CAMA.

“This award is what we’re all about: helping the public understand North Carolina’s complex coastal management laws and policy and the rationale behind their creation,” said Coastal Review Editor Mark Hibbs in reaction to the award.

Allen joined Coastal Review in 2017. She was previously the Coastal Living editor with the Carteret County News-Times.

This was the press association’s 152nd annual convention, and members were honored for excellence in news, photojournalism and advertising. The awards were for work published between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025. Coastal Review’s work was judged in the online-only category.

The Nebraska Press Association judged the contest this year.

A full list of contest winners is available online.

Launched in 2012, Coastal Review is published daily, Monday-Friday, by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group dedicated to protecting and preserving the North Carolina coast. Coastal Review provides objective reporting, information and commentary on issues, policy and notable figures and history with a specific focus on the environment and people of the state’s 20 coastal counties.

Saturday evening was one of celebrating coastal stewards, supporters and volunteers during North Carolina Coastal Federation’s annual Pelican Awards and Taste of the Coast fundraising event.

The nonprofit organization that publishes Coastal Review was established in 1982 with the mission to protect and preserve the state’s coast and has offices on the Outer Banks, the central coast and Cape Fear region.

Held in Carteret Community College’s Joslyn Hall, the staff presented 15 Pelican Awards to those who have shared “their time and talents, through leadership, education, hands-on projects, and volunteer efforts, to inspire others and create lasting change,” according to the organization.

The Taste of the Coast fundraising celebration followed the ceremony next door in the Crystal Coast Civic Center, where there was food, live music and a silent auction.

This is the 22nd year that the organization has recognized “exceptional contributions” with Pelican Awards.

Federation Board of Directors Vice President Kenneth Chestnut told the roughly 200 in the audience that the Pelican Awards annually “recognize and celebrate the organizations, agencies, partners and the extraordinary people who work together for a healthy coast.”

He continued that the awards are “about partnerships and coming together for a common cause, and that’s the protection and restoration of our beautiful coast.”

Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis presented one of the two Lifetime Achievement Awards this year to Dr. Hans Paerl, “For a Distinguished Career Dedicated to Coastal Research, Protection, and Restoration.”

Paerl, who recently retired after 47 years, is a Kenan Professor of Marine Environmental Sciences at University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City.

“Paerl has spent decades uncovering the secret of healthy waterways and applying that knowledge to protect the coast,” Davis said.

Paerl’s accomplishments include establishing the FerryMon program, where he turned state ferries into long-term water quality monitoring stations for the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.

“His groundbreaking research has shown how nutrients and climate affect water quality, how harmful algal blooms form, and most importantly, what we can do to safeguard our estuaries and coastal waters for future generations,” Davis said of Paerl, whose work has appeared in 600 scientific publications. His many honors include the 2003 G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award for work in oceanography, the 2011 Odom Award in estuarine science, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Harmful Algal Bloom committee.

Paerl took the podium with ease and explained to the crowd that he was thrilled to be able to talk about the scientific achievements made in the state to help protect its waters, particularly going way back to the phosphate detergent ban enacted in the 1980s, and the establishment of a total maximum daily nitrogen load for the Neuse River, “which has been effective, and I’m glad to say that we’re seeing some really good results from that now.”

But, Paerl continued, “more importantly, I think I’d like to share this award with all the students, technicians, faculty and collaborators that have worked with me.” He called himself “more of a facilitator” who knocks on doors in the legislature to point “out that good science brings good management and good decisions.”

Though he’s retired, Paerl said he is indebted to those he has worked with and hasn’t stopped knocking on doors and talking to folks and collaborating.

“I’m still showing up at work, and we’re all dedicated — I’m really speaking for all the folks that I’ve worked with — we’re all dedicated, from the science perspective,” Paerl said, to make North Carolina an example for other states, the country and the world, “in terms of using science to really make a difference, in terms of protecting our environment, saving it and making sure it’s sustainable for the long run.”

Federation Coastal Management Program Director Kerri Allen of the Wrightsville Beach office presented to David Cignotti a Lifetime Achievement Award “For Outstanding Community Leadership, Collaboration, and Dedication to Coastal Stewardship.”

Cignotti is someone “who embodies the heart and soul of this community,” Allen said, and “is one of those rare people who leads a quiet strength, deep humility and a genuine love for nature that you can feel in everything he does.”

A lifelong educator, former mayor of Wrightsville Beach and dedicated steward of the Coastal Federation, he helped launch a membership drive that brought in more than 60 new families, has been a site coordinator with an international coastal cleanup effort for at least a decade, and is a cofounder of Save Our Seas NC. Cignotti also served on the Coastal Federation’s southeast advisory committee, its board of directors, and he chaired the audit committee.

“When the coast needs a voice, he speaks up,” Allen said, whether that’s bringing attention to the use of bird poison on Wrightsville Beach, protecting trees from unnecessary clearcutting, or making sure local businesses have a say in offshore drilling proposals.

Cignotti expressed his gratitude, adding that he couldn’t think of another organization with more than 40 years of advocacy for the coastal environment, and “cannot imagine getting an award that I would cherish more than what I’m getting tonight.”

He continued that one of his favorite quotes is from Jacques Cousteau, “that people protect what they love. And I think that pretty much sums up what we’re doing here tonight. Everybody that came tonight loves North Carolina’s coast and is here to support the coastal Federation’s mission.”

Northeast region awards

Alyson Flynn, coastal advocate at the Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office, presented three awards for the Outer Banks area.

“All three of our recipients in the Northeast embody the spirit of the Pelican Award in their own unique way, from on the ground restoration work to grassroots volunteerism, to forward thinking leadership that shapes the future of our coast,” Flynn said.

Volunteer Donnie Sellers was recognized “For Exceptional Contributions and Stewardship of Our Coast.”

Sellers said he appreciates what the Coastal Federation does and all the hard work of the staff, which he says he sees firsthand at the northeast office, “but mostly I’m grateful for how generous and kind they are, because that’s — It’s probably not what I should say — but that’s really what keeps me coming back.”

Volunteer Leonard “Len” Schmitz was awarded “For Outstanding Volunteer Efforts to Advance Oyster Shell Recycling.”

Schmitz told the audience he wanted to share the award with his fellow recyclers on the Outer Banks, adding “we couldn’t do this without the help of the restaurants.”

National Park Service’s Outer Banks Group Superintendent David Hallac was honored “For Leadership and Dedication to Coastal Protection, Recreation and Cultural Resources.”

The group includes Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Flynn explained that Hallac had since 2015 managed one of the most iconic and dynamic barrier island systems in our nation and faces regular challenges, such as rising seas, chronic erosion, collapsing homes, petroleum contamination and increasing fragility of N.C. 12, the state highway, all while welcoming over 3 million visitors each year.

“From 1985 until 1999 I came from a small town right outside of New York City to the Outer Banks,” Hallac said as he accepted his award.

“I spent the entire year dreaming about coming to the beach there. I had no idea I would end up managing the three lighthouses there and 80 miles of beaches and 200 miles of incredible coastal marshes, it’s been just absolutely amazing,” Hallac continued. “It’s a little bit ironic at the same time that all of the things that shape these beautiful places, sometimes it appears we’re fighting against it. And so it’s my goal. It’s our goal, to find ways to change, to adapt to the things that are shaping our coastline, to be able to coexist in these places and also to preserve them for future generations.”

Central Coast awards

The nonprofit Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail received a Pelican Award “For Dedicated Partnership to Protect and Restore Coastal Water Quality and Habitats.”

Water Quality Program Director Bree Charron, based in Carteret County, explained that the Friends group has, over the past five years, worked to secure and help purchase 787 acres to create an 11-mile-long trail through the North River Wetlands Preserve in Carteret County. The Friends supports the trail that connects Jockey’s Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Ben Jones, a project manager with the Friends group, said its members were excited to help restore and showcase the preserve.

“There’s lots of land we still need for the trail anyway,” he said, “and I hope this is just the beginning, too, because it’s really important for us to provide access for people to these special places that we’re protecting.”

Jessica Guilianelli with Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point was recognized “For Supporting, Promoting, and Advancing the Use of Living Shorelines.”

April Hall is with the salt marsh program and said when she joined the Coastal Federation staff a few years ago she took over a living shoreline project along the Neuse River at Cherry Point.

“At the time, the Federation had secured funding to support construction of roughly 2,000 feet of a much larger 12,000-foot living shoreline project led by Jessica Guilianelli,” Hall said. “And in case anyone is trying to do the math, 12,000 feet is about 2.3 miles. So to say this was an ambitious project would be an understatement.”

The site had experienced severe shoreline erosion, losing more than 100 feet in some areas since 1994, and worsened by Hurricane Florence in 2018.

Under Guilianelli’s management, air station brass committed to a hybrid solution to repair critical bulkheads while incorporating living shorelines and native marsh plants to reduce wave energy and restore natural shoreline functions.

“I’m in a really, really interesting position as natural resources manager for the Marine Corps,” Guilianelli said, adding it’s a balance that challenges her daily. “It’s such a cool thing to be able to balance our military mission with conservation, and I’m grateful to be in that role.”

Lauren Johnson and Tamarr Moore, who recently earned their master’s degrees from N.C. Central University, were recognized “For Partnership and Inspiration to Advance the Next Generation of Coastal Professionals.”

Coastal Educator Rachel Bisesi of the Coastal Federation’s Newport office noted that the two women are the first graduates of a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program under their adviser, Dr. Caressa Gerald. The NOAA program supports students of color in environmental sciences.

“Lauren and Tamar have shown remarkable courage and resilience entering scientific spaces where representation is still far too limited. They broke barriers and paved the way for students of color to pursue coastal research. Their work has inspired others and opened the door for the next generation of environmental professionals and I can’t wait to see where their journey leads them, Bisesi said.

The graduates both thanked their parents and adviser, Gerald, who Moore said “opened a lot of doors for me and put me in many rooms that I would not have otherwise been in.” Johnson added that she was “very grateful to be in this room right now, along with other professionals” with the same drive and motivation.

Southeast region awards

Photographer Alan Cradick was honored “For Outstanding Volunteer Service to Our Coast.”

Coastal Education Coordinator Bonnie Mitchell explained that Cradick has been behind the camera “quietly and generously donating his time, energy and professional photography skills to help us tell the story of our work.”

Cradick, in accepting his award, said that it’s a privilege to be recognized, but that’s not why he volunteers. “I do it because I just love photography. I love the coast. I love working with professionals and professional volunteers who do so much wonderful things for the coast and for advancing the health of the of the ecosystems.”

Feletia Lee and Anna Reh-Gingerich were honored “For Dedicated Partnership and Commitment to Advance Watershed Restoration.”

Reh-Gingerich, watershed coordinator of Wilmington’s Heal Our Waterways Program, and Lee, chief sustainability officer at University of North Carolina Wilmington, have been working with the Coastal Federation on stormwater pollution in the Bradley and Hewlett creeks watershed.

Over the years, the project has resulted in rain gardens being installed and the use of permeable materials that absorb rain to retrofit parking lot drainage systems. The sites also serve as living classrooms, Coastal Federation Special Projects Manager Lauren Kolodij explained.

Reh-Gingerich said that she and Lee were honored to be recognized and thanked the Coastal Federation for supporting the effort. “This work is really easy to do when you have great partners to do them with.”

Paddling organization We the Water was honored for “For Excellence in Community Education and Inspiration for Coastal Protection and Restoration.”

The Wrightsville Beach Outrigger Canoe Club’s members paddled the state’s entire coast to advocate for clean water. The team paddled more than 340 miles along the coast over the course of three summers to raise awareness about the importance of clean water and raised more than $50,000 for the Coastal Federation, Kolodij said.

The Coastal Federation’s Kerri Allen, who is part of the outrigger club, accepted the award on behalf of the entire team.

“Every stroke counts, and when you get it right, you move as one, as a single force gliding through the waves,” Allen said, adding that “it’s a perfect metaphor for protecting our coast, we’re all on the same boat. Literally and figuratively, the threats and challenges we face are considerable, but we go farther and stronger when we move as one.”

Statewide awards

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Habitat Enhancement Section was recognized “For Dedicated Service and Collaboration for Oyster Habitat Creation.”

Marine Debris Program Director Ted Wilgis of the Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach office, said that the division’s habitat enhancement section had since 1996 built almost 800 acres of oyster sanctuary and a cultch-planting program, where oysters can be harvested.

Jason Peters, program supervisor for restoration work, said he and Enhancement Section Chief Zach Harrison were accepting the award on behalf of all of the dedicated and hardworking state employees who are involved.

“We’ve got a crew of vessel operators, equipment operators, divers, field biologists, supervisors all play an integral role in this work. And we’re just, we’re very fortunate to have such great staff,” Peters said.

Harrison added that he and his team were “honored and humbled to be just a small cog in such a big machine driving the North Carolina coast forward and environmentalism in the U.S. forward.”

Worth Creech of the firm Native Shorelines was honored for “For Advancing Community Oyster Shell Recycling and Coastal Restoration”

Coastal Resiliency Manager Sarah Bodin said Creech “has been an absolute transformative force in the world of oyster shell recycling and coastal restoration through tireless dedication, community engagement and innovative thinking.”

He did this by building public awareness, and relationships with restaurants, volunteers and restoration professionals. “His efforts have directly contributed to restoring oyster habitats, enhancing biodiversity and protecting shorelines from erosion,” Bodin said.

Creech told the crowd that you never know what you’ll get a passion for in life, and “you certainly don’t know whether it’s going to be something as stinky as oyster shells, but it happened to me with Native Shorelines,” adding he’s always “inspired by those who did this hard work before me.”

The Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership was recognized “For Cultivating Coastal Collaboration and Empowering Educators”

Bisesi said the program empowers “educators to lead in both the classroom and the community, and provide immersive experiences and professional development by equipping teachers to with the tools they need to inspire the next generation.”

Associate Director Mark Townley told the audience that since connecting eight years ago with the organization, “I can honestly say that the Coastal Federation is an exemplar of what a partnership should and can look like to really make a huge impact with K-through-12 public school education in the state of North Carolina.”

Attorney John Harris was recognized “For Outstanding Business and Community Collaboration to Advance Coastal Stewardship”

Coastal Federation founder and Senior Adviser to the Executive Director Todd Miller, said that Harris began working with the organization in 1997 on the Hoop Pole Creek project in Atlantic Beach. Harris is a partner in the Wyatt, Early, Harris, Wheeler firm’s Morehead City office.

“John’s legal work made it possible for the Coastal Federation to buy out a condominium and marina development and permanently protect 30 acres of rare maritime forests,” Miller said, adding that it was the first property ever purchased in the state using the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

“Since then, John has finally helped us conserve nearly 15,000 acres of coastal lands, forests, marshes, creeks, all protected because he made sure every deal was done right,” Miller added.

Harris told the crowd that he was “honored to be able to preserve clean water in our wetlands and to help them purchase land for our grandchildren and generations to come to enjoy what we have Here at the coast.”

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is gearing up for its annual Pelican Awards ceremony and Taste of the Coast Celebration taking place the evening of Sept. 20 in Morehead City.

The Pelican Awards recognize and celebrate the individuals, organizations, businesses and partners who have made significant contributions to the North Carolina coast.

A light wine and cheese social will begin at 5 p.m. followed by the ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Being held at no charge in Joslyn Hall on the campus of Carteret Community College, registration is required because of limited seating.

The 2025 Taste of the Coast Celebration is to follow in the nearby Crystal Coast Civic Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. for drinks on the patio and the celebration starts at 6:30 p.m. where there will be live music, a silent auction, wine, beer and seafood pairings, both raw and steamed oysters, and more.

Attendees can peek at the online auction items using this link before the event.

Tickets, which can be purchased online, are $75 for the organization’s members and $85 for nonmembers.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, is a member-supported nonprofit organization with offices in Wanchese, Newport and Wrightsville Beach that is dedicated to preserving and protecting the state’s coast.

To support either the Pelican Awards or Taste of the Coast as a sponsor, oyster grower, or donate to to the silent auction, contact the Coastal Federation’s Business Engagement Director Catherine Snead at catherines@nccoast.org.

A traveling photography exhibit that helps consumers visualize the work that goes into the state’s growing oyster industry will be on display in the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach office during August.

A collaborative project of North Carolina Sea Grant and the NC Oyster Trail, the exhibit, “Advancing Shellfish Mariculture Literacy in North Carolina,” features the work of Raleigh-based photographer Justin Kase Conder.

An opening reception is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13. Light refreshments and beverages will be provided. Though not required, organizers ask those who plan to attend to RSVP online.

“This inspiring exhibit highlights the hardworking individuals behind North Carolina’s growing oyster industry and honors the ecological, cultural, and economic value of oysters to our coast,” organizers said.

Conder has more than 27 years of experience as a photographer, traveling to more than 40 countries where he honed his skills.

“To be able to go out on the water, experience wild and farmed oyster harvest, and document the process in a way that helps other North Carolinians understand what goes into getting these oysters to their plate—that was not only an incredible experience for me personally, it was deeply rewarding,” Conder said in a release.

During the reception, Conder will share behind-the-scenes stories from his time photographing oyster farmers, harvesters, entrepreneurs and chefs across the state.

Dr. Jane Harrison, coastal economics specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant and coordinator of the NC Oyster Trail, and Mandy Uticone, owner of Carolina Beach Oyster Co. will join Conder at the exhibit opening.

Harrison will discuss the vital role oysters play in North Carolina’s coastal economies and share insights into the NC Oyster Trail’s efforts to promote sustainable seafood tourism and support the state’s shellfish industry.

Uticone will share her firsthand experiences as an oyster grower, talk about the realities of working on the water, and answer oyster-related questions.

Contact Harrison at jane_harrison@ncsu.edu for information or to host the exhibit.

This report has been updated.

Coastal Review has again been recognized for editorial excellence with the North Carolina Press Association announcing its 2025 awards.

The awards were for work published between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025.

Competing in the online-only division, Coastal Review Assistant Editor Jennifer Allen was recognized for legal reporting on coastal issues with a first-place award in The Media and the Law Awards of Excellence category sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Association. According to the association, judges were to look for “insightful coverage of law-related topics that foster greater public understanding of the legal system and the role of lawyers in today’s society.”

Coastal Review staff were recognized with a second-place in the Duke University/Green-Rossiter Award for Distinguished Newspaper Work in Higher Education Reporting. This award was for our university science, researchers and education coverage.

Staff were recognized with a third-place award for Community Coverage.

Assistant Editor Jennifer Allen was recognized with a third-place award for Arts and Entertainment reporting for “African Americans in seafood industry heart of new exhibit.”

Kip Tabb, a Coastal Review correspondent covering Northeastern North Carolina, was recognized with a third-place award in the Religion and Faith category for his feature, “Preserved Skinnersville church bears builders’ handprints.”

Gilbert M. Gaul, another Coastal Review contributor, was recognized with a third-place award for his profile feature, “Coastal geologist Orrin Pilkey, 1934-2024: An appreciation.”

Other awards, including those for general excellence, are to be announced Sept. 18 during the North Carolina Press Association’s annual convention in Cary.

The Nebraska Press Association judged the contest this year.

Coastal Review is an editorially independent news service published daily, Monday through Friday, by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting and restoring the North Carolina coast.

Aligning North Carolina’s wetlands definition with that of the federal government’s would put the state’s waterways at risk, erase nature’s pollution filtration systems from the land, and increase flooding, speakers at a public hearing said.

More than a dozen people commented during the Thursday night hearing in Raleigh on the revised wetlands definition the North Carolina General Assembly enacted into law two years ago.

In accordance with the 2023 Farm Act, the state’s definition of wetlands must correspond with the federal government’s, which narrows the description of a wetland to having a continuous surface connection to Waters of the United States, or those protected under the Clean Water Act. The federal definition was changed to be consistent with a May 2023 Supreme Court ruling.

In North Carolina, that alignment equates to the loss of protections for an estimated 2.5 million acres of wetlands, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality.

That agency has been implementing the definition since its approval in June 2023, but the state-appointed Environmental Management Commission, which is responsible for adopting rules that protect, preserve and enhance air and water resources, must go through the rulemaking process to amend the state’s existing wetlands definition.

The law legislators enacted two years ago explicitly directs that the Rules Review Commission cannot challenge the amendment.

Those who spoke at Thursday’s public hearing, a mandated step in the rulemaking process, urged the Environmental Management Commission to work with legislators to rescind the amendment. No one who spoke supported the definition revision.

“I think it’s a shame that the EMC does not have any discretion over what this rule looks like,” said Brooks Rainey, a lobbyist for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Dictating the text of a rule to a rulemaking body takes away the whole point of having a rulemaking body. The North Carolina General Assembly are not experts on wetlands. The Home Builders Association is not an expert on wetlands. The Chamber of Commerce is not an expert on wetlands. But there are many experts on wetlands at DEQ. When rulemaking works as intended, the experts on the subject matter of the rule are involved in crafting the rule. Otherwise, we have ceded environmental rulemaking to political whims and lobby groups.”

Rainey went on to say that the majority party at the General Assembly make “the majority appointments” on the Environmental Management Commission and that the current commission “has greater sway” with this legislature than any in recent memory.

“I urge this EMC to use that influence and ask the General Assembly to stop sending over rules that have been pre-drafted. Take the politics out of rulemaking. Leave it to the experts. It is insulting to this commission, it is insulting to the agency, and it is insulting to the public who are effectively excluded from having any meaningful input at all,” she said.

That lack of input has frustrated residents, environmental advocates and scientists, who argue that ordering a one-size-fits-all definition will be detrimental to a state where wetlands, particularly on the coastal plain, are critical to reducing flooding, cleaning drinking water and supporting fisheries.

“Tying in wetlands protections to federal definitions that change with every administration leaves our communities vulnerable,” said Kerri Allen, a coastal advocate with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review. “Why should we hand off our responsibility to protect North Carolina’s natural resources to Washington. Wetlands in North Carolina, like pocosins, Carolina Bays and cypress swamps, deserve to be protected under rules written for our state’s needs, not buried under shifting federal priorities.”

Wetlands provide a host of crucial benefits, said Dr. Adam Gold, coasts and watersheds science manager with the Environmental Defense Fund.

They act as natural flood buffers, provide habitat for recreationally and commercially important wildlife, and filter pollution from waterways.

“Just one acre of wetlands can store up to a million and a half gallons of floodwater,” Gold said.

He cautioned that the federal government may further narrow the definition of wetlands. Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Lee Zeldin announced plans to revise the definition of Waters of the United States, also known as WOTUS.

“As someone who has worked in the intersection of environmental policy and coastal resilience for over two decades, I’ve seen firsthand how wetland loss leads to increased flooding, degraded water quality and disappearing fisheries habitat,” said Coastal Carolina Riverwatch Executive Director Lisa Rider. “These issues are already being impacted and many rural communities and working waterfront communities are already seeing the impact from what’s going on. Stripping protections further will only accelerate harm to ecosystems and the people here in coastal North Carolina.”

Chris Herndon, director of the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club, said rolling back wetlands protections will waste millions of taxpayer dollars in flood recovery and contribute to the loss of the state’s natural resources.

“The revised definition freely gives the decision of which wetlands to protect to the federal government. As a result, our state wetlands protections will be determined by federal officials based on federal priorities without any special consideration of the particular importance of wetlands in our state. North Carolinians should decide which North Carolina wetlands should be protected to the benefit of our local communities and local economies,” he said.

Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Julie Youngman said that, though the commission has been mandated to pass the rule, there is no deadline in when the rule must be established.

And, since the state’s leading environmental agency is complying with the law, there is “no harm being done to the will of the legislature by slowing it down and working with the legislature to try to fix the mistake that’s been made,” she said.

“It just defies logic that we are putting our fate in the hands of a federal administration that doesn’t seem to care about the same values that we care about here in North Carolina,” Youngman said. “There is not deadline in the statute. Take your time, work with the legislature, see if you can’t come up with a commonsense way to keep the wetland protections that we have in place, in place.”

DEQ will accept public comments through today via email with the subject line “Wetland Definition Amendment” to Sue.Homewood@deq.nc.gov and by mail to Sue Homewood, Division of Water Resources, 1617 Main Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-1617.

The EMC is anticipated to hear recommendations on the revised rule during its Sept. 11 meeting. The 2023 Farm Act mandates that the rule cannot become effective until after legislative review, which is anticipated to take place during the General Assembly’s 2026 session.

The Environmental Protection Agency has final approval authority over the rule.

Another project on the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus is underway to help protect the quality of nearby waters.

Crews are transforming a 250-foot hard, compacted service road at the newly renovated Brooks Field into a permeable drive that soaks in rain. The material helps to reduce flooding and decrease the volume of polluted runoff flowing into the Bradley Creek watershed, the North Carolina Coastal Federation said Tuesday.

The project is one of many on university in New Hanover County that implements the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan. Wilmington adopted the plan in 2012 to guide reducing the volume of stormwater runoff in the two watersheds that connect the city, Wrightsville Beach, and Masonboro Island.

UNCW is the largest landowner in the Bradley Creek Watershed.

“We are pleased to be working again with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and Heal Our Waterways to reduce runoff on campus and showcase nature-based solutions on site,” UNCW Chief Sustainability Officer Feletia Lee said in a release.

Since 2019, the University has partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, and Wilmington, particularly the city’s Heal Our Waterways Program, to install rain gardens and parking lot retrofits on campus.

“We’re proud to see this partnership continue to make meaningful progress toward the goals within the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan,” said Wilmington Watershed Coordinator Anna Reh-Gingerich. “It’s encouraging to see the momentum from these projects steadily grow at UNCW and throughout the community, especially with a new permeable paver project set to begin soon at Mad Mole Brewing after the current installation is complete.”

Construction on both the UNCW and Mad Mole projects is being completed by the team at Thorpe Landscapes of Wilmington. The company provides landscaping, hardscapes, permeable pavers, and outdoor construction services in the Cape Fear region.

“These projects serve as a great showcase of responsible and attractive stormwater management that any landowner can implement,” Coastal Federation Water Quality Director Bree Charron added.

This stormwater retrofit project was supported by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources’ EPA Section 319 Water Quality Program.

A coastwide clean water advocacy organization is urging the public to speak out next week during a hearing in Raleigh on a rule that would change the definition of what constitutes protected wetlands in the state.

The public may attend in-person or join the June 26 Division of Water Resources hearing by computer or phone.

The nonprofit North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, on Tuesday asked its supporters to comment on the rule change mandated by the legislature in 2023 that “limits wetlands protected under state water quality rules to those under federal jurisdiction.”

The North Carolina General Assembly, via the 2023 Farm Act, effective June 27, 2023, required “immediate implementation of the revision and directed the Environmental Management Commission to adopt a rule consistent with the revised definition.”

The commission has advanced the proposed rule and the Office of State Budget and Management approved the required regulatory impact analysis on the last day of December.

The Coastal Federation in its advocacy email urged people to “send a powerful message to state officials: the new definition puts millions of acres of wetlands – and flood protection, clean water, and wildlife they support – at risk.”

The organization said lawmakers need to understand “the real harm this rule will cause and the need to correct it.”

The Coastal Federation lists 10 issues it said will be made worse as a result of the rule change, including flooding, irresponsible development, rising insurance and other costs, water quality and the loss of natural resources and state controls.

“By forcing North Carolina’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC) to adopt a rule that ties state wetlands protections to federal limits, the General Assembly is leaving valuable state wetlands vulnerable to being developed without the developer having to apply for a permit that would contain protective conditions,” the organization said in its email.

The meeting will be 6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 26, in the ground floor hearing room of the Archdale Building, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.

To attend virtually, log in via WebEx using Meeting No. 2425 792 4510, password: NCDEQ; or by phone at 415-655-0003 and access code 2425 792 4510.

Register to comment online by noon June 26. Register onsite starting at 5:30 p.m.

Anyone may comment, but speakers may be limited to three minutes.

Written comments may also be submitted by June 30. Email comments to: Sue.Homewood@deq.nc.gov using the subject line: “Wetland Definition Amendment.”

RALEIGH — Historian David Cecelski didn’t mask the grief he felt while telling the “gruesome stories” littering eastern North Carolina’s past, or the mounting dread that those days will return and put the coast’s natural resources at risk of “plunder, pillaging and poisoning.”

“This may not be the kind of keynote address that you’re used to,” the mild-mannered Carteret County native told a crowd of about 150 people during the first morning of the 2025 Coastal Summit. “I’m an historian after all, a storyteller at heart, and you have to expect that I’m going to tell some stories. I’m also going to talk about our coastal history, and how we got here, and what we might learn from the past that might help guide us today.”

The April 8-9 summit, titled “Ripple Effect: Enhancing Oysters, Salt Marsh and Water Quality Together,” was organized by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review. The biennial event brought together elected officials, representatives from local, state and federal governments, conservation organizations, researchers and others invested in maintaining a healthy coast.

Board member for the nonprofit organization Allison Besch introduced Cecelski, who “divides his time between two places that he loves deeply”: Durham, and his ancestral home in Carteret County. A longtime contributor to Coastal Review, the historian has written several award-winning books and hundreds of articles about the history, culture and politics of the North Carolina coast.

“David’s writing focuses passionately on telling stories from his little corner of the world that emanates American history more broadly,” Besch said as she described his work.

Cecelski began his address, “Our Coastal Heritage: Past, Present and Future” with an illustration of the mullet fishing camp on Shackleford Banks where his cousins worked five generations ago. He also displayed photos of himself as a young boy on the family farm that bumps up to the Harlowe Canal west of Beaufort.

“When I stay at the house, like I did the other night, I sleep in the bedroom where my mother was born, and her father and his father and his father,” Cecelski said. “And in our neighborhood, people call our house ‘the new house’ because what they call the family homeplace is about a half-mile down the road on my cousin Henry’s land.”

Cecelski said that when his mother was born in the late 1920s, a New Bedford, Massachusetts, company was still trapping bottlenose dolphins in giant haul seines and slaughtering hundreds and sometimes thousands of them every year on the beach at Hatteras Island.

“The islanders would shut their windows so they would not have to hear the cry of the dolphins on the beach at night. The last haul of the day, they often didn’t have a chance to process so they would leave them alive,” he continued. “When they were old men, and I would go and talk with them, local fishermen who were hired to catch and butcher the dolphins would say they still had nightmares about what they had had to do on those beaches.”

When his grandfather was a young man, New York millinery companies, or ladies’ hatmakers, “were still paying the hunters at Cape Lookout to surround nesting colonies of seabirds and marsh birds — royal turns, oystercatchers, piping clovers, sanderlings, herons, egrets, among others,” he said. The hunters would wait until the eggs started hatching, because that was when the birds were least likely to flee, and then they would start shooting, sometimes killing 10,000,15,000, 20,000, 25,000 birds in a single day.

A century ago, the swans and snow geese did not come for Lake Mattamuskeet, and less than a century ago, sea turtles were being shipped in tin cans to four-star restaurants in New York City. A pulp mill in 1937, “without breaking any laws, began dumping untreated sulfur dioxide into the Roanoke River at a site 4 miles upriver of Plymouth. By the start of the Second World War, that mill’s waste had destroyed America’s largest and oldest herring fisheries, dating back at that site two centuries,” Cecelski continued.

And a century ago, one of North America’s great wetlands that covered hundreds of thousands of acres north and west of the Pongo River disappeared. “It was clear-cut, drained and its waters channeled into the Pamlico River. If there is an acre of it left, I have not found it. It’s ancient white cedar forest. It’s cypress glades and the entire body of the oyster grounds of the upper Pamlico River. All gone,” Cecelski said.

“When it comes to that devastating era in the history of the North Carolina coast, I’m afraid I could go on and on and on,” but everything that is loved about the state’s coast today has come about because of recognizing that path couldn’t continue, he said.

“We learned the hard way that the strength of our coastal communities, strength of our coastal families, the strength of our coastal economy, and the strength of the kind of coastal heritage that I grew up in — our traditions of fishing, of boatbuilding, of living off the land and the water, of oyster roasts and shrimp boils, of pilgrimages to the shore to restore our souls — we learned that they are all as entwined as anything can be with the health of our coastal waters, our coastal wetlands, our fields and forests,” Cecelski continued. “And we learned that we have to work together if we want to keep the North Carolina coast the kind of place that our children and grandchildren will hold as tightly in their hearts as we hold it in our hearts.”

Even though progress has been made over the last century with environmental laws and conservation efforts, “we also know that in a lot of ways, we have just got started, and I know when we see what’s going on in the country now, that things look bleak for much of what draws us and people from around the world to our shores,” he said, and the work taking place to care for the coast may be at risk.

“I know — I’m not naming names — that there are people in high office now who act as if, well, as if they never walked down the Kure Beach fishing pier on a Friday night in the autumn when the spots and bluefish are running and seeing the joy in the children’s faces and how nobody is a stranger and everybody’s helping everybody, and how much it means to all our state’s citizens to be there by the sea,” he said. “And they act as if they’ve never walked the shores of Cape Lookout when the sea is phosphorescent, the dolphins are playing in the waves and the fish are biting, and they act as if they’ve never traipsed along the edges of Currituck Sound and felt the beauty of the marshes stir their soul.”

The shackling of the Environmental Protection Agency “alone foreshadows the breathtaking descent back into the worst days of our coastal past, when our estuaries, our beaches, our fisheries and the sources of our drinking water were a free-for-all, open to plunder, pillaging and poisoning,” he said.

“I wish I had more words of comfort for you, but we all know the road ahead is not going to be easy,” Cecelski said, reminding the audience that the work of organizations like the Coastal Federation and its partners “will never, ever be greater than it is at this moment in our history.”

He closed by telling a story about how, in the Coastal Federation’s infancy, its founder, Todd Miller, recruited Cecelski as the first volunteer.

“I think that I was invited here today, hopefully not just to tell gruesome stories, but I think I was invited here because of my historical work on the North Carolina coast,” he said.

It was the early 1980s and Miller convinced Cecelski to spend a year in Swan Quarter spreading the word about a proposed massive strip-mining project.

“They wanted to mine the peat. A large, multibillion-dollar, extremely well-connected group of investors was planning to strip mine hundreds of thousands of acres of coastal wetlands stretching across Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Beaufort and Washington counties,” he said.

Cecelski continued that when he first arrived, he rarely met anyone who knew about the proposed plan and on the few occasions he did, they realized the project would leave their home a wasteland and devastate the region’s oyster beds and fishing grounds.

“Past experience had led them to conclude that nobody cared what they had to say, that nobody would listen to them, and there was nothing they could do about it, because it had always been that way,” he said.

His job was “a very small part of the puzzle” to let people know what was happening, and help their voices be heard.

“At that moment, I would not have bet five bucks on the chance of our success. Everything — money, power, time — was against us, but little by little, people of every background, every race, every political party and every little village, began to speak up. Hope flickered,” he said. People began to come together and believed they could make a difference, and in the end, the people of the North Carolina coast prevailed.

Though Cecelski was young at the time, he said the experience taught him that even when it looks bleak and “if we don’t give up hope, if we hold on to one another, if we look past our differences to what we hold in common, good things will happen, and sometimes even a miracle or two, even in the darkest of times.”

Cecelski said he knows he’s a terribly old-fashioned person and out of step with much of modern times.

“I still believe in the golden rule that we should treat other people the way that we would want them to treat us. I still believe what I was taught in Sunday school, that we are called to be good stewards of God’s creation and good caretakers of our lands and waters and the creatures thereof,” he said. “I still believe, and I will always believe, what I learned growing up on the North Carolina coast, that a neighbor is a neighbor is a neighbor, and we are all in this together. And I believe with all my heart that there are some things worth fighting for, and I believe that the North Carolina coast is one of them.”

Topsail Island leaders are unwavering in their pursuit of stopping new leases of shellfish farms in the waters around them.

Months have passed since the island’s three towns — North Topsail Beach, Surf City and Topsail Beach — and their respective counties banded together to ask state legislators for a moratorium on new shellfish leases in Onslow and Pender’s coastal waterways.

“Of course, we all support aquaculture,” North Topsail Beach Alderman Mike Benson said during a recent town board meeting.

But the rising number of leases, fueled because of moratoriums in surrounding coastal counties, has led to what local leaders say amount to mounting conflicts between recreational uses of public waters and shellfish leases that restrict access to those waters.

Prohibiting all new shellfish leases across Onslow and Pender counties could be detrimental to the state’s growing shellfish industry, one that reportedly boasts an economic impact of $30 million annually in North Carolina.

“This industry is a particularly bright spot for North Carolina in that farming clams and oysters is quite sustainable environmentally,” said Dr. Jane Harrison, a coastal economics specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant. “We’ve seen a huge uptick in production numbers from farming oysters, in particular, over the last decade and we don’t want to lose that momentum.”

North Carolina Sea Grant and the North Carolina Coastal Federation have teamed up in hopes of launching a plan that would result in the creation of a Geographic Information System, or GIS, database that pinpoints areas where leases may or may not be suitable in the waterways behind the 26-mile-long island.

That database would be built by a GIS specialist from North Carolina State University using feedback the organizations aim to get from different focus groups made up of users of those waters, be it shellfish farmers, fishing guides, recreational fishers, or island waterfront property owners.

“We want to bring together many different voices to gather their perspectives and then put their information, their interest, into that GIS database,” Harrison said.

Sea Grant and the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, have applied for a grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant Office to fund the plan.

If awarded the grant, the plan would kick off around September, when the GIS specialist would gather existing data, including information from the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Shellfish Lease Siting Tool, to work up a baseline of information that will be presented to focus groups. UNCW’s interactive tool assesses coastal conditions in the state to help shellfish growers locate new or expand current operations.

There would be three focus groups: one consisting of shellfish growers in Pender and Onslow counties, one that includes recreational water users and waterfront property owners in Onslow County, and one that includes those groups in Pender County.

Those groups would be initially separated out “because we want folks to feel like they can fully share whatever their concerns or needs are and we don’t want to create an environment of conflict,” Harrison said. “We just want spaces where people can give us every piece of information they have and then we will digest it, compile it, and then have some community conversations.”

Feedback from those conversations would be gathered and used to create a draft resource use agreement and guidelines for equal water access in partnership with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.

Once finalized, that resource use agreement and guidelines would be published to the public, where it could be used in other coastal regions in not only North Carolina, but other states.

The proposal has gained traction with local officials. The Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission, or TISPC, and the counties, has signaled its support for the plan, Harrison said. The commission is made up of elected officials and local government appointees from the island’s three towns.

In an April 2 letter to the Division of Marine Fisheries, North Topsail Beach highlighted the plan as “another justification for a pause” on new shellfish leases.

“A temporary pause would allow us to evaluate the current situation, develop comprehensive management strategies, and ensure that future growth in the shellfish industry is balanced with the needs of our community and the environment,” the letter states.

The North Topsail Beach Board of Aldermen unanimously agreed to send the letter to the division ahead of its April 22 public hearing on six new proposed shellfish leases in Onslow County.

The hearing is scheduled to be held in person at 6 p.m. at the Holly Ridge Community Center and virtually via Webex.

That hearing will follow one on two proposed shellfish leases in Pender County scheduled for 6 p.m. April 15 at Topsail Beach Town Hall, 820 S. Anderson Blvd., and virtually via Webex.

During the April 2 meeting of North Topsail’s town board, Alderman Benson said the consensus of the island’s shoreline protection commission is that the towns and counties continue their request for a moratorium.

A proposed draft bill for a moratorium was not introduced in either the state Senate by its March 25 deadline or the House as of publication of this report. The deadline for the House was extended to April 10. 

“There are 111 leases in Onslow County,” Beson said. “We have 647 acres of land in those 111 leases.”

North Topsail Beach and the northernmost portion of Surf City are in Onslow County.

There are opportunities to identify areas within the waterways of the island that are “truly not well served by shellfish aquaculture,” Harrison said.

“There may be special fishing spots that the charter captains want to make sure they have access to,” she said. “There may be viewsheds that are very important to local residents. We have a lot of successful entrepreneurs in shellfish aquaculture in these two counties and shellfish aquaculture produces seafood that many of us like to eat. At the end of the day, it may be that the industry in Pender and Onslow counties can’t grow at the rate it has been. There might be a need for it to be less expansive because of existing leases and farms. But what I want to steer us away from is just a blanket prohibition, as if no new farm could ever take place in a copacetic way.”

Guest Commentary

To stimulate discussion and debate, Coastal Review welcomes differing viewpoints on topical coastal issues. Morty Gaskill is a member of the North Carolina Coastal Federation Board of Directors. The nonprofit advocacy organization publishes Coastal Review, which remains editorially independent.

In 1976, a North Carolina Sea Grant newsletter sounded the alarm: large-scale land drainage was wiping out wetlands that protect our coastal fisheries. Fishermen saw their livelihoods at risk and 3,000 of them pleaded for action.

“We, the undersigned, being commercial and sport fishermen who use the creeks, rivers, and bays adjacent to Pamlico Sound and the waters of Pamlico Sound, petition the Marine Fisheries Commission and state officials as follows: … to investigate the effect of changing salinity in said waters upon the economy of Pamlico Drainage areas and to initiate proper controls to insure the continued health of commercial and sport fishing in this area.”

They saw it coming. But there was hope — state and federal leaders acted. For decades, farming, forestry, development, and fisheries co-existed under federal and state wetland safeguards — rules that carefully balanced economic growth and environmental protection. These safeguards didn’t create unbearable hardships; they provided stability for all.

Yet here we are again, nearly 50 years later, facing the same crisis — not just for our fisheries, but for our homes, businesses, and communities. Given the changing economic and environmental conditions of many coastal communities across North Carolina, it could not come at a worse time.

This time, the rollback of wetland protections isn’t coming from local drainage operations. It’s happening due to recent federal and state government actions. The Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision has dramatically narrowed the definition of federally protected wetlands. The North Carolina General Assembly followed suit, choosing to adopt the weaker federal standard instead of maintaining the stronger state level protections that had been in place for years. And now, under new leadership, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is further diluting the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, stripping even more protections from wetlands and streams that feed our coastal estuaries.

The consequences? More wetlands drained. More freshwater rushing unchecked into saltwater nurseries. More flooding. More property damage.

Costly gamble

History has already shown us what happens when we fail to protect our wetlands. In 1976, Rose Bay fisherman Troy W. Mayo spoke out as catches dwindled.

“Twenty-five years ago, I owned a 26-foot shad boat. We used to go out in Rose Bay, two people, for five or six hours and we’d catch 35 to 40 tubs of oysters—that was two men pulling by hand,” said Mayo. “Today you go out in this same area with a power winder and all modern equipment, and I’d be surprised if you catch 10 tubs of oysters.”

Scientists confirmed what fishermen already knew. “Salinity is a major ingredient for survival in the estuaries”; reported the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Preston Pate, who studied juvenile shrimp in Rose Bay, found that freshwater intrusion “definitely disrupted the salinity of small creeks in the area. The result was a smaller shrimp harvest by fishermen.”

But wetland loss isn’t just bad for fisheries. Wetlands absorb floodwaters, buffer storm surges, and keep pollution out of our waterways. Every acre lost means more homes and businesses at risk.

In North Carolina, our coastal communities have already been battered by hurricanes, rising insurance costs, rising property taxes, lack of affordable housing, and an aging drainage infrastructure that can’t keep up with heavier rains. Weakening wetland protections only adds fuel to the fire. It shifts costs onto property owners, local governments, and taxpayers — many of whom will be left paying for flood damage that could have been prevented.

Commonsense approach to conservation

Those lessons from the 1970s helped shape policies that kept North Carolina’s wetlands intact for decades. But now, history is repeating itself. The rollback of WOTUS protections and the state’s decision to weaken its own rules mean more wetlands will be drained, increasing flooding, pollution, and economic losses.

This shouldn’t be a divisive political issue. Wetland protections aren’t just about environmental policy — they’re about practical economics, public safety, and community well-being. They help prevent costly flood damage, safeguard private property, and support the resilience of coastal economies that depend on fisheries, tourism, and clean water.

Jim Brown of the Division of Marine Fisheries put it best nearly 50 years ago:

“We love beans and beef, and we have a serious need to extend agricultural operations. At the same time, we dearly love shrimp and oysters. There exists a very serious need for imposing compatibility between the two. Can it be done? That’s the question. Or do we just keep plodding along with our fingers crossed?”

If we ignore history, we aren’t just crossing our fingers — we are guaranteeing a grim future for our coastal communities. The fishermen of Rose Bay warned us decades ago. Will we listen this time? Or will we, once again, pay the price for failing to protect the wetlands that sustain our way of life?

Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of Coastal Review or our publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation. See our guidelines for submitting guest columns.

Community health educator, community activist and environmental advocate Dr. Donald E. Ensley of Greenville died Friday, March 28, 2025.

Born and reared in rural Belhaven, Ensley was one of East Carolina University’s first African American faculty in the health sciences, and the first president of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, founded in 1982 by Todd Miller.

In a commentary honoring Ensley published earlier this month in Coastal Review, Miller wrote that Ensley was in hospice care, “preparing to leave behind a legacy that will forever shape the places and people he touched.”

Ensley earned his bachelor’s in geography and health education from North Carolina Central University, a master’s and doctorate from Michigan State University, and a master of public health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Ensley joined ECU’s faculty in 1977 as an associate professor in the School of Allied Health and Social Professions’ Department of Community Health, eventually becoming chair of the department.

During his time at ECU, Ensley acted as assistant vice chancellor for community engagement, and director of the department’s graduate studies program in the School of Allied Health Sciences, according to the university. He retired in 2011.

In addition to the Coastal Federation, Ensley held leadership roles on the North Carolina Humanities Council, North Carolina Heart Disease and Stroke Task Force, and North Carolina Heart Association.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation announced this week that the nonprofit was entering its third year of restoration efforts at Carolina Beach State Park.

The project aims to enhance wetland habitat, estuarine shorelines, and subtidal oyster reefs.

Wetlands are crucial for the health and resilience of North Carolina’s coast, says the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review. Wetlands act as natural barriers against storms, filter pollutants, provide habitat for diverse wildlife, and support the livelihoods of coastal communities.

“The goals for wetland restoration at Carolina Beach State Park were driven by the ecosystem services these habitats provide. The final phase of this project is the construction of an observation platform for visitors to learn about critical wetland habitats within our dynamic coastal systems,” said Coastal Federation Coastal Specialist Georgia Busch.

Previously overrun by the invasive plant, phragmites, the park partnered with the Coastal Federation to restore the habitat using native plants that benefit birds, mammals and aquatic life. To connect visitors with the ecosystem, the park is building an observation platform for educational talks and birdwatching opportunities.

“The addition of the overlook at Carolina Beach State Park will make an excellent area for observations of wildlife in their habitat that may otherwise be difficult to access,” said Jesse Anderson, lead ranger at the park. Anderson supervises natural resource management in the park, including the three-year restoration project. “We hope these educational opportunities will highlight the success of invasive species removal and wetland habitat restoration, allowing wildlife to call this space ‘home’.”

Carolina Beach State Park visitors are asked to exercise caution when hiking or accessing the Sugarloaf Trail via the marina parking lot. Hikers should pay special attention to signage and barricades indicating temporary trail closures during construction, which is expected to begin in the next few weeks.

The wetland restoration project at Carolina Beach State Park is a component of the Restoration Plan for the Natural Resources Damages Assessment for the Kerr-McGee EPA Superfund Site in Navassa. Trustees are the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Officials also thanked partners at the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation and the dedicated staff at Carolina Beach State Park.

Commentary

Dr. Donald E. Ensley, an accomplished public health educator, environmental champion, and steadfast advocate for North Carolina’s coastal communities, is in hospice care, preparing to leave behind a legacy that will forever shape the places and people he touched.

Born and raised in rural Belhaven, Don’s journey was one of resolute determination — breaking barriers as one of East Carolina University’s first African American faculty members in health sciences and dedicating his life to service. As a professor emeritus in the College of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Health Services & Information Management, he mentored generations of students, shaping the future of public health and environmental justice in our state.

I first met Don in 1982 when a mutual friend urged me to reach out to him as the North Carolina Coastal Federation was taking shape. I walked into his office at ECU not knowing what to expect, but within moments, we connected — united by our love of the coast, our passion for fishing, and our deep appreciation for the cultural heritage of our state’s waterways. Without hesitation, he embraced the need for the Federation and became not only a founding board member but also our first president. His leadership in those early years helped define what the Federation would become — a force for preserving and restoring the natural places and communities we hold dear.

But Don was never just a colleague — he became a dear friend, a trusted confidant, and a fishing buddy whose company I cherished. Over the years, we shared countless adventures, including a red drum surf fishing tournament we ran on Hatteras Island as a fundraiser. It was more than just a tournament — it was a gathering of kindred spirits, an experience made richer by Don’s presence and the fellowship he fostered. On Oct. 26, 1990, after all our participants had arrived, a wayward dredge knocked out the Bonner Bridge, stranding us on the island as a tropical storm raged. I still remember Don bursting into our tournament headquarters with excitement, announcing that a “ship” was pinned against the bridge he had just crossed — only for the power to cut out dramatically moments later. That was the last year we held the tournament, realizing that hosting a fixed event on an ever-shifting island might not be the best idea.

Back then, the Federation was small, operating more like a family than an organization. Our board and staff were deeply connected, and those annual membership meetings at the oceanfront pavilion of Hammocks Beach State Park were special times. We’d all stay the night on the island, sometimes joined by guests like former Congressman Richard Preyer and his wife. One night, we were all jolted awake when Don’s young daughter, Akilah, tumbled out of her bunk bed, crying out in the darkness. That moment — funny in retrospect — was just a glimpse of the love and devotion Don had for his family. Akilah has since built an incredible career leading a strategic policy firm in Washington, D.C., but in recent years, as Don’s health declined, she has remained a constant presence by his side — an unwavering source of strength in his final chapter.

Even after his initial tenure on the Federation’s board, Don never truly left. He returned in later years, stepping up once again to serve on the board, ensuring that we never lost sight of our roots. Despite his own health struggles and the loss of his beloved wife, Ramona, he continued to show up, offering institutional memory, insights, and steady leadership as the organization transitioned. His vision was clear: the Federation’s mission was not just about protecting the coast—it was about making it a place where both people and nature could thrive.

Beyond his work with the Federation, Don’s impact reached even further. As a member of the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, he played a critical role in shaping policies to protect the state’s air and water. I’ll never forget one of the largest public hearings ever held by the commission at East Carteret High School, where Don presided over an emotional and powerful debate about a controversial plan to pump treated sewage more than 30 miles to eastern Carteret County farmland. Thousands of people made clear they objected to the plan, and after the hearing, the idea was abandoned.

Don’s dedication to public health, equitable access to resources, and community empowerment has left an indelible mark. His efforts helped build the Federation into what it is today, but more than that, his kindness, his tenacity, and his unwavering friendship left a mark on all of us who were lucky enough to know him.

As he prepares to take his leave, I find myself reflecting on the conversations we had, the successes we cherished, and the laughter we shared. I will miss hearing his voice and insights and experiencing his relentless determination. But I also know that his wisdom and his spirit won’t fade. They live on in the work he championed, in the people he mentored, and in the coast that he loved so deeply.

Fair winds and following seas, my friend. Your legacy endures.

SWAN QUARTER — Turns out that those million big, invasive fish that were supposed to be swimming in Lake Mattamuskeet didn’t show up, as contractors conducting a mass removal project that began last year reevaluate the estimated population of common carp in the state’s largest natural freshwater lake.

“What we found is we’re not finding the carp numbers in the lake that we thought were there,” Kendall Smith, refuge manager at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, told the Lake Mattamuskeet Watershed Restoration Plan Core Stakeholder Team at a recent meeting.

“So far we have not detected any aggregations of fish. We are finding concentration, places where you find more fish than others, but nothing that would be considered an aggregation,” he said.

Smith explained that the refuge will continue to work with the contractor during the year to review other techniques, assess the issues with the carp’s habits and reproduction, and determine the next approach.

“We’re learning a lot about their movements, confirming whether or not they do activate in the wintertime or early spring,” Smith continued.

But reduction of carp, aggressive bottom feeders that are blamed for much of the lake’s turbidity, is just one of the multiple challenges being tackled. The team, made up of folks with local, state and federal expertise, including representatives from governments, nonprofits and landowners, is proving to be as resilient and adaptive as the lake itself.

“Like anything worthwhile, it’s the hard stuff you’ve got to pay attention to,” local farmer and former refuge biologist Kelly Davis told Coastal Review, “because the easy stuff works itself out, right?”

A member of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Davis, along with her late husband Blythe, for decades farmed 2,000 acres of farmland in Hyde County, of which about 150 acres drain into Lake Mattamuskeet.

In her observation, the lake’s biggest issue in restoring the submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV, is the haziness of the water, to which the carp contribute by churning up the lake bottom.

“Whatever’s killing the grass,’ she said, “it’s sedimentation. It’s cloudy waters.”

 Often referred to as a jewel of Hyde County, Lake Mattamuskeet, the centerpiece of the refuge, is 6 miles wide, 18 miles long and averages 2 feet deep.

The 40,000-acre lake, expansive and often shimmering, is famously photogenic. Serene cypress swamps along its border could be described convincingly as habitat for elves and gnomes.

But its beauty belies its environmental vulnerability. It is situated on low land, surrounded by pocosin forests and rich farmlands, intersected by gated canals that drain water, sediment and nutrients into the lake.

In addition to nearby rivers, the vast Pamlico Sound, to the lake ecosystem’s benefit and detriment, contributes some of its marine life and waters, whether pushed in by wind-driven tides or flooding. 

Since the 1990s, the submerged aquatic vegetation in the lake had gradually then suddenly disappeared, depriving the hundreds of thousands of waterfowl along the Atlantic Flyway that had stopped over for food and shelter.

Once Hyde County’s community hub, the lake, the refuge and the long-closed Mattamuskeet Lodge, which the county plans to restore and reopen, is still supporting hunting, fishing and farming activities. And ducks, swans and geese still alight at Mattamuskeet, but now mostly at the seasonal duck impoundments created around the lake.

Since 2017, the stakeholder team has been focused on solutions to the lake’s water quality problems, including loss of SAV and persistent algal blooms, as well as flooding and drainage of the surrounding land.

Guidance for the work has been provided by a watershed restoration plan facilitated by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, in partnership with Hyde County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The Coastal Federation is the publisher of Coastal Review, an independent online newspaper that covers coastal issues in North Carolina.

Despite uncertainty with staffing and funding concerns related to recent cuts in the federal government, work at the lake and surrounding land is ongoing and planned for upcoming months, according to a discussion during the Jan. 30 team meeting in the Hyde County Government Complex.

Five projects, funded by a $16.86 million Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant awarded to the North Carolina Coastal Federation, are designed to enhance water quality within the Lake Mattamuskeet watershed.

Project planned are improvements in the Fairfield Drainage District including installing a pump station to reduce drainage into the lake and enhance crops, restoring 1,000 acres of wetlands on converted agricultural land, constructing a 4,506-linear foot living shoreline to protect a Natural Resources Conservation Service dike in Swan Quarter and other critical infrastructure, facilitating agricultural best management practices to mitigate discharge of agricultural runoff into the lake, and outreach to aquaculture producers in an effort to boost participation in oyster restoration.

The Coastal Federation is currently working to finalize a partnership agreement with the Conservation Service, according to the federation’s coastal advocate Alyson Flynn, the meeting’s moderator. She also said that the federation has contracted with consultant Jonathan Hinkle to assist in the design and modeling of the large-scale restoration projects.

Part of the work, which has a four-year timeline, with a potential 1-year extension, involves diverting, pumping and draining water on the land in a way that would avoid adding sediment or nutrients to the lake, a hydrology challenge to engineer and a problem when there may be divergent goals. Drainage improvements also include cleaning out major drainage canals.

 “We all agree that the lake is in poor health, and we want to help fix it, but what that looks like seem to change,” Flynn said in an interview, referring to the proposed Fairfield project. “And so, yes, by diverting that fresh water up into the north, we’re hoping that the lake water will naturally filter out through that designed wetland before it gets to the Intracoastal Waterway in the north, with the assistance of pumps.”

Davis, who attended the stakeholders meeting informally as an area landowner, said that water is affected by changes in sea level and by wind tide, and there’s no choice but to work with the conditions, whatever their whims.  

“There will be times where some of that water movement is hampered until the wind shifts and blows the sound back out, but that’s part of water management in Hyde County, or really on the peninsula,” Davis said. “Whether the water body is the Pungo River, the Intracoastal Waterway, the Pamlico Sound, or Lake Mattamuskeet, the whole idea is to try to get the sediment trapped somewhere before it hits that water. And as the water slowly move through wetlands, the slower you can move the water, the more time it has for the sediment to fall out, and the more what you’re sending to the water bodies is mostly just water.”

What is important, she added, is that all the projects’ stakeholders are engaged and involved — and patient.

“They’re big projects, but they’re also projects that should have decades of value. The projects don’t have to be perfect,” she said, adding that every challenge that is addressed at the time makes a difference. “Because the needs are now, and they will be in the near term and the long term, and the wind still blows the sound out.”

Update March 3: North Carolina Coastal Federation has extended the early bird pricing at $125 through March 8 for the 2025 Coastal Summit scheduled for April 8-9 in Raleigh. Starting March 9, price will increase to $150. The original end date for the $25 discount was March 1.

Original post Feb. 11:

Registration is now open for a two-day summit taking place in Raleigh this spring that will highlight the ongoing work to protect and restore the coast.

The summit, “Ripple Effect: Enhancing Oysters, Salt Marsh and Water Quality Together,” is scheduled for April 8-9 in Marbles Kids Museum on Hargett Street in downtown.

Being hosted by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, cost is $125 before March 1. Price will increase to $150 for those registering after.

There will be presentations on coastal policy and threats to coastal habitats, as well as discussions on prioritizing future work.

“This two-day summit will highlight the progress and interconnectivity of work related to the advancing science, restoration, and preservation activities of many important coastal ecosystems,” organizers said.

View the agenda on the nonprofit organization’s website.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is partnering with two private firms to build a 1-acre salt marsh to serve as a “donor marsh” for scarce native salt marsh plants coastal restoration projects.

The Coastal Federation, NR Lands, LLC, and Backwater Environmental recently began construction of the donor marsh at North River Wetlands Preserve in Carteret County, which is itself a 6,800-acre wetland restoration project.

Formerly farmland, the Coastal Federation purchased the property in 1999 and has slowly restored it to forested freshwater and tidal wetlands. The return to nature has helped improve water quality in downstream estuaries by capturing sediments, bacteria and nutrients.

The Coastal Federation said that salt marsh habitat in North Carolina is at risk from land use changes, accelerated erosion rates and climate-driven sea level rise.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management determined that an estimated 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands are being lost on average each year in the U.S., up from 60,000 acres lost a year during the previous study. Additionally, restoration efforts in North Carolina are often hindered by a lack of native salt marsh grass plants available to purchase.

“The donor marsh will provide a consistent source of salt marsh plants that will reduce lead times and expense for other restoration projects,” said Coastal Federation Water Quality Program Director Bree Charon. “It also provides the co-benefit of filtering water entering Ward Creek and providing habitat for the many species that call North River Wetlands Preserve home.”

Once mature, the donor marsh will help supply plants that now cost anywhere from 75 cents to $2 each, providing significant savings. The donor marsh is intended a first-of-its-kind plant nursery in North Carolina that officials hope to see replicated by commercial nurseries.

Construction began Thursday, and work is expected to take a month to complete. Later this spring volunteers will help plant the initial salt marsh plants and will eventually help harvest plants once they are mature.

The North Carolina Land and Water Fund and the National Fish Habitat Partnership funded the project.

The 20 commercial fishermen and women hired for this year’s Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project headed out Wednesday to begin collecting crab pots from the northeastern and central coasts.

In its 11th year, the North Carolina Coastal Federation coordinates the project, which aims to locate and remove displaced fishing gear that can pose a threat to boaters, wildlife and the fishing community.

The 2025 project is focusing on Marine Patrol Districts 1 and 2, the waters between the Virginia-North Carolina border and the N.C. Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.

Recovered crab pots will be recycled as much as possible. The pots retrieved from the Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound region will be available for rightful property owners to reclaim after the project ends, the organization said.

The project takes place each year during the annual closure Jan. 1-31 that prohibits using crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots.

Since beginning in 2014, more than 23,000 lost crab pots have been recovered. Last year, the combined efforts of the commercial fishers and North Carolina Marine Patrol resulted in 2,463 pots being recovered across along the coast.

The state Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Grant Program helps fund the project.

“I’m glad to be involved and do my part to keep the sounds clean. It’s important for the blue crab fishery and much more. Without clean waterways, there would be so much at risk,” Chris Lamb, a long-time project participant from Belhaven, said in a statement.

To learn more about the project and its impact over the years, visit the website.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Commentary

The North Carolina Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

As I reflect on my journey over the past four decades with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the changes of the past year, I am filled with both gratitude and optimism for the future of our coast.

This year has marked an exciting new chapter for me personally and for the Federation. Since stepping into my role as Senior Advisor to our new Executive Director, Braxton Davis, back in February, I’ve had the privilege of shifting my focus away from the day-to-day operations, allowing me to concentrate on some of the core priorities of our organization in a way that is both refreshing and invigorating.

When I founded the Federation in 1982, our mission was clear: protect and restore North Carolina’s coastal ecosystems for future generations. Over the years, we have worked toward this vision — advocating for stronger environmental policies, engaging with local communities, and making significant strides in safeguarding our waters and wetlands. But as I’ve learned throughout my time here, the work is never done. It’s a continual journey, one that requires constant reflection, collaboration, adaptation and lots of helpful hands.

In my new role, I’ve been able to focus more deeply on the heart of our mission: land protection and habitat restoration, along with improving safeguards to prevent polluted stormwater runoff. These are critical efforts that will help restore coastal water quality, protect wildlife, sustain our fisheries, and make our coastal communities safer and more resilient for years to come. Healthy, thriving habitats — whether wetland forests, estuaries, or saltwater marshes — are the foundation for vibrant ecosystems and communities. As we look to the future, these efforts have never been more urgent. The challenges ahead are real and growing, but so are the opportunities.

One of the most pressing issues we face is the ongoing loss of wetlands. Wetlands play a vital role in filtering pollutants, providing habitat for marine life, and buffering communities from storm surges and flooding. This year, the Federation made significant progress on land protection initiatives, securing ownership and conservation easements on thousands of acres of riparian estuary buffers and collaborating with partners to raise more than $33 million to restore marshlands and riparian zones. These efforts will continue to grow in the years ahead, supported by our strong relationships with landowners, local governments, as well as state and federal agencies, and the N.C. General Assembly.

Restoring fisheries habitats is another area where we see great potential for impact. Coastal fisheries are essential not only to the health of our marine ecosystems but also to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in North Carolina depending on our commercial, recreational and tourism industries. By focusing on water quality and habitat restoration — particularly in the headwater areas of our coastal estuaries — we can ensure these ecosystems continue to thrive. Already, we’re seeing positive effects of this work: fish populations are rebounding in some areas, and water quality is improving in others. But there is still much work to be done, and the Federation remains committed to staying at the forefront of these efforts.

The Coastal Federation has always thrived due to its strong, community-driven approach. We know that lasting change happens when people come together—when communities are empowered to protect their environments and when businesses, local governments, and environmental organizations collaborate for the greater good. With our new director’s years of experience working with North Carolina’s coastal communities to protect coastal habitats and marine fisheries, I am confident that the Federation will continue to build on this foundation, driving progress in ways that are both sustainable and effective. While I will continue to help where I can, this work relies on many capable and passionate hands — especially younger generations — who will sustain it for the future.

Becoming a grandparent this year has given me even greater perspective on the importance of this work. In August, I welcomed my first grandchild, and just before Thanksgiving, we learned that our family will grow with a second grandchild arriving in the spring. This personal milestone has only deepened my commitment to ensuring that we leave a healthier, more productive coast for the next generation.

The road ahead may not always be smooth, but we are on the right path. As we look toward the future, the hard work of today will lay the groundwork for a healthier coast tomorrow. The Federation has the knowledge, commitment, and partnerships needed to overcome the challenges we face and ensure that North Carolina’s coastal ecosystems remain healthy and productive for generations to come.

Only together, will we move forward as we protect, restore, and preserve our coast for the future.

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust announced Wednesday that an additional 593 acres along the Newport River have been purchased from Weyerhaeuser Co. and transferred to North Carolina Coastal Federation for long-term management and restoration.

The Coastal Land Trust purchased the acreage in November, a tract that features estuarine marsh, managed loblolly pine forest, and bottomland hardwoods along more than 4 miles of the river and its tributaries.

The property lies within the Newport River and Black Creek Natural Heritage Area, which the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program has deemed of “very high ecological significance.”

Earlier this year: Groups conserve old Weyerhaeuser tract on Newport River

The latest acquisition is adjacent to the Coastal Federation’s 215-acre McCotter Preserve, upstream from the Coastal Land Trust’s 530-acre Newport River Marsh Preserve and close to the Croatan National Forest. It’s the second phase of a conservation partnership among the Coastal Land Trust, the Coastal Federation and the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point to protect and restore land along the Newport River.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The first phase, completed in 2023, protected 1,436 acres just downstream from this newest conservation project, officials said.

“This conservation success and our partnership with the Coastal Federation have been critical steps forward in connecting existing conservation lands and continuing our efforts to restore significant natural habitats,” Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks said.

The revised 2021-25 N.C. Oyster Restoration and Protection Plan, a collaborative restoration blueprint, ranks the Newport River as one of the most economically valuable and environmentally endangered oyster-growing estuaries in the state. Stormwater runoff is recognized as the largest source of coastal water quality impairment. The Coastal Federation plans to restore the natural hydrology and vegetation on portions of each protected property.

“Our close partnership with the Coastal Land Trust has provided important new opportunities for coastal restoration and conservation in North Carolina,” Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis said. “By protecting and restoring these ecologically rich lands along the Newport River, we’re not just preserving habitat, we’re also improving the downstream water quality and fisheries of the Newport River for generations to come.”

The Coastal Land Trust cited retired N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission wildlife biologist David Allen, who said the estuarine marshes along the Newport River near the property likely hosts important habitat for many species of greatest conservation need as identified in the 2015 North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan, including diamondback terrapin, little blue heron, glossy ibis, snowy egret, tricolored heron, and American oystercatcher.

In addition, the combined 2,029 acres are militarily strategic, including transit route between U.S. Marine Corps New River Air Station and the Piney Island Bombing Target, or BT-11, and helicopter turf routes in Carteret County and a flight-holding pattern for Cherry Point.

“Conservation partnerships and projects like this one are important for both coastal resiliency and military training,” said Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Government and External Relations Carmen Lombardo of Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. “We were pleased to provide Department of Defense funds toward both projects.”

Funding for the acquisition came from North Carolina Land and Water Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant Program, Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Integration Program, and U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities Enviva Forest Conservation Fund.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation will accept applications from commercial fishermen and women until Dec. 15 for the upcoming effort to collect lost and abandoned gear in the state’s sounds.

The nonprofit organization hires the extra hands for the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project that takes place in January, when internal coastal waters are closed annually to all crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots north and east of the Highway 58 bridge over Bogue Sound to Emerald Isle.

Application can be filled out and submitted on the Coastal Federation’s website. Captains must have a valid North Carolina standard commercial fishing license.

The 2025 project begins in January in parts of Marine Patrol districts 1 and 2, the northeast and central regions of the coast, respectively. Marine Patrol District 3, which covers the southeast region of the coast, closes from March 1-15. Recruitment for applications for District 3 will take place early next year.

Once the pots are collected, they are recycled to the best extent possible. Crab pots that are recovered from the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds during the project will be available for the rightful property owners to reclaim in early February.

The organization has led the project since 2014. In 2024, 2,463 pots from select areas within three Marine Patrol Districts were removed.

This project is funded by the N.C. Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Grant Program funds the project intended to improve habitat and water quality and support coastal economies.

Sara Hallas Hemilright, Coastal Federation education and outreach director, said in a release that she is grateful for the community partnerships that enable this program to continue to clean up the waterways and create opportunities for work during the winter.

“I’m appreciative of the strong partnerships we’ve formed with commercial fishers over the years. Their expertise in our local waterways is what continues to make this project successful. Their strong work ethic is essential to endure long, cold days working on the water in January. I’m proud to be involved in this project and see so many positive impacts as a result,” Hemilright said.

This project is part of the Coastal Federation’s overall effort to ensure the North Carolina coast is free of marine debris. The organization will be working on preventative strategies in the coming year as part of a major goal to create a coastal environment free of marine debris.

Pender County has become the latest local government to adopt rules prohibiting boat owners from leaving abandoned and derelict vessels in public waterways.

County commissioners on Monday unanimously adopted an ordinance amendment that allows the Pender County Sheriff’s Office to enforce the removal of abandoned and junk boats in waters within that office’s jurisdiction.

A boat owner will be given a 30-day notice to remove a derelict or abandoned vessel. If the owner does not remove the boat within that timeframe, the county will notify the state Wildlife Resources Commission and the North Carolina Coastal Federation that the boat is ready for removal.

The ordinance amendment aligns with that of Surf City, where elected officials agreed earlier this year to enact similar rules.

Pender County Planning and Community Development Director Daniel Adams explained to commissioners Monday that the ordinance amendment would prevent a boat owner from moving his or her boat from water within one jurisdiction to another to avoid fronting the costs to have it removed.

Thus was the case earlier this year, when a boat owner was notified by Surf City law enforcement that his boat would have to be pulled from public waters within that town’s jurisdiction. 

The owner moved the boat outside of town limits and into a public waterway in the county, Adams said.

In 2020, the Wildlife Resources Commission was given legislative authority to investigate, inspect and remove abandoned and derelict vessels.

The Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, has since that same year received more than $3 million in state and federal funds to remove junked vessels and hundreds of tons of marine debris littering coastal marsh lands and cluttering spoil islands. 

Construction has officially begun on a new center in Carteret County for the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

The nonprofit organization hosted a groundbreaking Friday afternoon for its new Center for Coastal Protection and Restoration being built on Bogue Sound.

The new facility is near Cape Carteret, just a few miles away from the organization’s existing headquarters on Highway 24. The new center should take about 18 months to build. A grand opening will be planned for the fall of 2026.

The new center will include a public education and event center, coastal habitat demonstrations, nature trails, and the organization’s future headquarters. Once the facility is open, the event center that can hold 450 guests standing or 150 guests for a seated meeting will be available for public use by reservation.

“We are pleased to be underway with establishing this new coastal center, which will significantly expand the Federation’s ability to serve our coastal communities. Once open, the Center will offer a suite of community programs and amenities and serve as a resource for people of all ages,” Executive Director Braxton Davis said in the announcement.

The Center for Coastal Protection and Restoration was designed by Bowman, Murray, Hemingway Architects designed the center being constructed by Chambliss and Rabil Construction Co.

The Coastal Federation acquired this property as part of a larger land purchase in partnership with Carteret County in 2020. As part of the land acquisition, the organization and county placed a conservation easement on more than 24 acres and established nature trails to showcase the coastal habitats in the area.

“This property was slated to become a residential development, so it’s wonderful to see it being transformed into a resource for our coastal communities,“ said Charles Meeker, Board Member with the Coastal Federation and Chair of the Capital Campaign Cabinet raising funds to establish the new facility.

The Coastal Federation has raised 90% of the funds needed to complete this new community resource through foundations, and private and corporate donors. To learn more about the center, visit nccoast.org/CoastalCenter.

Eight distinguished North Carolinians have been chosen to receive the state’s highest civilian honor, the North Carolina Award, two of which have strong ties to the coast.

The North Carolina General Assembly established the award in 1961 to recognize significant contributions to the state and nation in the fields of fine arts, literature, public service and science. The awards have been presented annually since 1964.

For their contributions to science are environmental attorney, photographer and advocate Tom Earnhardt and astronaut Christina Koch, who grew up in Onslow County.

“Over the past six decades, the North Carolina Award has been given to many remarkable North Carolinians,” said Reid Wilson, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “This year’s awardees join an illustrious list of people who have benefitted North Carolina through their impressive accomplishments in public service, literature, science, and the arts. This year’s event will benefit our neighbors in Western North Carolina who were harmed by the devastating storm.”

Gov. Roy Cooper is to present the awards at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in the Raleigh Marriott City Center. All proceeds from ticket sales for the awards ceremony will go to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund for Hurricane Helene recovery. Event tickets are by invitation only.

The information below from North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has been edited.

Science: Tom Earnhardt

Earnhardt’s career includes time as an assistant attorney general at the N.C. Department of Justice, assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Administration, and as a professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law.

In 1971, Earnhardt was one of the first attorneys hired at the N.C. Department of Justice in the “new arena” of environmental law. While working with the late Jim Holshouser, who served as governor from 1973 to 1977, he played a key role in helping to preserve critical natural areas, including the New River in northwestern North Carolina and the southernmost Outer Banks, today’s Cape Lookout National Seashore.

He is a board member of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review and Earnhardt has also served on the boards of numerous natural resource organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

He is the writer, host and coproducer of the long-running PBS series “Exploring North Carolina,” which highlights the importance of our natural heritage in the life of every North Carolinian.

Science: Christina Koch

Christina Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville, was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 2013. She set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with 328 days in space, participated in the first all-female spacewalk, and was a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expeditions 59 through 61.

Koch is a graduate of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics and North Carolina State University. Before becoming an astronaut, she worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland as an electrical engineer, contributing to instruments for various NASA space science missions.

Throughout her career, Koch has engaged in educational outreach, technical instruction, and volunteer tutoring, demonstrating her dedication to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. As part of the Artemis II mission scheduled for 2025, Koch will become the first woman to participate in a lunar mission.

Fine Arts: The Avett Brothers

Brothers Scott and Seth Avett and their longtime friend Bob Crawford lead the folk rock band The Avett Brothers. From Concord, their partnership began when the two brothers merged Seth Avett’s high school band, Margo, and Scott Avett’s college band, Nemo, and released three albums as Nemo. After the group disbanded, Scott and Seth continued to write acoustic music together.

In 2001 stand-up bassist Bob Crawford joined the Avetts, and the band released its first full-length album, “Country Was” in 2002. The band has been nominated for three Grammy awards and been nominated for and won several awards from the Americana Music Association, including Duo/Group of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year awards in 2007.

Literature: Frank A. Bruni Jr.

Bruni has been a prominent journalist for more than three decades, principally at The New York Times, where his various roles have included op-ed columnist, White House correspondent, Rome bureau chief and chief restaurant critic.

He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar and wrote for the student paper, the Daily Tar Heel.

As the Times’s first openly gay op-ed columnist, in 2016 Bruni was honored by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association with the Randy Shilts Award for his lifetime contribution to LGBTQ equality. Bruni is the author of five bestselling books including the most recent, “The Age of Grievance,” an examination of America’s political dysfunction and culture wars.

He became a full professor at Duke University in 2021, teaching media-oriented classes in the Sanford School of Public Policy. Now living in North Carolina, he continues to write his popular weekly newsletter for the New York Times and to produce occasional essays as a contributing opinion writer for the newspaper.

Fine Arts: William Henry Curry

Curry has had a “trailblazing role” as an African American in classical music, and is currently the music director and conductor of the Durham Symphony Orchestra.

From 1998 to 2016, he was the resident conductor and Summerfest artistic director of the North Carolina Symphony. During his career, he has conducted some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the major opera companies of New York, Chicago and Houston.

Curry is also a composer, and his works have been played by many of America’s finest orchestras. He has been a mentor for young musicians at the Peabody Conservatory, the Baltimore School of Arts, and many music schools in North Carolina.

Public Service: Dr. Harold L. Martin

Martin served as the 12th chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University from 2009-2024. He is the first alumnus to lead the institution.

His more than 40 years experience in education made him a key figure in N.C. A&T’s growth to become the largest of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, and one of the country’s top public research institutions.

His prior roles include senior vice president for Academic Affairs for the University of North Carolina System, and held leadership roles at Winston-Salem State University, where he served as the 11th chief administrator and seventh chancellor.

Since the award’s inception, more than 300 notable men and women have been honored by the state of North Carolina. Past recipients include William Friday, James Taylor, Etta Baker, Charles Kuralt, Maya Angelou, Lee Smith, Eric Church, Selma Burke, and Branford Marsalis.

From oyster farm tours to seafood festivals, North Carolina is ready to “shellebrate” Oyster Month.

Oysters are more than just the centerpiece of a get-together, these bivalves improve water quality while filtering saltwater for food, protect and help restore shorelines, offer refuge for marine animals, and are packed with nutrients.

Organized by the North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the NC Oyster Trail, a tourism and promotion campaign, this is the fourth year the state has celebrated the ecologically and economically important mollusks.

Jane Harrison, a coastal economist with Sea Grant, told Coastal Review that North Carolina Oyster Month began in 2023. “We had been shellebrating NC Oyster Week in October since 2020, but expanded it last year because folks wanted to host events all month long.”

The purpose of setting aside the entire month to promote awareness of the state’s oysters is to highlight “the wonder of N.C. oysters and raise their profile,” Harrison continued. “We inform folks on where you can eat them, their role in the ecosystem, how we ensure a sustainable seafood supply, and opportunities to protect our treasured coastal environment.”

She said the Oyster Month events are “a blast,” and encourages attending as many “as you can.”

The state has recognized October as North Carolina Oyster Month, as well.

“North Carolina is home to a valuable and productive coastal ecosystem with many champions who work together to protect it and the keystone species that benefit the state’s marine and coastal environments with food provision, water filtering capacity, and fish habitat,” begins the proclamation Gov. Roy Cooper’s office released Tuesday.

North Carolina has taken action to promote and protect the oyster and the industry that depends on it.

The state has been working to restore and protect oysters since 1915, resulting in the creation of thousands of acres of harvestable reefs and nearly 400 acres of oyster sanctuary in the Pamlico Sound. The General Assembly commissioned in 2018 the “North Carolina Strategic Plan for Shellfish Mariculture: A Vision to 2030.” That same year, North Carolina became the first in the Southeast and sixth in the nation to join the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Shellfish Initiative and launch the N.C. Shellfish Initiative, according to the proclamation.

Two years later, the NC Oyster Trail was launched, an effort of the Coastal Federation, Sea Grant and North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association to promote oysters, and the “Oyster Restoration and Protection Plan for North Carolina: A Blueprint for Action” was released, now in its fourth edition.

Coastal Federation Oyster Program Director Erin Fleckenstein leads the blueprint effort.

Fleckenstein explained that the nonprofit plans to participate in many of the events scheduled this month, and expects to launch an outreach campaign. Those following the organization’s social media will be able to catch a video series with different “how-to” topics such as how to recycle shells, create the perfect wine and oyster pairing, and shuck an oyster.

Fleckenstein noted that during the month-long celebration and with the start of wild harvest season, a lot of empty oyster shells will be produced. It’s critical to make sure these shells are properly recycled so they can be used to create more oyster reefs.

The nonprofit has worked with government and community partners to provide a few dozen places coastwide for oyster lovers to drop off shells for recycling. Find the locations are listed on the organization’s website, nccoast.org/shellrecycling.

“We discourage using shells for anything other than building new oyster reefs,” Fleckenstein said. “Shells make a great substrate for new oysters to grow on. Currently, we don’t have enough shells to build all the reefs we want to. Oyster lovers can help ensure more oysters in the future by recycling their shells.”

Join the conversation on social media with #NCOysterMonth, #NCOysters, #GiveAShuck, and #KeepShuckin.

NC Oyster Trail provided the following schedule of events:

• Oyster Roast at Dune Street Raw Bar & Grill in Nags Head 3-11 p.m. Friday. The restaurant is celebrating its one-year anniversary. There will be drink specials throughout the day, and that evening, an oyster roast with Kinnakeet, Little Star and Ocracoke Oyster Co., oysters and live music by The Southern Split.
• North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City Friday through Sunday. The three-day festival features cooking demonstrations, an oyster shucking steam bar, live music, food, vendors, artisans, children’s activities, rides, fireworks and the Blessing of the Fleet, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Radio Island, between Morehead City and Beaufort. This ceremony honors the many commercial fishermen who have given their lives to their occupation, and to thank those who continue in the industry.
• Seraphine Oyster Fest in Durham noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Reservations can be made for the noon seating or the 2 p.m. seating when special menu of 12 raw oysters, including oysters from White Oak Oyster Co., Crystal Coast Oysters and Cherry Point Oysters, will be served. Oyster growers will be on hand to discuss their farms.
• 23rd annual Oink & Oyster Roast at Jolly Roger Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Slow roasted pork, fresh roasted oysters from Lighthouse Shoals Oyster Co. and live music with Phil Watson. Preorder tickets, $50, online. Tickets are $50 the day of the event.
• University of North Carolina Wilmington Science Open House 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. UNCW Center for Marine Science, Wilmington Visit UNC Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science for a fun day of science adventure with hands-on exhibits, tours of the Shellfish Research Hatchery, a visit to their oyster farm and food trucks too.
• A Celebration of the Gilded Oyster at the Empty Nest Studio and Gallery in Frisco from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday. A raffle for oyster-inspired jewelry and a wine tasting with Lee Robinson’s General Store.
• Oysters and Brews with Wrightsville Brewing in Wilmington 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9. Wrightsville Brewing has committed to donating 11% of proceeds from its Beer of the Month to support the Coastal Federation throughout October.
• Outer Banks Seafood Festival in Nags Head 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. The festival that highlights the state’s fishing industry and heritage features local seafood, and live music.
• Oysterberfest 2024 Wrightsville Brewing in Wilmington from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday Oct. 20. The brewery’s annual wild oyster season kickoff party and Oktoberfest celebration plan to have live music by Back Pocket Buddha and Birdwell Beat and steamed and raw oysters for sale.
• Shellebration Sundays at Coquina Fish Bar in Wilmington. Oysters will be offered at $1.50 each all day each Sunday in October. The restaurant will feature special oyster dishes each week.
• Seabird’s NC Oyster Happy Hour $1 oysters from 5-6 p.m. each Monday in October at the Wilmington restaurant.
• Sea Level’s NC Oyster Happy Hour in October at the Charlotte restaurant. Oysters are priced at $1.50 each from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• $1 Happy Hour Oysters at Shuckin’ Shack, Surf City from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday for all of October.
• Seed to Table Oyster Trail Tours with Eco Adventures in Sneads Ferry. Meet working watermen and women at oyster farms near Permuda Island. Contact the company to book a tour.
• Oyster Farm to Fork Kayak Tours with the Coastal Federation Oct. 6, Oct. 23 and Oct. 30. Tours with Wanchese Paddle to the Coastal Federation’s oyster farm leave at 11 a.m. and will be followed with oysters from Dune Street Raw Bar & Grill. Register online.

Five years after developing and acting on a collaborative approach to preventing and removing marine debris along the coast, those behind the plan met last week to review accomplishments so far and discuss ways to expand the message over the coming five years.

The roughly 20 representatives of state and federal agencies, nonprofit and community organizations, and academia with ties to the 2020-24 North Carolina Marine Debris Action Plan spent last Tuesday in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Beaufort facility discussing the plan’s background, completed actions, the results from a recent survey and reviewing goals for 2025-29.

The plan is a multiyear collaborative effort of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Coastal Reserve & National Estuarine Research Reserve, North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina Marine Debris Symposium and Coastal Carolina Riverwatch.

Marine debris is a persistent and widespread problem. The human-made products like plastics, metals, rubber, paper, textiles, abandoned fishing gear, and other lost or discarded items littering waterways can negatively impact human and wildlife health.

The Coastal Federation initiated the work in January 2017 when it brought together a leadership team to assess marine debris and debris management along the coast. Between that first meeting and when the plan was released in January 2020, the team met several times, held surveys, and established strategies and actions.

Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis told the participants Tuesday that the nonprofit had been engaged in marine debris projects for over a decade.

“I think everyone, early on, recognized that this is a thorny, complex issue, and it’s of a pretty significant magnitude,” Davis said.

The Coastal Federation, which published Coastal Review, has been working to protect the coast since 1982 and has offices in Wanchese, Newport and Wrightsville Beach.

Understanding that the work cannot be done alone, the Coastal Federation looked at similar efforts by other states and regions, and brought together groups and organizations to develop a marine debris action plan, Davis explained.

With marine debris always being present and the origins being difficult to trace, the organization is considering additional research to tailor policies and programs around efforts that will lead to prevention.

“I think that’s going to take significant collaboration with stakeholders, and it’s going to require some multifaceted solutions,” Davis said. Adding the workshop “is just one stepping stone on the path over the next five years.”

Coastal Federation Education and Outreach Director Sara Hallas said that the nonprofit really became invested in marine debris management in 2014 upon launching its lost fishing gear recovery project. Commercial fishermen are hired to find and retrieve lost crab pots from the state’s waterways early each year, “And we would always plan a volunteer cleanup along with that, to build awareness and engage the community,” Hallas said.

“And then we started looking around and realizing, surely, we’re not the only the organization doing marine debris projects, and surely, we’re not the only ones that are going to be able to clean up all of this marine debris. So how can we be a little bit more comprehensive and a little bit more strategic in our approach to make sure that we’re meeting all the needs of the coast?” she said.

This spurred the first meeting with other organizations involved in marine debris, and the work began, leading to “the first ever action plan for North Carolina in 2020,” Hallas said.

The first statewide plan to address marine debris outlined five major goals, including engaging the public with education, prevention and removal of marine debris and abandoned and derelict vessels, and encouraging research to understand marine debris and its impacts.

While 2020 had its challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, Hallas said the team was able to continue with the action plan and reached nearly all of its individual action goals.

The current plan detailed 86 individual actions to be taken. Of those, 77.9% have been completed, 11.6% are in progress, and another 4.7% are ongoing, leaving about 5.8% of those items that have not been started as of mid-September.

“Only about five or six items of those 86 actions that we have in our action plan,” Hallas said, adding that for each year of the action plan, the leadership team has released a report that summarizes the highlights and takeaways from each of the major goals.

Working toward prevention, partners have reached more than 27,000 students and 33,000 adults with various education programs, participated in the North Carolina marine debris symposium each year, created marine debris curriculums, and rolled out the Marine Debris Free NC social media campaign.

In terms of removing marine debris, more than 9,000 crab pots have been pulled from waterways, as well as more than 3 million pounds of debris from coastal shorelines, “all just in the past five years,” Hallas said.

Preventing and removing abandoned and derelict vessels is its own category in the plan and has been a hurdle, she said.

“At the launch of the action plan, we saw some of the largest vessel removal in North Carolina history. And since then, that number has continued to grow,” Hallas said.

Since 2019, 343 vessels have been removed, and “a lot of that is thanks to bringing these groups” and resources together to solve the problem. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission helps to maintain the database, and working with these organizations to allocate funding accordingly.

To understand the source of debris, research and assessment has been an important part of this work as well, Hallas said, “so that we’re not just in this endless cycle of cleanup.” One project by North Carolina Sea Grant and N.C. State University was to study the macro- and microplastics coming through the Neuse River into the Pamlico Sound. The team is also looking to increase the marine debris data by encouraging volunteers to log what they pick up in trash collection phone apps.

“But if you can take a second to imagine, if people and wildlife of coastal North Carolina never encountered a marine debris, what would that be like? And that was our initial goal for the action plan,” Hallas said. “How can we achieve to get to this vision?”

N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve Central Sites Manager Paula Gillikin explained that the team distributed a survey on marine debris in North Carolina in 2017 and again in 2024, with the same questions. The first survey had 111 respond and the latest saw 49 responses.

One question, Gillikin said, was to ask respondents to rank the goals of the action plan from most important to least important.

“‘Prevent’ came up as most important, followed closely by ‘Remove,” and then “Abandoned and Derelict Vessels’ came out third, and then ‘Research’ came out last,” Gillikin said, acknowledging that research often is ranked a low priority.

Possible actions the group discussed for the next five years include reaching underserved communities and incorporating environmental justice into all goals, working with government entities to improve public policy that prevents marine debris as well as managing abandoned vessels, and different ways to expand educating the public on marine debris.

North Carolina’s coast is made up of more than 2 million acres of estuarine habitat, transition areas where fresh water from rivers meet the salty water of the sea.

Restore America’s Estuaries, the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association and the Association of National Estuary Programs have sought to draw attention to these fragile ecosystems that are continually facing challenges by celebrating National Estuaries Week, Sept. 21-28.

National Estuaries Week is a time to appreciate “the countless recreational, economic, and environmental benefits that our estuaries provide while acknowledging that they are under threat from a warming climate and continued development that can damage these national treasures,” Daniel Hayden, president and CEO of Restore America’s Estuaries, said in a statement. “We hope you take time during National Estuaries Week to enjoy your local estuary and celebrate the benefits it provides.”

First held in 1988, National Estuaries Day later was expanded to a weeklong celebration. Last year, there were 36 events in 11 different states with more than 11,400 volunteers. This week, around 40 projects have taken place or are scheduled across the country, a handful of on the North Carolina coast. For a full list of events, visit the website.

The North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve Program Manager Rebecca Ellin said there is still time to take part in activities planned to celebrate North Carolina’s estuaries.

The reserve program is made up of 10 state-protected sites totaling more than 44,000 acres of estuarine land and water. Four of the sites are under federal protection as well, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Under the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, the land acquisition program was established in early 1980s as part of the North Carolina Coastal Area Management Act that went into effect in 1974.

Taking place all week is the Bioblitz at three reserve sites: Masonboro Island, Kitty Hawk Woods, and Rachel Carson in Beaufort. Visitors are encouraged to take photos of flora and fauna and upload them to iNaturalist, a website for the public to record observations while out in nature.

“Documentation of species at reserve sites contributes to natural occurrence records and provides baseline data for existing species,” Ellin said.

Reserve staff will have booths 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Olde Beaufort Farmers’ Market in Beaufort for Celebrate Estuaries Day and at the Femme in STEM event 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

Femme in STEM showcases the variety of science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields that are open for career paths, and is a celebration of women in STEM fields. The event “reminds how important it is for young girls to see someone like themselves in science and other STEM subjects. Reserve staff will have a booth for the event and engage all ages in hands-on learning activities,” Ellin explained.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is kicking off its weekend with an estuaries-themed movie night starting at 6 p.m. Friday in its Wrightsville Beach office. Staff will have a booth at the Olde Beaufort Farmers’ Market Saturday as well.

The nonprofit is a member-supported organization with offices in Wanchese, Newport and Wrightsville Beach, and is one of the 10 member organizations of Restore America’s Estuaries.

But first, what is an estuary?

Coastal Federation’s Education Coordinator Bonnie Mitchell in the Wrightsville Beach office said that estuaries “create a unique habitat abundant with life.”

“These coastal water bodies support a diverse range of species, filter pollutants from the water, and act as natural buffers against storms. They play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems that directly impact public health by improving water quality, supporting fisheries that provide nutritious food, and protecting shorelines from erosion and flooding,” Mitchell said.

Often called “nurseries of the sea,” Coastal Education Coordinator Rachel Bisesi with the central office said that “estuaries provide a safe haven for many baby sea animals to grow up, since there is a plethora of food and hiding spaces, and fewer large predators than in the open ocean. Almost all seafood spends part of its life in an estuary and keeping them healthy is important for coastal communities and the economy.”

Education and Outreach Director Sara Hallas in the Wanchese office added that estuaries are her “favorite habitat” and loves “that there’s always dynamics that keep the estuary ever changing and there’s always something new to discover. Just as the estuary is important for animals to rest and find refuge, it serves a similar purpose for people to reflect and connect.”

Hallas echoed Bisesi that these habitats are important nursery grounds for animals to find shelter in calm water from larger predators, and for aquatic wildlife to lay their eggs and raise their young, and swim out to deeper waters when they’re ready.

“This supports the Federation’s motto, ‘No Wetlands, No Seafood,’ as the majority of the seafood that’s harvested — commercially and recreationally — depends on the estuary at some point in its life cycle. Estuaries are also important areas for animals to rest and refuel during long migrations,” Hallas said.

Ellin said that there is a lot of diversity found in the coastal and estuarine habitats along North Carolina’s coast since it includes two different biogeographic regions — the northern extent of southern species and the southern extent of northern species — and different tidal ranges and types of sounds.

The reserve sites “protect a range of coastal habitats found in North Carolina and are representative of the diversity of these conditions. Example habitats protected by reserve habitats include salt marsh, maritime forest, ocean beach, mud flat, maritime forest, swamp forest, pond pine woodlands, adding that these coastal habitats comprise North Carolina’s estuaries.”

Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, or APNEP, Director Bill Crowell said that preserving estuaries is crucial for several reasons, including estuaries’ ecosystem function and biodiversity, economic value, water quality, flood mitigation and cultural significance.

Like the reserve program, APNEP is under the state Department of Environmental Quality. APNEP is one of the first of 28 National Estuary Programs established by the Clean Water Act in the late 1980s, and protects around 28,000-square-mile watershed in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

The Albemarle-Pamlico region is one of the largest and most productive estuarine ecosystems in the United States, Crowell said.

“Estuaries are essential for functional ecosystems as they serve as vital habitats for a wide range of species, including fish, birds, and invertebrates. They provide breeding and nursery grounds, supporting both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems,” he said. “Estuaries support important economic activities such as fishing, tourism, and recreation. Healthy ecosystems contribute to vibrant local economies, providing jobs and supporting livelihoods.”

Estuaries improve water quality because they act as natural filters, by trapping pollutants and sediments,” Crowell said. “This is essential for maintaining the health of both the estuary itself and the coastal waters it connects to,” Crowell said. And estuaries help with flooding. “Healthy estuarine ecosystems can absorb excess rainfall and storm surge, reducing the risk of flooding in surrounding communities and enhancing resilience to climate-related impacts.”

There’s also the social connection. “Many communities have deep cultural ties to estuaries, relying on them for food, recreation, and heritage. Preserving these areas helps maintain cultural identities and traditions,” he said.

Ellin explained that the reserve sites that stretch from North Carolina’s northern border to the southern border are protected for long-term research, education and stewardship.

“Research and stewardship work informs management of our sites and North Carolina’s coastal resources as they face increased use and changing environmental conditions by monitoring change and testing and evaluating restoration techniques such as living shorelines,” Ellin said. “Teachers, students, and decision-makers learn about the importance of our estuaries through interpretive field trips at the sites and how to incorporate science into their classrooms and daily decisions that may impact the coast and estuaries.”

Estuaries not only protect habitat and provide platforms for research and education, estuaries offer storm protection and economic benefits for nearby communities. “Protecting estuaries protects coastal habitat and the contributions they provide to healthy ecosystems and communities,” Ellin said.

All three of the Coastal Federation’s educators recognized that these ecosystems are increasingly under threat.

“Habitat loss and development, as well as stormwater pollution and climate change impact the health of the estuary,” Bisesi said.

Mitchell said that pollution, overdevelopment and climate change jeopardize these vital resources. “If we don’t act now to protect estuaries, we not only risk losing critical wildlife habitats but also endanger the well-being of our communities. Protecting estuaries is essential not only for biodiversity but for safeguarding public health and ensuring the sustainability of coastal life.”

Hallas added that, in addition to the risks Mitchell mentioned, estuaries are also at risk from the recent ruling that drastically reduced protections of wetlands across the United States. “How could we not protect something that’s so valuable to all living things, including the source of life: clean water.”

Hallas said that because estuaries provide protection from flooding, storm surge, erosion and water quality, “I feel like it’s our job to protect them in return.” Estuaries are “a haven of beauty on the North Carolina coast, a refuge for both humans and wildlife.”

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Erin Fleckenstein, oyster program director for the North Carolina Coastal Federation, was presented with Dare County Soil and Water Conservation District’s inaugural Salt Marsh Award.

County staff and her colleagues recognized Fleckenstein Tuesday morning during a short presentation at the nonprofit Coastal Federation’s office in Wanchese.

The newly established award recognizes those who make outstanding contributions to the conservation of natural resources in Dare County, with a particular focus on combating erosion, runoff and other water quality issues, the county said.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts are established by state law to help landowners conserve and protect natural resources. The district’s board of supervisors provides citizen guidance and is made up of elected officials and board-appointed members.

Fleckenstein has been a member of the district’s supervisor board since 2015 “providing valuable expert guidance on soil and water conservation, oyster restoration, and living shorelines in general,” officials said, adding that she’s attended meetings and trainings, “but her most important responsibility was to promote soil and water conservation in the community. She has taken this responsibility to heart in her positions with both the Dare Soil & Water Conservation District and the N.C. Coastal Federation.”

Fleckenstein earned her bachelor’s degree in marine and freshwater biology from the University of New Hampshire and her master’s in marine biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She joined the Coastal Federation in 2008 as a coastal scientist in the Wanchese office and served in that role for 14 years before becoming oyster program director in 2022. She also acted as regional manager for the office in the Outer Banks from 2012 to 2022.

Fleckenstein has lead and assisted in a range of projects, including living shorelines to reduce erosion, wetland restorations and other natural mitigation strategies. She has served as a mentor and subject matter expert to boards and committees.

“Erin has played a key role in preserving the Dare Soil & Water Conservation District and all of the work it does. It is our pleasure to present the 2024 Inaugural Salt Marsh Award from the Dare Soil & Water Conservation District to Erin Fleckenstein as an appreciation for the many things she has done, is doing, and will do in the future to improve and conserve the natural resources of Dare County,” county officials said.

The Coastal Federation published Coastal Review.

BUXTON — A team of dedicated outrigger canoe paddlers from the Wrightsville Beach Outrigger Canoe Club is preparing to embark on the final 110-mile stretch of its journey along the entire North Carolina coast.

Over the past two years, these paddlers have been working to raise awareness about the crucial need for clean water.

Their initiative, called We the Water, not only aims to shed light on the importance of clean water but also serves as a fundraiser for the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s vital work in enhancing coastal water quality.

“This journey has been a true labor of love,” said Coastal Federation Coastal Management Program Director Kerri Allen, who is also a WBOCC paddler, regarding the significance of this effort. “Clean water is not just a need, it’s a right, and using outrigger paddling to tell the story of our coast and shed light on these issues has been extraordinary.”

The nonprofit Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The team will begin Friday, setting off from Buxton to paddle toward the North Carolina-Virginia border, with an anticipated arrival by Saturday. During their journey, the paddlers plan to make several stops, and the public is encouraged to join in and show their support. For more information on their schedule, please visit, here. A traditional Hawaiian blessing of the canoe will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Swell Motel. The community is encouraged to attend.

Upon the completion of this 110-mile trek, the group will return to Historic Corolla Park, to mark the official conclusion of their three-year, 325-mile paddling initiative. To learn more about the We the Water paddling initiative, extend your support for their fundraising efforts, or participate in a silent auction, please visit the Coastal Federation’s website at nccoast.org/paddle.

The paddling initiative has also been supported by a gracious number of sponsors, including Airlie Pointe Yacht Charters, BeUnlimited Yoga, Slice of Life, Stellar Blu Construction, The Aladon Network, Family Dental Care of Wilmington, and The Beatty Pittman Team.

MOREHEAD CITY — The reverence for North Carolina Coastal Federation founder Todd Miller was palpable Saturday night when he was recognized with two awards, including the governor’s highest honor for service, during the nonprofit organization’s Pelican Awards ceremony.

About 200 packed into the Joslyn Hall auditorium on the Carteret Community College campus for the annual awards program that the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, began in 2003 to recognize individuals, businesses, organizations and agencies that have shown exemplary coastal stewardship.

In addition to Miller, staff at the Coastal Federation’s Northeast, Central and Southeast offices recognized more than a dozen at this year’s ceremony. A handful of the recipients were connected to the North Carolina State Parks system for their work to protect environmental, cultural and resources.

Miller, after more than 40 years leading the organization as executive director, turned the reins over in February to Dr. Braxton Davis, who left his leadership role at the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management to join the nonprofit. Miller now acts as senior adviser to the executive director.

“We are really excited to honor this year’s Pelican Award recipients. Each has gone above and beyond in protecting the coast, and their dedication, partnerships, and achievements are truly inspiring,” Davis told Coastal Review.

Davis and Board of Directors President April Clark presented Miller with a Lifetime Achievement Pelican Award and The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, on behalf of the governor, at the end of the hourlong ceremony.

A Carteret County native who spent his youth in the marshes of Bogue Sound, Miller founded the Coastal Federation in 1982 after completing his undergrad and master’s degrees at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

“Todd is a man of vision,” Clark said, and he has been instrumental in bringing supporters and partners together to accomplish the organization’s work.

“When he announced that he was moving on last year, I think everybody’s heart sunk. He’s left a legacy of work and a coastline that’s better for his presence than ever,” she continued.

After a standing ovation, Miller told the crowd that “the last 42 years have gone by in a flash for me,” and it has been rewarding to work with so many great people and be inspired by their energy.

“There are things that I can still contribute, and I’ll continue to do that, but it’s time for new leadership and new ideas and new energy in this organization. And I’m very proud that Braxton was willing to step up and take on that role. We’re in good hands, and just expect great things to happen in the future,” Miller continued.

Other accolades Miller has received while leading the organization include The Old North State Award from the governor in 2007, the National Wetlands Community Leader Award from the Environmental Law Institute in 2012, distinguished alumni of UNC in 2013, and the Peter Benchley Ocean Award for Hero of the Seas in 2015.

Miller had been on the stage to present awards in a new category, the Distinguished Career Awards, to Bill Holman, senior adviser with the Conservation Fund of North Carolina, and Derb Carter Jr., senior adviser for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Holman was recognized “for a Distinguished Career Dedicated to Public Service and Environmental Conservation.”

Holman began his career in the early 1980s as an first environmental lobbyist and “has always been a steadfast ally, supporter and friend of the coast throughout his career,” Miller explained.

Holman was at the first meeting in April 1982, when the idea of Coastal Federation was born. “His collaboration with us and other environmental groups has resulted in countless environmental safeguards,” and his career protecting the North Carolina environment is nothing short of remarkable, Miller said.

In addition to his time as a lobbyist, Holman’s was appointed in 1998 by former Gov. Jim Hunt to serve as assistant secretary, and later as secretary, of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, now called the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Other roles include executive director of the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust, policy program director at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute For Policy, and at The Conservation Fund as a state director.

“Today, he still has a hand in the game. He’s the senior adviser for the Conservation Fund, and his passion and commitment and impact on our environment continues to inspire all of us. His legacy protecting the natural resources will endure for generations to come,” Miller said.

He was not able to attend the ceremony but accepted his award in a prerecorded video.

“Receiving the Pelican Award from the NC Coastal Federation means a lot to me,” Holman told Coastal Review in an email. Adding he’s had the opportunity to work with members and staff of since its founding in 1982. “I’m proud to say I was there at the beginning.”

Holman said he knows the work of the Coastal Federation from his days as a lobbyist, and in his many leadership positions for the state.

“I admire, respect, and appreciate (the Coastal Federation)’s advocacy, its work in local communities, and its bold ideas,” Holman continued.

The Coastal Federation pushed for some of the first policies to reduce stormwater pollution, led the massive restoration of wetlands on the North River, has promoted living shorelines, and restored oyster reefs and the oyster industry, is helping clean up Lake Mattamuskeet and so much more, he explained.

“Our coast and our state are better places because of the Coastal Federation’s work, he said. “Thanks for the honor. Keep up the great work. I plan to spend more time enjoying our coast’s resources and people as I transition into retirement.”

After Holman, Carter was recognized “for a Distinguished Career Dedicated to Environmental Protection and Justice.”

Miller said he’s had the pleasure of working with Carter as long has he’s worked with Holman, since the 1980s, and “has had a distinguished career that has left his mark on the environment.”

Carter, who grew up in Fayetteville, began his career in 1980, when he worked to promote effective environmental advocacy that aligned policy with the everyday interests of residents, Miller said.

Carter’s vision “is best illustrated by the bumper sticker he allowed us to distribute for four decades now” which reads ‘No Wetlands, No Seafood’,” Miller said. The “simple, yet powerful message” circulated millions of times by the Coastal Federation “resonates deeply with our coastal communities” and is a “rallying cry for wetlands protections, symbolizing the direct link between healthy ecosystems and the livelihoods of countless North Carolinians.”

Carter began working closely with the Coastal Federation in 1982 to incorporate it into a nonprofit and help launch the organization.

“Understanding the importance of grassroots support, he was able to blend his legal work with a diverse coalition of fishermen, farmers, hunters , birders, scientists and environmentalists,” Miller said.

They worked to successfully stop the proposal to strip mine 120,000 acres of peat wetlands along our northeast coast. That effort led to securing permanent protection for those lands, which are now the Alligator River and Pocosin Lakes wildlife refuges, he said.

Carter’s notable legal actions include major federal lawsuits that enforce wetlands rules and successful petition on behalf because the Coastal Federation to designate 10% of coastal waters is outstanding resource waters. He played a crucial role in saving Bird Island from development, led the opposition to the PCS Phosphate expansion and helped block Mobil Oil’s plans to drill out the North Carolina coast in the 1980s and 1990s.

Carter told Coastal Review that it has been an honor to work with and represent the Coastal Federation since it was founded in 1982.

“I have met along the way many volunteers, staff, and board members committed to protecting what is special about the North Carolina coast. No organization has done more to protect coastal wetlands, oysters, clean water, beaches and inlets, and traditional ways of life,” he said. “I recall the first meeting with Todd Miller when he presented the idea that informing and engaging citizens in protection of coastal resources could make a difference. His vision and the accomplishments of the organization speak for themselves.”

Other winners were recognized by region.

Northeast

Outer Banks Kayak Adventures for Dedicated Partnership in Support of Coastal Environmental Education and Engagement

Outer Banks Kayak Adventures offers kayak and stand-up paddleboard ecotours for all ages and levels of experience.

Owner Eli Wisden partnered with the Coastal Federation in 2023 to lead “Oysters Uncovered: The Kayak Edition tours.” The tours that take place in the spring and October, which is Oyster Month in North Carolina, highlight the half-acre demonstration oyster lease and shoreline protection methods at the Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office.

“Eli’s in-kind donations of kayaks, gear and guiding expertise made these tours accessible and memorable for all who participated,” staff said.

Wisden told Coastal Review that he agreed to provide the tours because he thinks that people engage more if they have first-hand experience versus listening to a presentation.

You can sit in a room and listen to a presentation, see a few props but actually going out on the kayaks see the lease and the “different ways of protecting the shoreline, and show the effect that the oysters actually really have — you can go out and physically see that the water around the lease is noticeably cleaner than the other waters that are in the sound — a really cool way to get people that maybe get excited or feel like they want to get involved more.”

He said he’s flattered and honored to be chosen for the recognition, but he said Victoria Blakey, coastal specialist with the Wanchese office, is “as deserving of the award as I am,” Wisden said, because she approached him about the partnership, and put together the presentation.  

Daniel Pullen for Exceptional Efforts to Inspire Coastal Stewardship through Art and Actions

Coming from nine generations of Cape Hatteras Lightkeepers, Daniel Pullen grew up on the Outer Banks and has been documenting the realities of life on a barrier island for the past two decades.

“He makes his art available to the Federation so that we can better illustrate our story and inspire others,” staff said, this includes his effort to document the Hatteras Island Oyster Roast each year, litter cleanups and oyster restoration events, and his advocacy describing the impact of shoreline erosion along the Outer Banks.

Pullen has won countless awards for his work including being recognized by Time Magazine in its Top 100 Photos of 2020, and the North Carolina Press Association’s Photographer of the Year in 2021.

“I’m thankful to be recognized,” Pullen said at the event, adding he looks forward to the continued partnership with the organization in the future to preserve our coastal communities.

Central

Coastal Environmental Partnership for Outstanding Collaboration in Support of Oyster Shell Recycling

The public solid waste authority has collaborated with the Coastal Federation since 2021 to collect recycled oyster shells from Pamlico, Craven, and Carteret counties.

“We truly value our partnership with CEP and commend their efforts to go the extra mile in their commitment to oyster shell recycling,” staff said.

The partnership donates its time and energy to transport the oyster shells. Their commitment both mitigates waste and help revitalizes crucial oyster habitats that contribute to improving water quality and shoreline stability along the coast.

“Through community engagement and educational outreach, CEP fosters environmental stewardship by raising awareness about the importance of oyster reefs and their role in coastal ecosystems, and the importance of their preservation for future generations,” staff said.

“Coastal Environmental Partnership is honored to be selected as a 2024 Pelican Award recipient by the North Carolina Coastal Federation. We are excited to partner with them on the Oyster Recycling Program. As a public regional solid waste authority serving Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico counties, we have a firsthand interest in protecting the coast and advancing environmental initiatives,” Executive Director Bobby Darden said about the award.

Matt Windsor for Supporting, Promoting and Advancing the Use of Living Shorelines

Now superintendent of Goose Creek State Park, Windsor has worked at seven parks, including Hammocks Beach, during his nearly 30-year career with the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation.

Windsor reignited the partnership between the Coastal Federation and Hammocks Beach State Park, which allowed the organization to continue its salt marsh and oyster restoration efforts at the park in Swansboro through expanding living shorelines on the park’s mainland, Bear and Jones islands.

Windsor was involved with the education, funding, planning, permitting, research and monitoring effort to construct 6,578 additional feet of living shorelines at the park.

“The living shorelines Windsor helped put in place are working to reduce shoreline erosion, provide habitat, and are helping to improve the water quality of our coast. We are truly thankful for our long-term and valued partnership with Matt that will continue into the future,” staff said.

“I am really grateful to the NC Coastal Federation for being recognized for a Pelican award for living shoreline work along with so many other deserving award winners.  None of this would have happened without the assistance of the NC Coastal Federation central office, Native Shorelines, the staff of Hammocks Beach State Park, and hardworking volunteers from the local community,” Windsor said.

Claude Crews for Leadership and Dedication to Coastal Protection, Recreation, and Cultural Resources

The success of Hammocks Beach State Park in Swansboro is due in large part to the leadership of Crews.

Hammocks Beach was established as a state park for African Americans in 1961. Before this, there was limited access for Black residents and visitors to enjoy public beaches in North Carolina. The park integrated in 1964, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and Crews became its first superintendent in 1969.

Crews served as a leader both at the park and within the community. He left Hammocks Beach State Park in 1981 after being superintendent for 16 years, and was then promoted to superintendent at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. Crews currently resides in Hubert and is still involved through the Friends of the Hammocks and Bear Island.

“By leading park management and development, he contributed to a broader awareness of the significance of preserving natural habitats and cultural heritage for all communities,” staff said.

“I would like to thank the North Carolina Coastal Federation for honoring me, I am humble to be one of the many recipients who have received this award. I am sincerely grateful for the recognition,” Crews said.

Southeast

Carolina Beach State Park for Dedicated Partnership to Protect and Restore Coastal Habitat and Water Quality

Carolina Beach State Park staff have collaborated with the Federation since 2014 on a range of projects, including a 200-foot living shoreline installed in 2015. Both worked with the Division of Marine Fisheries in 2017 to create the 5-acre artificial recreational fishing and oyster reef just off the shore.

In the following years, park staff, the Federation, state agencies, Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, Army Corps of Engineers, and engineers combined efforts to implement a large-scale restoration project funded by the Kerr-McGee Navassa NRDA Restoration Plan.

Park and other state agency staff have worked to reduce and control invasive Phragmites on 10 acres of the park, which enabled the excavation of a 2,600-foot-long slough to restore the hydrology and wetland function of the area, and allowed for more than 100,000 wetland plants to be installed.

Staff is currently working with the Coastal Federation to install more than 1,500 feet of living shoreline and restore an additional 4 acres of oyster reef habitat in 2025.

“We are so excited to receive a Pelican Award! As the new Superintendent at Carolina Beach State Park, I love to see the park recognized for all the hard work the staff and volunteers have put in. I have to give a special shout out to park ranger Jesse Anderson for his passion and enthusiasm for protecting our natural coastal resources and sharing all of that knowledge with me since my arrival,” Park Superintendent Crystal Lloyd said.

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Law Enforcement Officers in Districts 1,2 and 4 for Exemplary Efforts to Remove Abandoned and Derelict Vessels from Coastal Waters

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission law enforcement officers transitioned from rescue and recovery operations after Hurricane Florence in September 2018 to assessing damage and boats displaced by the storm.

The commission provided staff time and resources to locate, assess potential pollution hazards, report, and investigate hundreds of vessels between Carteret and Brunswick counties, then eventually coastwide after storms since.

This effort along with support and authorization from the N.C. General Assembly led to the commission launching its Abandoned and Derelict Vessel Program while simultaneously working with the Department of Environmental Quality and Coastal Federation to conduct the largest coordinated removal of ADVs in the state’s history.

At the forefront of this effort, the law enforcement officers along the coast in Districts 1, 2, and 4 dedicated an estimated three months of their time investigating, contacting owners, and enforcing the rules of the ADV program.

“These officers went above and beyond their normal duties to enable the removal of over 350 ADVs by the Commission, its partners, and local governments,” staff said.

The Wildlife Resource Commission Law Enforcement Division “truly appreciates the recognition of our efforts with the Coastal Federation in collaboratively removing abandoned and derelict vessels from NC waterways. These vessels pose significant public safety hazards to boaters while also causing harm to the resources. It is always our priority to assist in these endeavors so boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts may safely enjoy wildlife-associated recreation on the waterways of NC,” Col. Ben Meyer said.

Capt. Kyle van Althuis with District 2 told Coastal Review that the commission is honored to receive this award.

“A major part of our core mission is to conserve North Carolina’s wildlife resources and their habitats and to provide safe boating opportunities to the public. Our work in removing abandoned and derelict vessels, in partnership with so many other excellent organizations, directly serves to accomplish this mission,” he said. “In particular, we want to highlight the extraordinary lengths our officers have gone to in order to address the ADV problem in NC. They truly are public servants and willing to go the extra nautical mile.”

DREAMS Center for Arts Education for Excellence in Community Education and Engagement

DREAMS Center for Arts Education in downtown Wilmington has provided arts programming at no charge since 1997 to youth and their families. The staff hold to their mission to “create a culture of confidence for youth and teens through equitable access to arts education supported by the values of respect, family, and community.”

While its primary focus is on visual, performing and digital arts, the center has embraced stewardship of the environment, transforming its grounds into an oasis for outdoor learning experiences.

When DREAMS grew out of their first facility they relocated and renovated a vacant 1939 former City of Wilmington bus maintenance garage. In May 2012, the Historic Wilmington Foundation honored DREAMS with the Adaptive Reuse Award.

DREAMS worked with N.C. Cooperative Extension to install retrofits at their parking lot to reduce polluted stormwater runoff from flowing to Burnt Mill Creek, and with Cape Fear Surfrider Foundation and Rainstorm Solutions to install a cistern to capture rain runoff from the building’s rooftop.

Most recently, DREAMS collaborated with the Cooperative Extension, North Carolina Sea Grant and the Coastal Federation to create an outdoor educational garden that not only adds beauty to the landscape but teaches students and their families about the value of native plants through hands-on learning.

“The Federation is honored to host environmental education programming with DREAMS youth and is in awe of every student we work with at the Center,” staff said.

“The DREAMS Center for Arts Education is deeply honored to receive the Pelican Award for Excellence in Community Education and Engagement. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff, students, and community partners,” Executive Director Kimberly D. Lebby said. “We are proud of our commitment to not only nurturing young artists but also cultivating environmental stewards. By integrating arts education with ecological awareness, we believe we are creating a more informed and engaged citizenry. We are grateful for the Coastal Federation’s partnership and support, and we look forward to continuing our work together to protect and preserve our environment.”

Coastwide

The Inlet Inn’s Coins for Conservation program For Outstanding Community Leadership and Collaboration

As owners of the Inlet Inn in Beaufort, When Jay Tervo and Barbara McKenzie-Tervo felt it was their responsibility to ensure that the environment continued to flourish while helping visitors enjoy the coast.

They launched the online Coins For Conservation that allows businesses to support area nonprofits. Current partners are Atlantic Beach Sea Turtle Project, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch, Friends of Rachel Carson Reserve, and the Coastal Federation.

The Inlet Inn was the first business on board, leading the way for other businesses to join them in giving back to protect our coast. In addition to coming up with the idea, launching the program, and serving as a role model for other businesses, they continue to work tirelessly to recruit local partners, host events and encourage other businesses to give back.

“Jay Tervo and Barbara McKenzie are committed to going above and beyond for our coast,” staff said.

“Jay and I are very touched and honored to receive a Pelican Award.  We are joyous to have found a way to create a steady stream of resources for the NCCF and are very encouraged that Coins for Conservation has taken a foothold here, locally. We look forward to growing business participation throughout the entire coast.  Most importantly, North Carolina deserves a clean coast and NC Coastal Federation is a huge ‘mussel’ (pardon the pun) in getting the job done! We appreciate all the work you do,” McKenzie-Tervo said in an email.

Ryan Bethea for Exemplary Actions to Inspire Stewardship of Coastal Resources

Bethea has been raising oysters since 2015 in waters near Harkers Island in Carteret County. His interest in the oyster industry was piqued after reading about the up-and-coming oyster farming business in a magazine.

An eighth-grade teacher bartending on the side at the time, he decided to try his hand at growing oysters. A graduate of N.C. Central University, Bethea earned a certificate in oyster genetics and aquaculture from the William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Bethea volunteers much of his time educating others about the environmental and economic benefits of oysters and the coastal habitats they depend on to thrive, hosts tours as a member of the North Carolina Oyster Trail, and teaches students at Boys and Girls Clubs and at Central University. He has been featured by Our State Magazine, PBS, NPR, Southern Living, and WRAL just to name a few.

“Ryan has used every step of his newfound career to inspire others to share his love and respect for the coast, ensuring a new generation of environmental stewards and coastal career professionals,” staff said.

“I’m honored to be recognized, and I’m proud to be able to spread the word about North Carolina oysters and our incredible resource we have here,” Bethea said.

Editor’s note: The organization provided the information on awards winners, which has been edited for length.

Many readers know that Coastal Review is published by the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

The nonprofit membership organization established in 1982 focuses on restoring the state’s coastline and advocating for an accessible, healthy, productive coast.

The Coastal Federation launched Coastal Review in February 2012 to fill a gap in coastal environmental reporting that was in decline in traditional media. The award-winning, nonprofit news service is a longtime member of the North Carolina Press Association and publishes Monday through Friday.

One way to support Coastal Review and the organization that publishes it is through this year’s Pelican Awards, which recognizes stewards for their commitment to the coast, and the Taste of the Coast celebration set for Saturday evening in Morehead City.

“These events are incredibly special to us as a way to bring our community together to honor our award winners and to celebrate our spectacular coast,” Development Director Sarah King said in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful to all our sponsors, partners, and friends who make this event, and all our work protecting and restoring the coast, possible.”

This year, 13 Pelican Awards will be presented during the ceremony that begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Carteret Community College’s Joslyn Hall. Doors open at 5 p.m. There is no charge to attend, but registration is required because of limited seating.

Following the awards ceremony will be the Taste of the Coast celebration. Treated as a separate event, 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday in the Crystal Coast Civic Center will feature live music, a silent auction, seafood and drink pairings including North Carolina oysters from area oyster growers.

Tickets, available on the website, are $60 for Coastal Federation members and $70 for nonmembers for the celebration. Because the bidding is online for the silent auction, those interested in participating are encouraged to bring their smart phones.

This year’s Pelican Awards and Taste of the Coast Celebration are made possible by leadership support from First Citizens Bank and other important event sponsors.

“First Citizens Bank has partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation for many years, and we have witnessed first-hand the impactful work they do. It was the right decision to increase our commitment and become the title sponsor,” said First Citizens Bank Executive Director of Trust and Fiduciary Services Phillip Strickland. “While we have grown from a $50 billion bank to a $200 billion bank within the last 20 months, we will continue making an increased effort in investing in the people and communities we serve.”

This story has been updated.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a $421 million grant for a coalition of North Carolina and three other states working with nonprofit organizations for conservation and restoration projects that reduce carbon emissions and make communities more resilient to natural hazards.

The 21 proposed projects are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28 million metric tons by 2050. The grant includes roughly $30 million over five years for the Newport-based North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review.

North Carolina, via its Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, had applied for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program funding in April as part of a partnership called the Atlantic Conservation Coalition with South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and The Nature Conservancy.

The coalition plans to use the federal money for conservation and restoration projects for peatland wetlands, coastal habitats, and forests across all four states.

The projects proposed include salt marsh restoration, farmland preservation, conservation of land for outdoor recreation, construction of living shorelines. Cost assistance could be provided to small forest landowners, trees planted in cities and reforestation work.

The coalition has identified nearly 600 tracts as both low-income or disadvantaged communities that could benefit from the funding.

The nearly $30 million grant to the North Carolina Coastal Federation will be used in several key areas with an overall goal of protecting and restoring approximately 595 acres of coastal habitats in North Carolina, the organization said.

“The Federation is honored to be part of this historic award,” said Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis. “This grant will enable us to undertake major projects over the next five years by first identifying the most endangered coastal habitats, and then protecting and restoring at least 600 acres. We will also engage world-class scientists to determine the long-term fate of the carbon stored by these projects, which would otherwise contribute to sea level rise if lost to the atmosphere. By preserving these invaluable habitats, we are also supporting healthy fisheries, improving water quality, and reducing damaging flooding.”

The Coastal Federation said the funding would play a critical role in protecting and restoring coastal habitats that can store vast amounts of carbon. “These vital habitats face threats from persistent erosion, adverse land usage, and increased sea levels. By preserving these vital ecosystems, the initiative ensures that the stored carbon remains sequestered, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming,” the organization said in a statement.

“Coastal habitats are some of the most efficient natural carbon sinks on the planet,” said Davis. “This funding will enable us to protect these critical areas and enhance their ability to sequester carbon, which is an important component in our fight against climate change.”

Jacob Boyd, the Coastal Federation’s salt marsh program director, noted that the collaboration among federal agencies, state governments and nonprofits sets a precedent for climate action.

“This is a model for not only how we can use natural infrastructure to help achieve our climate goals but how we can have a much greater impact through partnerships and collaboration,” said Boyd.

Boyd said the funding includes money for Duke University in both the coalition’s budget and in money marked for the Coastal Federation for assistance with project and research management.

He said a $350,000 contract with a company called Natrx will result in real-time satellite imagery-based analysis for evaluations and selections of project sites and for monitoring.

A $1.5 million contract with the U.S. Geological Survey is for advanced research to closely monitor carbon sequestration and storage results realized by the projects. “Project consultants include specialized experts to help with project development, site selection, management, and other specialized services that are needed to complete project tasks,” Boyd said.

$4.3 billion in grants

The funding is part of more than $4.3 billion in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants to implement community-driven solutions that tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice, and accelerate America’s clean energy transition, EPA said.

Gov. Roy Cooper released a statement Monday, noting that the grant was one of the largest grants the EPA has awarded and the largest for nature-based climate solutions.

The statement also noted the grant’s fit with the directives in Cooper’s Executive Order 305, which set goals to conserve and restore natural and working lands by 2040, and the North Carolina Natural and Working Lands Action Plan, which the Department of Environmental Quality published in 2020.

“Protecting our natural lands for future generations is not only critical to our fight against climate change but also our state’s economy and tourism industries,” said Cooper. “This major award from the Biden-Harris administration will strengthen our bipartisan partnership to conserve and restore public and private lands across state lines.”

Each of the four states will receive $50 million for “shovel-ready” projects. An additional $200 million will be allocated to The Nature Conservancy for additional high carbon-sequestering forest and wetland restoration projects across the entire coalition region, which will be implemented in collaboration with respective states and local partners. The 21 projects identified by the coalition will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 28 million metric tons of CO2e by 2050. These projects include salt marsh restoration, conserving land for outdoor recreation, building living shorelines, cost-assistance to small forest landowners, urban tree planting, farmland preservation, and reforestation among other activities.

The 25 selected applications will fund projects in 30 states, including one Tribe, that target reducing greenhouse gas pollution from six sectors: transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture/ natural and working lands, and waste and materials management.

The EPA said it plans to announce up to an additional $300 million in selections under the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program for Tribes, Tribal consortia, and territories later this summer.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan was set to announce the awards Monday in Pittsburgh.

“President Biden believes in the power of community-driven solutions to fight climate change, protect public health, and grow our economy. Thanks to his leadership, the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program will deliver unprecedented resources to states, local governments, and Tribes to fund the solutions that work best in their communities,” Regan said in a statement. “Selected recipients have put forward ambitious plans to advance sustainable agriculture, deploy clean industrial technologies, cut emissions and energy costs in homes and commercial buildings, and provide cost- and energy-efficient heating and cooling to communities, creating economic and workforce development opportunities along the way.”

A stormwater retrofit project aimed to improve water quality in the Bradley Hewletts Creek Watersheds is in progress on the campus of University of North Carolina Wilmington.

The work to replace sections of conventional asphalt at Randall parking lot with permeable pavement began in late June and is expected to be complete in about a week. This type of pavement allows stormwater to pass through to the ground underneath, rather than flow directly into storm drains.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, UNCW and the city’s Heal Our Waterways Program have been working with Coastal Stormwater Services Inc. and DiMaio Concrete, both based in Wilmington, on the stormwater retrofit project.

The project is one of numerous that have taken place since a watershed restoration plan was adopted in 2007.

“This collaborative initiative continues to make great strides towards achieving the goals within the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks Watershed Restoration Plan. We’re thrilled to see more nature-based solutions to help protect Bradley Creek come together through the hard work and determination of this partnership,” Anna Reh-Gingerich, watershed coordinator with Heal Our Waterways, said in a statement.

Since 2019, the university, the Coastal Federation and Wilmington have installed several rain gardens and numerous parking lot paving retrofits.

“We are pleased to have this parking lot help reduce runoff and be able to showcase these techniques along with our campus rain gardens as a living classroom,” Feletia Lee, UNCW’s chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.

This stormwater retrofit project was supported by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources’ Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 319 Water Quality Program. 

North Carolina Coastal Federation and Carolina Beach State Park staff are asking volunteers to help out Tuesday to restore 10 acres of tidal marsh habitat.

Taking place from 9 a.m. to noon at the park 10 miles south of Wilmington, extra hands are needed to plant thousands of native wetland plants in marsh once overrun by invasive phragmites, or reed grass.

Wetlands serve as natural buffers against storms, and they filter pollutants, provide habitat for diverse wildlife and support the livelihoods of coastal communities.

“When planning these events, we have to take our cues from the plants when they are ready to go in the ground. Serendipitously, their readiness aligns with National Pollinator Week, symbolically acknowledging their vital role in supporting biodiversity,” said Coastal Education Coordinator Bonnie Mitchell. “These plants aren’t just for pollinators; they’re also crucial for safeguarding and restoring the wetlands, which act as buffers against storms, provide homes for wildlife and clean pollutants from our environment.”

Organizers said that volunteers should be prepared for physically demanding work in muddy, wet, and potentially hot and humid conditions. Prior experience is not necessary as basic training will be provided, and all necessary project supplies and equipment, as well as snacks and refreshments, will be provided on-site.

“Volunteer events are one of my favorites. Involving volunteers in something like restoring wetlands and planting native plants is such a valuable way to send home ownership. It really pushes the important aspects of environmental education further,” Carolina Beach State Park Park Ranger Jesse Anderson said. “Our volunteers return home to share with family and friends about their experiences, and that stays with you.”

This wetland restoration project at Carolina Beach State Park is made possible through funding from the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Hundreds of acres once owned by a timber company and stretching for miles along the Newport River will be conserved and restored through a partnership of environmental nonprofits.

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust recently transferred ownership, with restrictions, of a little more than 1,400 acres along Mill Creek Road in Carteret County to the North Carolina Coastal Federation, officially kicking off a multi-year collaboration to enhance the water quality of a river listed as one of the most endangered shellfish growing areas in the state.

It’s a joint effort aimed at improving habitat on the land and in the water, one that highlights how what happens on land affects the water bodies running through it.

“I think it’s just a great opportunity for our two organizations,” Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks said. “We do a lot of work in the same space. Our strength is in acquiring land and the federation has worked on other types of restorative activities so we feel like coming together on this was a real win both organizations and the public.”

Coastal Land Trust purchased the 1,436-acre tract from Weyerhaeuser Co. a year ago. The tract stretches 4 miles along the river and Little Creek Swamp and is rich with estuarine marsh, managed loblolly pine forest, bottomland hardwoods and a rare coastal fringe evergreen forest, which is similar to maritime forest on barrier islands.

The land is also adjacent to the Croatan National Forest, a sprawling 160,000 acres marked by pine forests, saltwater estuaries and pocosins.

The Croatan was once home to 60,000 acres of native longleaf pine, a species that has dwindled from 90 million acres across the Southeastern coastal plain from Virginia to east Texas to now just over 5 million acres thanks to development, logging and fire, or, in the case of longleaf pines, the lack thereof.

Longleaf pine forests thrive on routine fires to keep healthy, but decades of efforts to curtail forest fires only harmed these woodlands.

Janice Allen, Coastal Land Trust senior land adviser, said the organization would like to see longleaf pine flatwoods restored within the tract if possible.

“The reason for that is just the proximity to that section of the Croatan National Forest that once had red-cockaded woodpeckers. That’s the forest of their preference,” she said. “We just thought, let’s work together a little bit on if there’s areas that can be planted back in longleaf.”

Red-cockaded woodpeckers have been on the endangered species list since 1970.

Todd Miller, senior adviser to Coastal Federation Executive Director Braxton Davis, said expanding longleaf pine habitat would be “great” because it was the natural forest cover in many areas there and “take the pressure off by creating more habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.”

But the primary focus of the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, is to restore natural hydrology back into a landscape that had been used for commercial timber growth for years.

“That required over the years ditching and, in places, lowering the water table,” Miller said.

Establishing more natural hydrology on the landscape will mean better water quality and fewer problems with surges of stormwater flowing into the river during heavy rainfall and extreme rain events, he explained.

Work will include negating the ditches and blocking off drainage, which will allow the land to regenerate with natural forest cover.

“This is an opportunity to essentially create around a 3,000-acre water quality buffer along the river and the hard work that the land trust did negotiating the acquisition is very much welcome,” Miller said.

The federation is in the process of mapping out the ditches on the land in what has been tapped as Phase 1 of a joint, multi-phase initiative along the river.

Allen said another tract spanning 593 acres along Mill Creek Road and upstream from the land purchased in the first phase is under contract. The organization hopes to close on that tract by late fall.

“And anything else we get under contract we’ll talk about at that point, but we’re working on trying to get other tracts of land hopefully protected along the Newport River,” she said. “I think it’s something that makes a whole lot of sense from the fact that it’s using the expertise of both of us, both organizations. We do a lot of land conservation and they do a lot of wetlands restoration so I think it’s perfect when we’ve got a partnership like this that can worth together on both ends.”

The land was purchased with money from a host of funding sources, including the N.C. Land and Water Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant program, the Coastal Federation and the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Integration Program.

The Phase 1 tract lies within a military transit route between Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville and a training bombing range at Piney Island as well as near helicopter turf routes in Carteret County and in a flight holding pattern for nearby Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Plans to pull out a dozen abandoned and derelict vessels from New Hanover County waters are in motion.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation, marine contractors, local governments and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission are working together this week to remove the 12 vessels from different locations in New Hanover County, including Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach.

The work began last week and is expected to last for the next several days.

“It takes a huge coordinated effort to find the owners, authorize the removal, and dispose of these boats from where they have been abandoned,” Coastal Federation Marine Debris Program Lead and Coastal Scientist Ted Wilgis said in a statement. “Without the support of our local governments, the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, and the efforts of the Wildlife Resources Commission, we wouldn’t be able to remove these vessels and protect our coastal waters and habitats.”

The Coastal Federation has removed 110 vessels from the state’s waterways since 2021. The organization and Wildlife Resources Commission, which has removed more than 200 vessels in the last few years, plan to pull an additional 40 vessels from waters from Pasquotank to Brunswick counties by the end of the year.

Funding is through the North Carolina General Assembly and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, part of the federal agency’s nearly $6 billion total investment under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Local governments, state agencies and the Coastal Federation are looking into ways to increase penalties for abandoned vessels, develop voluntary measures to reduce abandoned vessels, and use insurance and ownership transfer requirements to increase the vessel owners’ share of removal costs, the organization said.

The vessel removal is under the organization’s Marine Debris Program that is focused on ensuring that storm-related debris, lost fishing gear and derelict vessels are properly located and removed.

The public is encouraged to report abandoned or derelict vessels to the Wildlife Resources Commission via email to adv@ncwildlife.org. The agency also maintains a map of current abandoned and derelict vessels.

Threats to the state’s 220,000 acres of salt marshes spurred the development of a five-year strategy designed to protect and restore this vegetation that helps protect shorelines from erosion and provides habitat for juvenile seafood to grow.

Released Wednesday, the North Carolina Salt Marsh Action Plan has the overarching goal “to protect, restore, and facilitate the migration of salt marshes in North Carolina to minimize loss of function, benefits, and acreage through 2050 and beyond.”

There are numerous persistent and emerging threats to current and future salt marshes such as incompatible land and water uses, wave energy caused by boat wakes, and, as a result of climate change, more intense and wetter storms and sea level rise. The state plan offers strategies to address these threats, plus ways to promote the plan’s goals and actions, and a five-year monitoring and evaluation strategy to track success.

“Salt Marshes provide numerous benefits to the health and productivity of the coastal environment, economy, and culture. These benefits include essential fish habitats, water quality enhancements, climate change mitigation, and enhanced community and ecosystem resilience through flood and erosion protection,” Coastal Federation Salt Marsh Program Director Jacob Boyd said in a statement. “We can’t afford to lose that through inaction, especially with the ever-increasing impacts from climate change.”

The state plan was developed to implement the regional marsh plan, “Marsh Forward: A Regional Plan for the Future of the South Atlantic Coast’s Million-Acre Salt Marsh Ecosystem” the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative, or SASMI, released in May 2023.

The Pew Charitable Trusts and Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability formed SASMI in 2021. The regional initiative is an effort of more than 350 partners to preserve and enhance the existing million acres of salt marsh between North Carolina and the northern Atlantic coast of Florida. The states are developing implementation plans specific to their needs.

“The development of the NC Salt Marsh Action Plan that builds off the SASMI regional efforts highlights the importance of protecting and restoring salt marshes in North Carolina and the region,” said Sarah Spiegler, North Carolina Sea Grant coastal resilience specialist. “The Plan’s emphasis on partner collaboration is vital to ensure we effectively build more resilient coastal communities and habitats throughout North Carolina.”

There are numerous partners who will contribute to plan implementation as members of the Salt Marsh Steering Committee that the Coastal Federation is leading, including the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, Audubon North Carolina, Carolina Wetlands Association, Department of Environmental Quality, Duke University, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Eastern North Carolina Sentinel Landscape and others.

Anyone who has taken a stroll along downtown Morehead City’s waterfront in the last six or seven months may have noticed the hundreds of concrete, flat-top pyramids being strategically placed in rows around the rapidly eroding Sugarloaf Island.

Those are wave attenuation devices, or WADs, and part of a bigger, hybrid project to restore 3,520 linear feet of the barrier island’s shoreline.

Teaming up with the city on the effort to save the island are Sea & Shoreline LLC., a Florida-based aquatic restoration specialist with offices in the Carolinas, the nonprofit North Carolina Coastal Federation, engineering consultant Quible & Associates of Kitty Hawk, East Carolina University and Sandbar Oyster Co., a Beaufort-based habitat-restoration business.

“About 25 years ago, the Coastal Federation worked with the town of Morehead City to purchase the island. At that time, it had been slated for development — there were some condo plans in the works,” Coastal Federation Living Shoreline Division Lead Dr. Lexia Weaver explained. “Thanks to that purchase the island was able to be protected and conserved and be the natural resource it is for both for the public and the environment, as well but since that time the island has eroded significantly, as much as a football field.”

Sea & Shoreline Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Heather Herold told Coastal Review that if this erosion, which is taking place at an accelerated rate because of rising sea levels and wave energy, isn’t addressed, “the island could disappear, leaving the town vulnerable to climate-related events.”

Weaver added that the state invested $6.6 million to “protect this crucial natural asset from ongoing and worsening erosion, especially as a result of storm systems that are frequent to our coastal region.”

The money is from a 2022 appropriation of $2 million and $4.6 million in 2023. The town held a ceremony when the work began in mid-November to thank Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, who also represents Carteret County, Rep. Celeste C. Cairns, R-Carteret and Craven counties, and former Rep. Pat McElraft of Emerald Isle for supporting the project.

“Restoration methods for this project include reducing wave energy with an offshore living breakwater, planting seagrass behind the living breakwater, and planting a living shoreline on Sugarloaf Island,” officials said. “The living break water will not impede normal vessel traffic because it will be installed in areas too shallow for vessels to navigate safely at high speeds. The breakwater will also be staggared so that fishers can fish around them or pass through sections of the wave attenuators.”

Herold said the project is expected to bring back habitat and lead to benefits such as shoreline restoration, water quality improvement, resiliency, fish habitat, upland habitat and flood control.

Weaver said the design was based on a 2022 study of the island, as well as other studies. There was also evidence of significant erosion through mapping imagery combined with local knowledge and testimonials.

Plans call for a total of 1,200 wave attenuators to be installed around the island. The attenuators are 7 feet tall with a 9-foot base on each of the three sides, weighing in at around 7,500 pounds each.

Tina Harris, Sea & Shoreline’s pre-construction manager, said that as of Monday, a total of 443 attenuators are in the water. Of those, 376 had been deployed at the west end of the island, completing the attenuator portion of the project on that end of the island. Work is now taking place on the east end of the island where another 67 attenuators, or units, have been deployed. Harris said they have about 650 left to deploy.

“Once we complete the east end of the island, we will deploy units along the entire south side moving from the east back towards the west,” Harris said, adding they anticipate completing the attenuator placement part of the project in late June to early July of this year. “The nature of the project is heavily dependent on weather conditions.”

The patented attenuators being installed are to “stop the wave energy and accrete sand behind them to naturally renourish and rebuild the shoreline without the need for beach renourishment,” Herold explained, adding the attenuators provide water quality benefits, including attracting oysters that filter water. Other installed projects are filtering 22 million gallons of water per day.

Herold said that, together, “these measures will protect and restore the island, improve water quality, create essential fish habitat, protect shorebird nesting areas, and enhance the shoreline for recreational boaters to enjoy.”

Herold added that the patented device is created by Living Shoreline Solutions Inc. and made out of a pH-neutral mixture of concrete and fiber-mesh. 

“We pour this mix into molds, allow for drying time, unmold them, let theme cure, then place them in the water in arrays that are pre-determined based upon scientific wave study modeling,” Herold said. As of Thursday, 682 total attenuators had been manufactured.

Harris added that the company manufactures the units at a Core Creek site and they are then moved the 10 miles by barge to Sugarloaf Island. Once the attenuators reach the island, the units are placed into the water using a large excavator, “where the units are leveled and aligned for maximum performance.”

In addition to the attenuators, Weaver said last week that two Oyster Catcher sills made by Sandbar Oyster Co. and totaling 550 feet have been put in place. These structures that resemble tables and made out of cement and plant-based cloth will continue to be manufactured and installed through the spring.

A total of 9,375 plugs of Spartina alterniflora, or smooth cordgrass, and 3,200 plugs of Uniola paniculata, or sea oats, were ordered as well and are scheduled to be planted this spring. Plans are to plant more in the spring of 2025, Weaver said.

They’re starting to see results of this work.

Weaver said that wave energy is already being reduced landward of the attenuators and sediment is already starting to accrete landward of the Oyster Catcher sills, promoting the natural expansion and growth of salt marsh grasses.

“The structures are also providing valuable habitat for fish, oysters and other marine life. Seagrass is expected to grow landward of the WADs in the quiescent waters,” Weaver added.

Morehead City Public Information Officer Anna Smith said Wednesday that the town “is grateful to be working with our partners on the Sugarloaf Island Restoration Project, and we are excited to already see positive progress,” adding that the “critical initiative would not be possible without $6.6 million in state legislative funding and the hard work” of the city’s partners and staff.

Post has been updated.

Hey, buddy, have you heard the news? “King Mackerel & the Blues are Running” to Morehead City later this month.

The Coastal Cohorts — Don Dixon, Bland Simpson, and Jim Wann — are getting back together for a special reunion tour they’re calling “39 and Holding” of their show that celebrates life on the Carolina coast.

Shows are scheduled for 7 p.m. May 23-25 and at 2 p.m. May 26 in Carteret Community College’s Joslyn Hall.

Proceeds benefit both the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island. Tickets, $30 for members of both nonprofit organizations and $35 for nonmembers, are available at nccoast.org/kingmackerel.

“King Mackerel & the Blues are Running” brings to the stage tall tales, ballads and stories about the one that got away — both first loves and catches.

The group first performed the show in 1985 and has toured the East Coast, including performing in New York City that the late Clive Barnes, New York Post theater critic, called “a pure salt watered delight.”

This is far from the first show the trio has performed in Carteret County.

“This is the best — doing ‘King Mackerel’ again with our longtime Core Sound friends, right where we first teamed up in Joslyn Hall,” guitarist Jim Wann, who is the lead composer of the Tony-nominee and international musical hit “Pump Boys & Dinettes” said in a release.

“We love our audiences at Joslyn Hall,” said pianist Bland Simpson, who is Kenan Professor of English & Creative Writing at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. “And it always feels like a family reunion when we do this show.”

Bassist Don Dixon, renowned record producer of such acts as REM, James McMurtry, and The Red Clay Ramblers agrees. “I love doing this show in the Sound Country,” he said. “Joslyn Hall is one of my favorite places to sing.”

HARKERS ISLAND — The North Carolina Coastal Federation on Friday hosted staff from Sens. Thom Tillis’ and Ted Budd’s offices along with federal and state officials on a tour of federally funded coastal projects.

The projects include removing abandoned and derelict vessels and marine debris, and the construction of oyster sanctuaries in the Pamlico Sound. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Joe Huie is a commercial fisherman from Sneads Ferry. He has worked as Coastal Federation contractor, supervising marine debris crews, for about five years. His crew members are all fishermen, and their work began just after Hurricane Florence in 2018.

“Hurricane Florence devastated our area,” Huie said. “We got almost 4 feet of rain; the river was closed for four or five months. So they hired us on to help put together crews pick up marine debris. And from the very first day that we started, even in waters that we were intimately familiar with, we realized that there was way more marine debris than anybody could ever imagine.”

He said the crews, working between Sneads Ferry and the South Carolina state line, collected an average 1 ton of marine debris every day by hand.

“Even in places that we’ve been to and we returned to, we still average a ton of material a day,” Huie said. “And that’s four guys carrying it on their backs in and out of the marsh. So we make very small impacts to the environment, and it’s providing a lot of work for a lot of fishermen in our area.”

He said the crews truly appreciate the work.

“We don’t take it for granted because it helps us clean up the places that we grew up in, that we work in, that we we get food from,” Huie said. “And it also provides us with a job so we feel like we’re giving back to the areas that made us all who we are.”

The work is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via the nearly $6 billion total funding under the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Tillis and Budd, along with all other Republicans in both chambers, voted against the 2022 climate change and healthcare measure. Tillis voted in favor of the 2021 infrastructure act, while Budd, who was a House member at the time, was opposed.

The senators’ regional representatives, Grayson Overholt for Tillis, and Sam Shumate, for Budd, declined to comment but offered to connect Coastal Review with staff who were authorized to speak. Tillis’ communications director responded, but no comment was received in time for publication.

The Coastal Federation said the work is part of a larger effort to rid the coast of storm-related debris, lost fishing gear and derelict vessels. The effort also includes broad public outreach and education efforts aimed at reducing marine debris at the source.

Coastal Federation scientist and Marine Debris Program Director Ted Wilgis explained how the federal and state funding the nonprofit receives to protect and restore coastal waters and habitats, provides jobs and economic support for coastal communities.

“The vast majority of funding is going to pay contractors, suppliers, fishermen like these,” Wilgis said.

Building oyster habitat

The tour included a visit to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries stockpile and boatyard at South River. The NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation is supporting construction of 120 acres of oyster habitat in Pamlico Sound. This project is to complete the 500-acre Sen. Jean Preston Memorial Oyster Sanctuary, which began with 15 acres in 2017 and was named for the longtime legislator who represented Carteret County in the North Carolina General Assembly. Preston died in 2013.

Oyster sanctuaries provide direct benefits for key recreational and commercial species, the Coastal Federation noted, citing as examples striped bass and wild oysters.

Another part of the project involves a collaboration of the Coastal Federation, North Carolina Central University and North Carolina State University’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology, or CMAST, to provide hands-on opportunities for underrepresented graduate and undergraduate students studying marine sciences.

These NOAA-supported projects are helping the Coastal Federation advance its goal of protecting and restoring the North Carolina coast for future generations, the nonprofit said.

“We are incredibly grateful for the funds provided through the Inflation Reduction Act, which have allowed us to enhance our capacity to address the issue of marine debris,” said NOAA Marine Debris Program Director Nancy Wallace in a statement. “The strides made by our partners at the North Carolina Coastal Federation have been pivotal in protecting the North Carolina coast and waterways, and we are excited to see the effects of their continued efforts with the implementation of these projects.”

Dr. Braxton Davis, who recently stepped down as director of the state Division of Coastal Management, assumed his new role Thursday as executive director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

Davis said Thursday during his first meeting with staff that it may take some time to get up to speed but he was excited to be doing that now.

“In terms of what my initial priorities are, it’s getting out and engaging with all our partners and friends along the coast and hearing their their thoughts and visions for the future. This is a very collaborative organization, so I’m really excited about building those relationships and maintaining those relationships. I really am looking forward to that part of the job in the coming months,” he said.

The Coastal Federation, a nonprofit advocacy organization that works to establish and maintain a healthy North Carolina coast and publishes Coastal Review, had for nearly 42 years until Wednesday been under the leadership of its founder Todd Miller.

Miller announced in December that he would be stepping back and that the organization’s board of directors had appointed Davis to succeed him. Miller has said his new role would be to serve as Davis’ senior adviser and as an “ambassador” for the Coastal Federation.

“He was my choice to assume my role, and I could not be more pleased that our Board of Directors agreed with my recommendation, and that he accepted this new assignment with enthusiasm and his own sense for how it needs to be fulfilled,” Miller wrote in an email to Coastal Federation staff early Thursday.

Miller wrote that, while his new role would take time to sort out, “my commitment to our cause and organization is unwavering.”

Coastal Federation Board President April Clark told Coastal Review that the board unanimously rallied behind the decision to hire Davis, who had led the Division of Coastal Management since 2011. Clark said the board was confident in his abilities, values and leadership experience to continue the work of protecting and restoring the coast while steering the organization toward new environmental milestones.

“This is a significant change for the Coastal Federation,” Clark said. “Our organization has grown and matured into a renowned, sought-after environmental organization that provides much-needed work and guidance to our state and beyond. Our staff and board are mission-critical to the work of the organization and having Braxton at the helm gives us the confidence and comfort to move forward into a new chapter at the Coastal Federation.”

Guest commentary

To stimulate discussion and debate, Coastal Review welcomes differing viewpoints on topical coastal issues. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of Coastal Review or our publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

MANNS HARBOR – Here, on the front lines of the battle against climate change, the war looks lost.

Point Peter Road leads straight into the Croatan Sound where rising seas, higher tides, and monstrous storms batter the fragile coastline. The saltwater poisons and erodes the peaty soil before what’s left disappears under the relentless waves. A man-made canal carries the seawater inland where it kills cypresses and pines and turns the forest into shrubby marsh. Freshwater, blocked from running into the bay by the rising sound, pools under trees and kills them.

This corner of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge stands no higher than one foot.

“This particular stretch of the coastline, due to the hydrology, experiences extremely high rates of erosion,” says Sarah Toner, the visitor services manager for the Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges Complex. “This is ground zero.”

All, however, may not be lost. A healthy infusion of climate-fighting cash — $27.5 million — from the Inflation Reduction Act will likely help Alligator River and a handful of other nearby refuges and state lands keep the ravages of climate change at bay. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners will deploy “nature-based solutions,” including oyster reefs, marsh sills, dredge spoils, and re-wetted peatlands, to protect the coast from a steadily warming world.

“The threat is that more of these communities out here will become really challenging places to live with more flooding, more soil erosion, and more frequent wildfires,” says Chris Baillie, the climate adaptation coordinator for the North Carolina Coastal Federation. “There is a need to be really judicious in how climate funding is spent because there simply isn’t enough money out there to address all the climate vulnerabilities faced by people and nature.”

‘We’re trying to hang on’

The Alligator River refuge — “mile after uninhabited mile on both Highways 64 and 264,” reads a 1990 Service brochure – is an otherworldly expanse of dredged peat fields, fresh and brackish marshes, pocket forests, and lakes. Established in 1984, the refuge is surrounded by water and serves as the second line of defense, behind the Outer Banks, against a marauding Mother Nature. The 152,000-acre refuge is one of nine, low-lying refuges in eastern North Carolina, all facing varying degrees of climate-induced threats.

Its purpose: protect the pocosin wetlands, which provide ample habitat for the wintering waterfowl that fill the skies, the black bears in numbers found nowhere else on the East Coast, and the elusive, and federally endangered, Red Wolves. Another goal: to save the eastern black rail, “the most secretive of the secretive marsh birds and one of the least understood bird species in North America,” according to the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, a federal-state bird conservation partnership.

The birds, federally listed as threatened, once flitted across salt marshes from Connecticut to Florida, including those alongside Point Peter Road. But habitat destruction, due to drained marshes and rising seas, has decimated the population by 90 percent. Maybe 350 breeding pairs remain, according to the Joint Venture, “a catastrophic decline over the past 30 years.”

Seas, worldwide, rose on average 1.2 millimeters a year for most of the 20th century. Since 1993, though, the rate has more than doubled to 3.2 millimeters, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Yet reports show the seas have been rising three to four times as much as the global rate between North Carolina and Massachusetts which leads to more frequent inundations and salt marsh loss.

“We’re losing a lot of land,” says Fred Wurster, a Service geomorphologist who’s leading the climate-fighting project. “Not only is the shoreline retreating rapidly, but the habitat we manage is transitioning very rapidly to salt marsh or open water. It creates a situation where we’re trying to hang on to what’s here long enough to give species a chance to move further inland.”

Much of Alligator River, like much of the coastal plain, was logged of cypress and Atlantic white cedar and drained for farmland which dried out the peaty soils. When the mega-farms proved unprofitable, the scarred and desiccated fields became refuges and wildlife management areas. Yet the salty water from surrounding estuaries creeps relentlessly inland poisoning the soil and further drying the spongy peat bogs. Without rain, the carbon-rich pocosins become tinderboxes for wildfires that can last months and cause significant damage to the ecosystem, and global health.

In 1955, a fire on the other side of the Alligator River burned 203,000 acres. Thirty years later, the Allen Road fire burned 95,000 acres. The 2008 Evans Road fire, though, sticks most in locals’ craws. It burned — above and below ground in the deep peat — for seven months before it was extinguished. Air quality as far north as Norfolk, Virginia, suffered. More than 40,000 acres, mostly in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, burned. The Service estimated that the fire released six million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Peatlands cover only three percent of the world’s land mass, yet they store twice as much carbon as all the planet’s forests. They are enormous carbon “sinks.” Duke University calculated in 2022 that rewetting and restoring 250,000 acres of abandoned peat bogs across the Southeast could prevent 4.3 million tons of carbon dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere each year.

“Southern pocosin peatlands punch far above their weight in terms of their capacity for carbon storage,” says Curtis Richardson, founding director of the Duke University Wetland Center. “Acre for acre, they can store significantly more carbon than forests or grasslands.”

Largest climate-fighting act

Arch Bracher stood at the end of a long pier casting mullet into Rose Bay where the freshwater Pamlico River turns brackish at the Pamlico Sound. It was an unseasonably warm, Carolina-blue morning and the red drum weren’t biting. And neither was Bracher when talk turned to climate change.

“They talk about sea level rise, blah, blah, blah,” says Bracher, a charter boat captain who runs the Pelican out of Oregon Inlet. “But the ocean’s not getting higher. It’s just eating away stuff. They’re talking about the water rising one inch over the next 100 years. I think that’s just propaganda.”

A forest of dead, ghostly pines stood in the adjoining Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge. Rising seas have eaten away the banks on both sides of the Bell Island Pier. A study a decade ago showed that an average of three feet of peaty soil disappeared each year due to ever-higher water. In 2012, The Nature Conservancy and the Service built a limestone sill 30 feet offshore. The reef reduces the power of the waves that pound the shoreline. Erosion slows. Sand and silt accumulate between the shore and the sill creating new beach for plants to take hold and marsh to reform. Oysters and mussels attach to the marl further strengthening, and renourishing, the reef.

“We’re building good oyster habitat, and getting recruitment, which helps with water quality as well,” says Aaron McCall, a regional land steward for The Nature Conservancy. “We don’t want to reach a tipping point where the system gets destroyed and it doesn’t provide any service to the environment or the local community.”

The Conservancy surveyed 10 sites — six protected by the reef, four unprotected — near the pier to determine whether erosion continues apace. Erosion stopped or slowed at all protected sites; it continued at the unprotected sites.

Limestone sills and oyster reefs are major components of so-called living shorelines and hallmarks of nature-based solutions to climate change. And they are precisely the types of projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act that will be built across eastern North Carolina.

The IRA, at $369 billion, is the largest climate-fighting package in U.S. history. Its goal is to move the country fully towards renewable energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change. Billions of dollars are dedicated to agricultural conservation, forest protection, and wildfire risk reduction.

“There is often an assumption that tackling the climate crisis requires only technological solutions,” the White House said in November 2022 describing the IRA’s nature-based offerings. “Too often, the power of nature is overlooked and undervalued as a core element of a more just, livable world today and for future generations.”

The Service received $250 million; nearly half will help restore federal wildlife refuges and state wildlife management areas “that have been affected by adverse weather events.” No other project received as much money — $27.5 million — as the Albemarle-Pamlico region. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will likely get $5 million of that amount for climate-fighting work at wildlife management areas across the coastal plain.

There’s really nothing new or radical about enlisting nature to solve nature’s problems. The Roosevelt administration, during the Dust Bowl, paid farmers to plant 220 million trees from Texas to North Dakota to reduce erosion, protect livestock, and create wildlife habitat. Oyster reefs have long been deployed off Florida. Sand is pumped on barrier islands across the Mississippi River Delta. The Service and partners also spent $38 million pumping sand, restoring marsh, and replumbing the hydrology at Delaware’s Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge which was decimated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Nature-based engineering contrasts the coastal hardening tactics — sea walls, jetties, bulkheads, rip-rap — of centuries past. Sea walls, for example, only protect shorelines for so long against rising seas. More vicious storms and hurricanes easily top them. And the walls may protect one section of coast while causing erosion along another section.

“Nature-based solutions are definitely the way to go because you’re designing something that takes into account the natural hydrology and actual landscape in the first place,” Wurster says. “The things you’re building will be more stable in the long run. You’re not fighting against nature. Plus, these strategies tend to be more resilient and less expensive in the long run.”

Buying time

Climate change’s past, present, and alarming future unspools along Mashoes Road on the Alligator River refuge’s north end. A somewhat healthy marsh on the right gives way to shrub, pine, and oak on the left. In the distance, the skeletal remains of once-prominent trees hug East Lake. Eventually, inexorably, the salt water will reach the forest and destroy it too.

“We see, year after year, the forest retreating and turn into this ghost forest,” says the refuge’s Toner, a biologist by training. “We’re trying to keep what we have here for as long as we can.”

Help’s on the way. Much of the $27.5 million will be spent restoring fragile coastal ecosystems via shoreline protection and peatland restoration. IRA money could plug drainage ditches and add dikes, tidal gates, or wooden risers to keep saltwater at bay while restoring the natural flow of water over the land. Culverts may be dug to let water flow beneath roads. Restoration, or preservation, of trees, shrubs, and wetlands could provide habitat for Red Wolves, black rails, and other migratory birds. Communities near and far will likely benefit from a reduction in wildfires and a sequestration of carbon.

Oyster reefs, for example, could be built, or expanded, at Cedar Island and Pea Island refuges. A canal might be dredged, and a pump station added, at Lake Mattamuskeet. A logging road could be removed at Roanoke River refuge to let water flow naturally again. The marsh sill at the Bell Island Pier could be expanded.

Work is set to begin in 2024. Baillie, with the nonprofit Coastal Federation, says there’s no time to waste.

“It would be really disingenuous to say, ‘Hey, these funds are going to take care of all of our problems and let people live the way they currently do forever,’” he says. “There are tough decisions to be made. But these funds can have a big impact helping people and natural communities adapt while buying some time to figure out what’s the best way forward.”

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With the help of 25 commercial fishermen and women, the North Carolina Coastal Federation has begun efforts to find and remove potentially harmful lost fishing gear.

Since 2014, the nonprofit organization has led the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project to remove lost crab pots from North Carolina sounds. Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating serious hazards to boaters, wildlife and other fishermen.

As part of the effort, commercial fishermen and women are hired to collect the pots during the annual closure of internal coastal waters to all crab, eel, fish, and shrimp pots Jan. 1-31 north of N.C. Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.

Sara Hallas, coastal education coordinator and project leader, said this work is crucial to ensuring we have a coast that’s free of marine debris.

“This project brings together unique partnerships for a common cause of clean waterways. Commercial fishers are true experts of the local waters, with all the time they spend out there. It’s an honor to team up with them on this project, to ensure its success,” she said.

The 2024 project, which began Monday, is taking place in select areas within Marine Patrol District 1, which covers the northeast region of the coast, and District 2, which covers the central coast.

The boat crews will remove debris from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for three to five days, when the weather is favorable.

Once the pots are collected, they are recycled to the best extent possible. Crab pots that are recovered from the Albemarle and Pamlico Sound region during the project will be available for the rightful property owners to reclaim after the cleanup is complete.

“I’m glad to be involved and do my part to keep the sounds clean, it’s important for the blue crab fishery and much more. Without clean waterways, there would be so much at risk,” said Chris Lamb, a long-time project participant from Belhaven.

In 2023, commercial watermen and women in partnership with the N.C. Marine Patrol removed 2,077 pots from select areas within all three Marine Patrol Districts.

Funded by the North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Grant Program, the project is intended to improve habitat, and water quality and support coastal economies.

This project is part of the Federation’s overall effort to ensure the North Carolina coast is free of marine debris. Establishing an annual paid program for marine debris removal, including crab pots, is a key objective of the N.C. Marine Debris Strategic Plan.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Tickets are selling quickly for the Hatteras Island Oyster Roast taking place in early February.

The event to benefit the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s oyster education and restoration programs is scheduled for from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, at Oden’s Dock in Hatteras Village.

Tickets are $50 and each is good for all-you-can-eat steamed oysters, one serving of clam chowder, cornbread and a nonalcoholic beverage. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase from Carolina Brewery during the roast.

Desserts will be available for purchase from the bake sale, and there will be live music and a silent auction with many unique, regional items. The silent auction is now open and new items will be added each week.

Organizers recommend purchasing tickets in advance because the event has sold out in past years. Attendees 16 years old and under can attend for free with a paying adult. 

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Todd Miller, founder and executive director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, announced Monday that he is stepping down and that the nonprofit organization’s board of directors had appointed Dr. Braxton Davis, director of the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, to step into the role early next year.

The Coastal Federation is a nonprofit with 16,000 supporters working for a healthier North Carolina coast. Miller founded the organization in 1982. He is a founding board member with Restore America’s Estuaries, and serves on the Board of Visitors for the University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment and as a board member on the Leadership Committee for the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership.

“With a mix of emotions, I find myself ready to set a new course in the remarkable voyage I’ve shared with the Federation since 1982. The time has come for me to pass the helm of this incredible organization to the next generation of leaders who will steer our mission to new horizons in the years ahead,” Miller said Monday in a message to staff, members and supporters.

The organization’s board approved the selection of Davis in a unanimous vote during a special meeting Dec. 4. The change in leadership is set for Feb. 1, but Miller stressed that he will continue to remain engaged in the Coastal Federation’s work, “and not going out to pasture.”

Miller is to serve as Davis’ senior adviser and as an “ambassador” for the Coastal Federation.

Miller said the transition will allow him to focus on the work he does best – championing the group’s causes and advancing its mission.

“I requested this change and wanted to do it while it was not a necessity or an unpredictable crisis situation — and we’ll be a stronger organization as a result,” Miller told Coastal Review.

‘Exceptionally well-qualified’

Miller described Davis as “exceptionally well-qualified to lead the Federation into a new era of innovation and impact. His extensive experience and unwavering commitment to coastal management, coupled with a proven track record at state and national levels, make him the ideal individual to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Davis, who has been Division of Coastal Management director since 2011, told Coastal Review last week that after 12 years with division, he was ready for the next phase of his career and excited about the opportunity to join the Coastal Federation.

He described how the Coastal Federation had been a longstanding partner with the state’s coastal program and that he had worked directly with many of the organization’s staff over the years.

“I’ve always been impressed with the expertise and energy they bring to their work, and their engagement with diverse stakeholders. The organization has grown significantly over the years and is leading a wide range of projects, so I look forward to transitioning into my new role in early 2024 and hope to hit the ground running in support of the great work they are doing,” Davis said.

Davis, whose hometown is Lynchburg, Virginia, earned a bachelor’s in environmental science from the University of Virginia, a master’s in biological sciences from Florida International University, and a doctorate in marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island. He has experience in coastal and marine research and policy analysis and was the lead principal investigator for a number of grant-funded coastal resources, management and policy research projects. He has provided congressional briefings and testimony on climate and coastal resilience issues.

Davis said that in his new role he plans to visit with folks across the North Carolina coast during the coming year to explore new partnership opportunities, including opportunities to build on the partnerships the Coastal Federation has had over the years with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the Division of Coastal Management.

Same issues, slightly different perspective

The transition from a state regulatory agency to a coastal advocacy organization is natural for Davis, he told Coastal Review.

“I’ve been doing this since the very beginning, since I was in graduate school, and a lot of it was policy, policy advocacy and research and then coastal management in South Carolina where I was focused on the nonregulatory side,” he said.

Davis said that after a dozen years at the division, “honestly, it just feels like a really good progression for me. I really feel like it’s going to be a fun, fresh start to look at the same issues in a slightly different way, work on them in a slightly different way.”

Davis said his background can help the Coastal Federation achieve its goals in restoration, land acquisition and other work, “and certainly there’s some advocacy as well in my background that will be helpful for that. I think because I understand where the challenges lie and what can work as cooperative solutions that people can buy into, I think that’s going to be helpful on that front.”

Davis said the best part of his state job has been the people that he works with every day — staff at the Division of Coastal Management, leaders at the Department of Environmental Quality, members of the Coastal Resources Commission — people who he described as positive, solution-oriented, and hardworking in their efforts to help people navigate federal and state rules, resolve conflicts and protect coastal resources. He said the “great team” at the division has earned a reputation for friendly and professional public service.

“It can be a tough job at times, but that’s because the issues and projects we work on are complex and important to our economy, environment, and culture. It has been a rewarding career and honestly a privilege to be a part of for all these years,” Davis said.

50 years of coastal management

The pending leadership changes at both the state agency and the nonprofit come as North Carolina’s Coastal Area Management Act, the law that created the Division of Coastal Management, turns 50.

“Most people know of CAMA through the regulatory or permitting program. As CAMA celebrates its 50th anniversary, as with any regulatory program, its achievements can be difficult to measure because you’re trying to understand what would have happened if the regulations were not in place. CAMA requires us to seek a balance between economic growth, development, environmental protection, conflicting uses, and the protection of cultural and social values,” Davis said.

He said the division issues about 3,000 permits each year, but its field representatives visit about 5,000 sites per year for project consultations.

“Every day, DCM field reps help resolve conflicts between neighbors, avoid obstructions to navigation, site development farther from eroding shorelines, and limit impacts to sensitive resources,” Davis said.

Davis said he had worked to foster a science-based, collaborative and solution-oriented approach to administering the state regulatory programs. This includes steps over the years to streamline permit reviews while maintaining environmental protections.

“A good example is the streamlining of permit applications for living shorelines for erosion-control projects by coordinating a general permit with other federal and state agencies,” he explained.

He also highlighted the new Resilient Coastal Communities Program, which provides direct financial and technical support to coastal communities for resilience planning and project implementation, as one that had grown from a few hundred thousand dollars to an approximately $15 million budget, including $10 million in the most recent state budget and a recently announced $3 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation.

“We’re continuing efforts to strengthen and integrate resilience planning into local comprehensive plans along the coast,” Davis said.

Davis also highlighted the expansion during his tenure of the state Coastal Reserve that totals more than 44,000 acres, including a recent acquisition at the Bird Island Coastal Reserve. He said other nonregulatory programs, such as the Public Beach and Shoreline Access Program and Clean Marinas Program, were also expanded.

He said North Carolina continues to be actively engaged with other coastal states and territories to develop fisheries management strategies. Davis has served as chair of a two interstate policy workgroups focused on ocean inlets, beaches and coastal erosion issues through the Coastal States Organization.

‘No wetlands, no seafood’

For almost two years while Division of Coastal Management director, Davis served simultaneously as state Division of Marine Fisheries director, where he said he also worked with the best available science to provide the Marine Fisheries Commission “with carefully considered recommendations, and I’m proud to have been a part of the DMF team.”

“No wetlands, no seafood” has long been a Coastal Federation slogan, and Davis agreed that fisheries are inseparable from coastal management. He said state legislators also agree.

“There are connections that have been drawn by the General Assembly with the Fisheries Reform Act and the creation of the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, where you have all three commissions, the (Environmental Management Commission, the Coastal Resources Commission and the Marine Fisheries Commission) working together because there are those intersections between fisheries and all the work of the Coastal Resources Commission and the EMC on water quality and habitat. And so they’re inseparable in that way,” Davis said.

In terms of dealing with a public that may be skeptical of both regulatory agencies and nonprofit environmental organizations, Davis said he’s confident that the challenges are not as big as may appear.

“Once people understand what you’re doing, then there’s a heck of a lot more buy-in than you realize,” Davis said. “People want to know that they’re doing things right and they’re doing it the right way. They want it to be understandable and clear and efficient. No one wants to impact resources.”

Davis said the regulatory side of coastal management is interesting because there are so many agencies with different interests involved, everything from submerged lands to the Army Corps of Engineers to navigation and other issues. The division is a “one-stop shop for most coastal projects,” Davis said, adding that this comprehensive review is efficient.

“I think there’s more buy-in to regulatory than one would think based on the individual cases where there are snags, or folks that just don’t want to be regulated at all, but I think those same people, if their neighbor were putting in something that was impacting their property along the shoreline, they might have a different feel about that,” said Davis.

He said understanding and experience are valuable when facing misperceptions about environmental nonprofits or state coastal regulation.

“It’s really about finding solutions that people can work with. I will say, you know, regulations alone are not the solution to comprehensive coastal management. They are at the state level, they are the minimum standard that can be applied coastwide, and every different situation that is acceptable from the regulated public and politically and as a compromise across a lot of different interests. Find that balance,” he said.

Those regulations are important to reducing the scope and scale of coastal impacts and in resolving conflicts, “but you still have to have partnerships to do things like land acquisition for sensitive areas, you just don’t use regulations as the only tool. So, I think people hopefully will, over time, understand that it takes all of these tools, all of these different types of organizations to sustain the coast of North Carolina to make it continue to be the fantastic place it is.”

Before joining the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, Davis was director of the Policy and Planning Division of the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. He praised Miller’s accomplishments and said he expects a smooth transition into his role with the Coastal Federation.

Davis said Miller had done an incredible job of bringing in and engaging with so many different types of people from different backgrounds and different areas but all with a similar mindset. “And I think that’s remarkable, and that is what’s been a big part of the success of the Coastal Federation.”

There’s also familiarity with and mutual respect among the organization’s staff.

“It’s fortunate for me that I already know most of the staff at the Coastal Federation and I have worked with them so, not only is that more comfortable for me, but hopefully for them in that they kind of know what I’m about. I think the world of them, and I think it’s going to be really fun working with them. And I’m ready,” Davis said.

Miller’s email message to Coastal Federation members and supporters Monday hearkened back to the organization’s beginnings. “My journey with the Federation began in the early 1980s when the organization was merely a seed of an idea. Through the collective efforts of tens of thousands of people who consistently contribute their ideas, time, and resources, that seed has grown into a thriving force for positive change along the North Carolina coast.”

Miller, in his announcement, also expressed enthusiasm for Davis’ coming arrival and the transition ahead. “These changes herald new ideas, talents, and energy that will ensure the Federation’s work remains at the forefront of coastal protection and restoration efforts nationwide. The North Carolina Coastal Federation is poised for continued success, thanks to the solid foundation laid by the board and staff, and their vision that will be carried forward by Dr. Davis.”

A countrywide independent charity evaluator has given the North Carolina Coastal Federation its highest four-star rating, awarding it an outstanding overall score of 100%.

The Coastal Federation, a nonprofit membership organization that works to protect and restore coastal habitats and water quality, has been designated by Charity Navigator as an official “Give with Confidence” charity, indicating that it uses donations effectively based on Charity Navigator’s criteria, the nonprofit announced this week.

Founded in 1982, the Coastal Federation works to restore oyster reefs, install living shorelines, protect water quality, clean up thousands of pounds of marine debris, and provide coastal education programs and has offices in Ocean, Wanchese and Wrightsville Beach. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

“With more than 40 years’ experience protecting and restoring the coast, we know the importance of being good stewards of both the environment and of our donor’s gifts,“ Federation Founder and Executive Director Todd Miller said in a statement. “Over the years, we have earned the trust of our supporters and partners, which has, in turn, helped ensure our continued success.”

Since 2001, Charity Navigator has given millions free access to data, tools and resources to guide philanthropic decision-making. 

Under the Charity Navigator’s more detailed rating system launched in 2022, the Coastal Federation scored 100% on accountability and finance for its outstanding financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness.

The organization also was awarded the top score of 100% to the organization for its commitment to its mission, vision, and goals, and a a score of 93% for its strong commitment to the community and diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, the organization said.

“We are delighted to provide the North Carolina Coastal Federation with third-party accreditation that validates their operational excellence,” said Michael Thatcher, President and CEO of Charity Navigator. “The Four-Star Rating is the highest possible rating an organization can achieve. We are eager to see the good work the Coastal Federation can accomplish in the years ahead.”

This is the Coastal Federation’s ninth consecutive year with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. The Federation also earned a 2023 Platinum Seal of Transparency on Candid, formerly Guidestar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information.

HOLLY RIDGE — The North Carolina Coastal Federation and the town are partnering to build a new dock at the Morris Landing Clean Water Preserve to provide community access and showcase improved and more resilient dock construction standards.

This past year, the Coastal Federation successfully lobbied the North Carolina General Assembly to reinstate building standards for residential docks and piers to ensure they do not break apart during storms. Following Hurricane Florence in 2018, half of all the docks and piers along the southeast and central coasts were damaged or destroyed resulting in widespread marine debris.

This year, the General Assembly adopted language that requires docks built in estuarine waters to comply with Chapter 36 of the state building code.

Coastal Advocate Kerri Allen, who led the charge for this new law on behalf of the Coastal Federation, explained that this move by the General Assembly will ensure that docks and piers are built to a stronger standard, which will advocates said will not only prevent future dock debris but benefit coastal property owners by reducing the amount of costly repairs.

“Through our marine debris removal program, we consistently saw that about 90% of the debris being removed was from residential docks. When you take into consideration the fact that our crews remove over 2,000 pounds of debris every day, that adds up,” Allen explained.

Holly Ridge Public Works Director Mike McFann shared his enthusiasm for the Morris Landing pier construction that is being funded by the North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License Grant Program.

“The Town of Holly Ridge is excited to be part of the Morris Landing Pier renovation. With the updated materials used in the reconstruction of the pier, the Coastal Federation and the Town of Holly Ridge are proud to display how piers and docks can be constructed to higher standards,” McFann said. “With these higher standards, there will be large savings on maintenance costs and increased durability. We are also excited for the sixty-foot ‘T’ that will be added to the end of the pier to give family and visitors more space to enjoy the coastal waters.”

The old wooden dock is currently being replaced using stronger materials, the footprint will also be updated to be more accessible, and the fishing pier area will be expanded to accommodate more use by the fishing community.

Morris Landing Clean Water Preserve is a 52-acre property that contains coastal shrub scrub and forest habitat, salt marsh, and tidal creek areas and has over 3,000 feet of shoreline along Stump Sound. The preserve is located in the heart of the very productive shellfish growing areas of Stump Sound and is an excellent site to stage oyster restoration and shellfish enhancement activities.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation is awarding a $250,000 grant to the North Carolina Coastal Federation to help improve coastal resilience in five communities.

Carteret Community College, SECU Foundation, State Employees’ Credit Union and Coastal Federation representatives will meet at 11 a.m. Friday at Carteret Community College’s Bryant Student Center in Room 3209 to kick off this new project.

Open to the public, the check presentation is hosted by Carteret Community College, where a living shoreline was recently completed in partnership with the Coastal Federation.

The $250,000 grant will enable the nonprofit membership organization to work within five coastal communities that will be selected next year to implement restoration projects with the goal to improve the health and resilience of both the local ecosystem and the built community, organizers explained.

“Over the past four decades, the Federation has helped dozens of local governments plan and implement projects that support the community and the ecosystem, ranging from salt marsh restoration, watershed plans, living shorelines, and more,” Coastal Federation Executive Director Todd Miller said in a statement. “These projects make our communities more resilient to storms and sea level rise and bring federal dollars to support coastal improvement projects. We’re grateful for the leadership support of the SECU Foundation in launching this new partnership.”

This partnership will focus on underserved communities in the state’s 20 coastal counties and will work closely with community leaders to prioritize local needs and implement one on-the-ground project in each community.

“This project is a wonderful opportunity to proactively support coastal communities by protecting and restoring our state’s coastal areas that are threatened by environmental and economic challenges,” SECU Foundation Executive Director Jama Campbell said in a statement. “This valuable and important work will help sustain community infrastructure and ensure future cultural and economic opportunities for residents, visitors, and our state.”

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

Construction of a long-planned project to save Sugarloaf Island, the rapidly eroding, uninhabited barrier island across from the Morehead City waterfront, is officially underway. 

Morehead City Mayor Jerry Jones welcomed the handful of reporters, elected officials and partner representatives gathered Wednesday at Big Rock Landing on Shepard Street, facing the island that’s just south of the federal Harbor Channel, to celebrate the start of the project.

The gathering was also held to thank Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, who also represents Carteret County, and Rep. Celeste C. Cairns, R-Carteret and Craven counties, both present at the media event, and former Rep. Pat McElraft of Emerald Isle for supporting the effort. 

The shoreline protection project has been appropriated a total of $6.6 million – $2 million in 2022 and $4.6 million in 2023 — to restore the island by using a hybrid approach of offshore wave attenuation breakwaters, expanding seagrass meadows, and building living shorelines.

Sanderson said Morehead City is a destination for many people in the state, across the Southeast and farther. He lauded local leadership for making the project happen, “because this is vital. It’s vital again for the citizens, for our tourists. It’s vital for the next generation. It’s vital for all of the people who want to come to Morehead City and enjoy what we get to enjoy every single day.”

Cairns added that when she was approached about the project, she was excited and thought “we can do this.” 

Jones said that when someone asked him a few minutes prior why they were there, “I said we’re here to celebrate. We have a celebration of protecting our future while preserving our past.”

For the last two years, Florida-based aquatic restoration company Sea & Shoreline, the nonprofit North Carolina Coastal Federation, engineering firm Quible & Associates, aquaculture firm Sandbar Oyster Co., and East Carolina University have been studying, designing, planning, and permitting the project, officials announced.

“Currently, the seaward shoreline of the Island is eroding, leaving uprooted trees and vegetation behind. In addition, wave exposure and swift currents are sweeping nutrient-rich sediment into the water column. The eroded sediments now released into the water are degrading water quality and visitor experiences to the Island,” officials continued. “Protecting the Island with an offshore wavebreak will mitigate shoreline and coastal habitat erosion, enhance coastal resilience, create seagrass habitat and increased fishing opportunities, improve water quality, enhance ecotourism by increasing the beach line, sequester carbon, and enhance shorebird nesting.”

Jones recalled Wednesday that the city had purchased Sugarloaf Island 20 years ago to prevent its development. 

“We had heard that a developer was coming. They wanted to build high-rises and boat marinas on the island, and we felt like the better use would be a public park,” Jones said. 

The city used grants, donations and tax dollars to purchase and conserve the island. 

“Today we’re here to preserve Sugarloaf Island for future generations,” he said, and to make sure that the Morehead City waterfront is protected. 

Brian Rubino, vice president of the engineering firm Quible & Associates in Currituck County, said that although Sugarloaf Island is a small barrier island — it’s only about 36 acres right now — it protects downtown Morehead City’s infrastructure, roads, homes and businesses. 

The island also is host to a number of different marine and coastal environments, such as sand flats, sandspits, low dunes, maritime forest and peat marsh, all of which is getting eroded at dramatic rates. 

“The erosion rates of the island vary, depending on where you are, but it’s anywhere from 5 to 15 feet per year and it’s not uncommon to lose up to 10 feet overnight in a big storm,” Rubino said. He added that sea level rise and large storms coupled with very strong currents creates a lot of erosion, leading to sediment washing away and going into the federal boat channel between downtown waterfront and the island.

The project, Rubino continued, is to protect what’s left and hopefully grow the island to create and expand shallow water habitats for fish and wildlife. 

Brian Henry, director of the Sea & Shoreline’s North Carolina and South Carolina offices, said state elected officials “saw the vision” to restore the small barrier island. 

Henry told attendees to expect Carteret County-based Sandbar Oyster Co. to be deploying soon its oyster tables on the east end of the island. Made of biodegradable hardscape formed in the shape of a table, these are designed to provide a surface for oysters to attach and grow and create an intertidal oyster reef and salt marsh habitat.

Henry continued that Sea & Shoreline has a construction area nearby where 400 of the 1,200 wave attenuation devices for the project have been built. The devices will be deployed from the west side of the island all the way around and leave room for boats to get through.

The concrete triangular structures are 7-foot-tall. The base measures 9 feet on each side. There are six triangular windows on each side, and a small opening on the top, officials said.

“These are the first wave attenuators that have been deployed in this area,” he said, adding they’re very excited to bring these here. 

The devices, which are supposed to withstand hurricane-force winds, are to be placed offshore to diffuse wave energy, help re-form the shoreline via sand accretion, support seagrass growth to enhance water quality, and create essential fish habitat, officials said. 

Henry added that the company plans to begin deploying the devices in January and complete work in June. 

Jones closed the press conference saying that the community was built on legacies.

“We would not be standing here today if it wasn’t for the people that came before us. The leadership that came before us. The generations that recognize the beauty that we have here to Morehead City,” he said. “We are protecting our legacies, we’re protecting the future of Morehead City for future generations because we don’t inherit the Earth, we borrow the Earth from our children. And we have a responsibility to protect that for our children for the future and our future generations.”

After the press conference, Sanderson told Coastal Review that the project could serve as a model for other communities looking to preserve their at-risk public lands.

“If they don’t, then they’re missing a great opportunity to preserve what God has given us here and be stewards. We’re supposed to be stewards,” he said, adding that it’s a challenge throughout the year. “We’re always fighting Mother Nature.”

Cairns added that one of the good things about this project is that everyone is on the same page, whether it’s the businesses, community, environmental groups and the city. 

“Everybody seems to benefit and I think when people are able to work together, then the project becomes much easier to come to fruition,” she said. “Success begets success. So if this project turns out as well as we expect and hope, then other towns will look at it as a model.” 

Coastal Federation Living Shoreline Program Director Dr. Lexia Weaver told Coastal Review that the nonprofit organization is eager to begin construction and that it will not only stabilize the shoreline of Sugarloaf Island and protect downtown Morehead City, but also restore valuable salt marsh and oyster habitats that have been lost through time. 

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review. 

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is asking commercial watermen and women to help in January to find and collect lost fishing gear in sounds along the northern and central coasts.

With the help of various partners, those in the commercial fishing industry are hired to collect the pots from the sounds during the annual closure Jan. 1-31 of internal coastal waters to all crab, eel, fish, and shrimp pots.

The nonprofit organization has led the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project since 2014 with the goal to remove lost crab pots and other fishing gear that can create serious hazards to boaters, wildlife and other fishers.

The 2024 project will take place in select areas within Marine Patrol District 1, or the northern coastal region, and District 2, which covers the central coastal region. Both are north of the Highway 58 bridge that connects Cape Carteret and Emerald Isle.

Applications can be submitted through the organization’s website until Dec. 15. To be considered, captains must have a valid North Carolina standard commercial fishing license.

Once the pots are collected, they are recycled to the best extent possible. The crab pots recovered from the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound region during the project will be available for the rightful property owners to reclaim after the cleanup is complete.

In 2023, commercial watermen and women in partnership with the North Carolina Marine Patrol removed 2,122 pots from select areas along the coast.

Sara Hallas, Coastal Federation coastal education coordinator and project leader, said in a statement that she is most grateful for the community partnerships that enable this program to continue to clean up the waterways and create opportunities for work during the winter.

“I admire how this project brings so many different groups together to clean up the sounds and waterways for everyone’s benefit. I’m thankful we have funding to continue this project as it focuses on a specific category of debris. We’re able to rely on the expertise of the working watermen and have proven successful year after year,” she said.

The North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Grant Program funds the program intended to improve habitat and water quality and support coastal economies.

This project is part of the Coastal Federation’s overall effort to ensure the North Carolina coast is free of marine debris, and a key objective in the N.C. Marine Debris Strategic Plan. Through field surveys, marine debris cleanup crews reported over 85% of the debris removed from North Carolina’s estuaries between 2019-2022 is the result of damaged and/or lost docks, piers, boat houses, and similar structures, organizers said.

Visit the website more information on the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project.

The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

News from our publisher

“Stories From the Coast” is a video series produced by the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s communications team, which operates independently from the Coastal Review editorial staff.

Every year in October, the state celebrates North Carolina Oyster Month. The oyster industry in North Carolina has been steadily growing in recent years to make the industry worth $100 million by 2030. To help reach that goal, local oyster growers are trying new ways to expand their farms.

Oysters are a fundamental species in estuaries, providing significant benefits to the ecosystem.

“Oysters are great for everybody, they are great for the economy, they are great for water quality and habitat, and they are great for the palate. So, the more, the better,” says Ana Živanović-Nenadović, chief program director with the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

It was with that idea that the North Carolina Coastal Federation and partner groups came together to devise a plan to expand the oyster industry.

“This plan set a very ambitious goal for the state to grow the market value of its shellfish mariculture to $100 million by 2030.”

To reach that lofty goal within the next seven years, it takes oyster growers like Katherine McGlade of Slash Creek Oysters. But growing oysters is a labor-intensive process, which McGlade says means it can be tough to expand your business.

“I was at a very frustrating point I had a lot of demand, and I worked hard to develop a good network of customers that wanted more oysters, but I was having difficulty scaling up,” says McGlade.

Now McGlade is testing out a new system called FlipFarm, which she hopes will help her keep up with that demand.

“It seemed like it solved so many of the issues I was having on my farm.”

The FlipFarm is designed to not let the oyster cages get tangled up or flipped over by the wind, which can happen with traditional cages, and McGlade says this system takes away some of the more strenuous work involved with oyster farming.

“With the attachments for filling and emptying, the oysters come up out of the water in the baskets and then it comes to waist high, you never have to lift them, you never have to bend down to put them in the water, everything happens where your body is in a good strong neutral position.”

While she is just using this equipment on part of her farm, McGlade says she’s excited at how well it’s working and what this could mean for growing her business.

“I think it could make a huge difference in terms of the small farmer producing more oysters with less labor ’cause that’s the name of the game.”

Oyster farmers in another region of the state will also be getting a helping hand soon in the form of a facility that could provide growth opportunities as well.

“A shellfish aquaculture hub, this hub is a facility that once built will provide the growers with critical logistical infrastructure like state-of-the-art refrigeration and storage room for the product, a place to work, a place to store their gear, and equally important a place to work together and collaborate.”

NEWPORT — The North Carolina Coastal Federation, publisher of Coastal Review, recently received $1.53 million from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund to support several efforts, including the nonprofit organization’s living shoreline cost-share program and large-scale wetland restoration in Carteret County.

The Coastal Federation promotes living shorelines as an environmentally friendly method to stabilize eroding shorelines in lieu of installing a bulkhead or seawall. Living shorelines have been used for more than 20 years and have withstood storm and hurricane impacts, officials said. Living shorelines also provide critical habitat for a number of species of crab, shrimp and fish.

“The Coastal Federation is so thankful for the support from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund to continue our living shoreline cost-share program. We are seeing habitat loss of vital wetlands along the coast due to the hardening of our shorelines as well as higher erosion rates due to climate change,” Coastal Resiliency Manager Sarah Bodin explained. “The program offers cost-share funding to offset the cost of constructing a living shoreline and marsh restoration while educating the public on nature-based solutions that will protect their properties and enhance those important ecosystems.
The Federation has worked with contractors to install over 8,835 feet of living shorelines on over 55 projects in 2023 alone.”

Those interested in learning more about living shorelines and if it could benefit their property can contact the Coastal Federation at livingshorelines@nccoast.org.

The funding received from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund will also support the Coastal Federation’s wetland restoration efforts through the purchase of nearly 800 acres adjacent to the North River Wetlands Preserve in Carteret County. The parcel sits at the headwaters of North River and is currently a ditched timber tract. This project is in partnership with the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail to provide a through-hike experience for hikers away from major highways.

Since its creation in 1996 by the General Assembly, the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, formerly known as the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, has conserved more than a half-million acres and protected or restored 3,000 miles of streams and rivers.  

Coastal Federation Water Quality Director Bree Charron said restoring this area of land will help further improve the water quality of the North River, which has been degraded for some time. “The Federation is excited to expand the Preserve to further our mission to improve water quality in North River. Restoration of wetlands on the site will retain surface water and reestablish native habitats. It is also a prime opportunity to preserve a valuable salt marsh migration corridor,” explained Charron.

Learn more about the North River Wetlands Preserve,