Republished from the Island Free Press

Less than 12 hours after an oceanfront house collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean in Buxton, dozens of National Park Service employees, local residents, visitors, fishermen, and members of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association (NCBBA) joined forces Wednesday to clear debris from the shoreline stretching from Cape Point to the Buxton groins.

The cleanup effort followed the Tuesday night collapse of an unoccupied house at 46000 Ocean Drive, which fell into the ocean at approximately 10:30 p.m., scattering debris along miles of shoreline and prompting Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) to temporarily close beach access from the north end of Buxton through the lifeguarded beach while officials assessed public safety hazards.

NCBBA Vice President Dan Rothermel began organizing cleanup efforts before sunrise Wednesday in coordination with CHNS Superintendent David Hallac.

Rothermel was on the beach at Cape Point shortly after 5 a.m., where anglers who were already fishing immediately began helping remove debris.

“The fishermen who were out there cleaned up around their areas and gathered debris into piles for us,” Rothermel said. “It was really helpful and was so great to see everybody pitching in.”

As the morning progressed, additional NCBBA members and volunteers arrived, and the cleanup operation expanded northward toward the southernmost Buxton groin.

By midday, several dozen volunteers were working along the beach, collecting lumber, insulation, siding, household materials, and other debris from the collapsed structure. The shoreline from the groins to Cape Point was effectively cleared within hours.

According to CHNS, 25 National Park Service employees worked for several hours alongside approximately 20 members of the NCBBA and local anglers, bringing the total cleanup workforce to roughly 45 people. Using heavy equipment and multiple dumpsters provided by Dare County, crews removed large quantities of debris from the beach and adjacent areas.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the seashore thanked its volunteer partners, including the NCBBA and the Buxton Civic Association, for helping coordinate and carry out the cleanup effort. Park officials also expressed appreciation to Dare County for supplying and transporting the dumpsters that made the large-scale debris removal possible.

The most recent collapse marked the latest in a series of erosion-related home losses along the oceanfront.

With Tuesday night’s collapse, 21 oceanfront homes have now fallen on Hatteras Island since September 2025, including 20 in Buxton and one in Rodanthe. Since 2020, a total of 32 oceanfront homes have collapsed along Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches.

The house that collapsed Tuesday had been identified as a threatened structure, and Dare County had been attempting to purchase the property from the owner in hopes of demolishing it before the upcoming Buxton beach nourishment project or before it collapsed into the ocean.

Following the collapse, CHNS issued a warning urging visitors to stay off the beach and out of the water from Buxton Village south to Cape Point because of hazardous debris scattered along the shoreline.

Cleanup operations are expected to continue in the coming days as crews work to remove smaller debris that remains in the area. Park officials said they are working to reopen affected beach areas as soon as conditions allow.

The Buxton Civic Association has announced an additional community cleanup effort for Thursday, June 4, at 9 a.m. at Cape Court. Volunteers will help bag smaller debris and move larger materials into piles for later disposal. Participants are encouraged to bring work gloves and wear closed-toe shoes.

This story is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review partners with Island Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast.

Applications are being accepted for local advisory committees of North Carolina’s 10 coastal reserves.

Sitting members of these committees include residents and representatives from community organizations, government agencies and nongovernmental partner organizations who provide guidance and feedback regarding program activities and management of the sites, which are overseen by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Advisory committees “promote effective communication between the Reserve and the local community and represent a variety of perspectives from communities around the reserve sites,” according to a division release. Those sites include Bird Island Reserve, Bald Head Woods Reserve, Zeke’s Island Reserve, Masonboro Island Reserve, Permuda Island Reserve, Rachel Carson Reserve, Buxton Woods Reserve, Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve, Currituck Banks Reserve and Emily and Preyer Buckridge Reserve. 

Members of each of the committees are comprised of those with “knowledge and experience representing relevant topical areas according to the needs and uses at each site,” including education, research, commercial and recreational uses, traditional uses like hunting and fishing, neighboring property ownership, volunteering and nonprofit community organization or interest group.

Members of the community who have an interest in serving as a committee member and who have knowledge and experience in one or more of the topical areas related to a site are encouraged to apply.

The Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality will appoint committee members following the application period. Those selected will begin serving in 2027.

Committee members serve five-year terms.

Applications are available online. The application period closes June 30.

For more information about the role, responsibilities and functioning of the local advisory committees visit the Local Advisory Committee Operating Procedures on the reserve’s website.   

In 1973, three young children were racing up the sand dunes of Jockey’s Ridge in Nags Head when they heard the squeaky treads of a bulldozer as it leveled the sides of the slopes. Stunned, they raced home, tearfully sounding the alarm to their mother, Carolista Baum.

Ms. Baum rushed over to the dunes and defiantly stepped in front of the bulldozer, stopping the destruction of this iconic geographical monument. For good measure, she later returned to remove the distributor cap to disable the mechanical beast.

With the town starting to trend as a tourist destination, real estate was booming. This enormous pile of sand was coveted, a target in the crosshairs of ambitious developers. With her bold act of protest, Ms. Baum threw a monkey wrench into the development plans of Jockeys Ridge, protecting a unique coastal landmark. In a short time, Jockey’s Ridge would soon become a state park, setting in motion the life work of one George Grantham Barnes, who died April 23. He was 73.

A geologic wonder, the grains of sand that form the Jockey’s Ridge dune system began piling up thousands of years ago. Ancient quartz sands from the Appalachian Mountains flowed down into the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricanes and storms eventually washed the sand up and onto the beaches. Their howling winds pushed the sand inland, creating monstrous dunes along a section of the North Carolina coast now known as the Outer Banks.

On Jockey’s Ridge, the salty winds blow life into the dunes, constantly reshaping the sand, creating a dynamic living system. These dunes have micro ecosystems of dune grasses, maritime shrub thickets, maritime forest, ephemeral ponds and an estuarine shoreline along the Roanoke Sound. It’s a place so unique that it was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1974.

A native of Lumberton, George Barnes attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Not long after college, in the late 1970s, he first donned the green and gray uniform of a fledgling park ranger at Goose Creek State Park near Bath. Under the moss-laden live oaks that lined the quiet north shore of the Pamlico river, George settled in to the life of a park ranger.

Just east of Goose Creek, at Nags Head, the juggernaut of Ms. Baum and the nonprofit, People to Preserve Jockey’s Ridge, were successful with their “Save Our Sand Dune” initiative. Working with the N.C. Division of State Parks, the emergence of a new state park was now a reality. Truly a grassroots effort led by the residents of Nags Head. Their advocacy work, raising funds and lobbying politicians, was rewarded in 1975 when the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated funds to establish the park.

Private donations, federal funds and The Nature Conservancy also helped bankroll the purchase of the initial acreage.

During its inception, the first park ranger to patrol the dunes was Phyllis Goodwin. Her time at the ridge was brief, and by 1980, Ranger Barnes was selected by the superintendent of state parks to be the ranger in charge. At first, he commuted from Goose Creek, returning home each day. A real lone ranger, he was the only staff member at the park.

Starting from scratch, George was handed the metaphorical keys to a brand-new park. Given the opportunity of a lifetime, he was now the steward of a natural and cultural landmark so beloved that folks demanded its preservation — a daunting task that must have seemed overwhelming.

In the early days, when the dark summer thunderheads rolled in, he was lucky to have a fickle pickup truck to take shelter in. Ms. Baum checked in frequently to catch up on park operations and to let him know that he was not alone and that the community was there to help.

Carolista Baum’s feisty tenacious nature was buffered by George’s cool, laid-back style. They developed a mutual admiration for each other build on respect and their shared interest in making Jockey’s Ridge the best park it could be.

Ann-Cabell Baum and her siblings were the children who tattled on the bulldozer operator to their mom, Carolista. She remembers, as a child, riding over to the park with her mom on her visits to see George. Over time, she recalls, “he became one of the family, eating many meals with us outside under the shade of the porch.”

On occasion, George and Carolista clashed over their views on issues concerning the park. Recalling her mother, Ann-Cabell said, “She held his feet to the fire.” But despite any disagreement, “she always had his back.”

In 1981, George received some much-needed help when he hired Fran Crutchfield as an additional ranger for the park. She remembers the green, bare-bones, state-contract Chevy pickup truck with a “three on the tree” transmission. They shared the cramped truck cab as the park’s first unofficial office, along with a tiny windowless shed that housed a rotary-dial phone, manual typewriter and a makeshift assortment of tools.

Weekly staff meetings were held, just the two of them, at a local restaurant that served as their conference room. Fran remembers, “We would catch up on things, problems, concerns, and goings-on at the park, over lunch at Sam & Omie’s (Restaurant in Nags Head).”

For many years, the only incoming calls on the shed phone were from N.C. State Parks District Superintendent Cliff Phillips. As George’s longtime supervisor, Mr. Phillips told me that Ranger Barnes faced unique challenges not found at other parks.

With the sand dune ridge now a park, many past activities there conflicted with the philosophy, values and regulations of a state park. It was Ranger Barnes’ duty to curtail those uses.

He also had the unenviable task of enforcing new opening and closing hours in an area that once had 24-7 access. Both changes were unpopular. When neighbors complained, George and Fran had to even shovel windblown sand from private property back onto to park property. Try as he might, George was unable to control the wind.

With the park falling completely within the town limits of Nags Head, it was understood that the performance of the new park staff would be highly scrutinized. At times, George was feeling the heat as if in a pressure cooker. His calm and good-natured demeanor was often taken to task. This iconic dune was important to the Outer Banks beach community. Individual special interests were not shy about expressing their thoughts on how the park should be managed. He tangled with commercial, recreational and civic concerns. At times, he felt political pressures as well.

Undaunted, Barnes seemed as comfortable in the presence of state senators and representatives as he did with his fellow surfers as they sat in the lineup waiting for the swells to roll in. His decisions were made in the best interests of the park to maintain the integrity and dignity of the resource. He operated from a legal mandate straight from the North Carolina Constitution to “… preserve as a part of the common heritage of this State its forests, wetlands, estuaries, beaches, historical sites, openlands, and places of beauty.” During these times, Ann-Cabell Baum said, “He never wavered. It must have been tough for him.”

Mr. Phillips also remembered, “He rolled with the punches,” of which there were many.

George set about developing a park to address visitor interests while keeping intact the core park values of stewardship, conservation, recreation, education and safety. His easygoing demeanor, along with his trademark dark sunglasses, often hid the drive he had for his work. Slowly, the infrastructure commonly associated with a park began to grow: parking lots, restrooms, a staff office and maintenance shop, boardwalks, picnic shelters, a visitor/interpretive center, hiking trails and a recreational concession center.

Under his leadership, the staff grew. Rangers trained in environmental education, resource management, emergency medical, and law enforcement now patrol the park to service the growing visitation.

He also initiated coastal resiliency projects with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, including a living shoreline project along the Roanoke Sound boundary. Working with Southern Shores resident Peggy Birkemeier, a junior ranger program was established along with the Friends of Jockey’s Ridge, a nonprofit group supporting the park since 1990.

But George knew he didn’t accomplish all this on his own. He was quick to credit his supervisors, excellent rangers and the community that supported his vision of what the park could be. Throughout it all, Mr. Phillips said, “George Barnes led the way. He was loyal to the preservation of this park and was a dedicated person who can be given credit for his leadership in all areas of operations for Jockey’s Ridge.”

John Fullwood, who worked with Superintendent Barnes as a ranger at the park for 15 years, remembers George’s passion for his job.

“George had a big heart,” Fullwood said in a recent phone conversation. “If he loved something he gave 100 percent, and he loved Jockey’s Ridge.”

Over the years, George mentored hundreds of seasonal employees that wanted to work at this alluring state park. Many of these employees went on to work in careers involving management, protection and education fields related to environmental and natural resources. On such employee was Ben Wunderly, who worked at Jockey’s Ridge in the mid 1990s.

“His mentoring instilled in me an appreciation for the state park system and a deeper understanding of the connection one can have with a place, like the large sand dunes of Nags Head, or any natural area for that matter,” Ben said.

Ben has also gone on to have a long career, including as a park ranger. He is currently the central sites manager with the N.C. Coastal Reserves and National Estuarine Research Reserves.

As the tallest sand dune on the East Coast, its golden sands glow like a beacon on the horizon. For years, the ridge guided early sailors as they sought passage through the hazardous waters of the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Visible from the U.S. Highway 64 Virginia Dare Bridge, the dunes now flash like a neon sign guiding visitors to a natural oasis within a sea of rental cottages, hotels, restaurants, gift shops, outlet malls and miniature golf.

Here, visitors can learn about the park’s geology, weather, plants, wildlife, habitats and cultural history. Children — and adults — still race up to the top of the 80- to 100-foot-tall dune much like thousands before them. From the top, one can see far out to sea, catch the flicker of the Bodie Island Lighthouse and watch the endless swells as they race to the beach. In the evening, under the golden warmth of the setting sun, time seems stop, if only for a second. Over a million visitors a year are now drawn to the lumpy dunes of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, arguably the premier attraction for visitors to the Outer Banks.

After 32 years at the helm, George retired from Jockeys Ridge in 2009. He continued to keep his ear to the ground with his hand on the pulse of the park. Now, as a park watchdog, he continued to speak out on park issues that concerned him, as well as serving on the board of directors of the nonprofit Friends of Jockey’s Ridge.

Jockey’s Ridge had become part of his identity; it was who he was.

In retirement, he could often be found not far from the ridge, sitting on the beach at the end of Conch Street. In the good company of his family and dogs, he would be reading a novel, soaking in the beach life that he treasured so much. Wearing his Wayfarer sunglasses, with the wind in his hair and the sun on his face, George was in his nirvana.

George loved the Outer Banks. He didn’t need to go anywhere else, as he was already where he wanted to be.

In late April, George passed away after a long illness. Even though his footprints on the sandy slopes of Jockey’s Ridge have long since been erased, he is well remembered.

“The visitors that hike and play on the sands of Jockey’s Ridge may never know that this special place is intact due in large part to the hard work, long hours and dedication of this good man,” said District Park Superintendent Scott Daughtry, now retired, upon learning about Superintendent Barnes’ passing. “Thank you, old friend, for helping make the joy of the ridge part of the lives of uncounted people that you never knew.”

George’s good friend and Fort Macon State Park Superintendent Jody Merritt, also now retired, told me, “George had three main loves in his life: his family, the beach and state parks. These three things were all that George needed.”

Mr. Merritt added that the wind will always reshape the sands, “but the impression George left on the ridge is permanent. He spent his life guarding the shifting sands. His legacy is written upon the hearts and lives of those he served and the land he protected”.

We are all benefactors of the gift of his legacy. A legacy that the Outer Banks community, the Division of State Parks, the State of North Carolina and George Grantham Barnes can be proud of for generations to come.

Celebrations of George Barnes’ life are set for 2 p.m. May 30 at First Presbyterian Church in Lumberton, and 2 p.m. June 20 at Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head.

A crew on Monday began removing a storm-battered, dilapidated waterfront boardwalk near Jacksonville’s Northeast Creek Park boat launch area.

The removal marks the first step in a series of park improvements and additions, including a new boardwalk, fishing pier that will be built out into Northeast Creek and parallel to the shore, and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant kayak launch.

The Northeast Creek Park restoration project also entails construction of a new living shoreline and wetlands restoration.

Work to rebuild and expand the site is expected to begin in later winter into the spring of 2027, according to a city release.

“We are excited to be able to get this project underway,” Jacksonville Stormwater Manager Pat Donovan-Brandenburg stated in the release. “Having a safe boardwalk and pier as well as adding a kayak launch for public is important to improving quality of life here in Jacksonville. Equally important, is addressing the erosion we see along our waterways due to storms and water rise. Expanding on the wetlands and installing a living shoreline will work to preserve this.”

The project has been funded through a multi-year, $16 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant the city was awarded in October 2024. Funds from that grant are also being used to expand the city’s Oyster Highway project, Scales Creek flood mitigation and watershed restoration, and shoreline and wetland restoration for Phillips Park and Chaney Creek.

These projects will be headed by the city’s stormwater and engineering divisions.

The North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve are holding a series of local advisory committee meetings during May and June.

Residents and representatives from community organizations, government agencies and nongovernmental partner organizations that sit on the local advisory committees provide staff with the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve guidance and feedback regarding program activities and management of the state’s 10 reserve sites.

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a partnership program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and coastal states that protects and studies estuarine systems.

The North Carolina Coastal Reserve is a program of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, a division of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, and is the state partner with NOAA.

The Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve this year are opening the application process to identify potential members for each of the reserves. Those sites include: Bird Island Reserve, Bald Head Woods Reserve, Zeke’s Island Reserve, Masonboro Island Reserve, Permuda Island Reserve, Rachel Carson Reserve, Buxton Woods Reserve, Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve, Currituck Banks Reserve and Emily and Preyer Buckridge Reserve.

Applications will be accepted June 1-June 30.

Applicants are encouraged to attend the local advisory committee meeting of their interest this spring.

The meetings are open to the public and will be held as follows: 

• Zeke’s Island Reserve. May 11 at 10 a.m. at the UNCW Center for Marine Science, 5600 Marvin K Moss Lane, Wilmington.
• Masonboro Island Reserve. May 12 at 1 p.m. at the UNCW Center for Marine Science.
• Permuda Island Reserve. May 13 at 10 a.m. at the Onslow County Library, Sneads Ferry Branch, 1330 N.C. Highway 210, Sneads Ferry.
• Rachel Carson Reserve. May 19 at 3 p.m. at the NOAA Administration building, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort.
• Currituck Banks Reserve. June 15 at 1 p.m. at the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, Currituck Heritage Park, 1160 Village Lane, Corolla.

Paddle back in time and experience the historically rich area along Moores Creek, a slow-moving blackwater situated along an 88-acre national park that commemorates the Revolutionary War.

Cape Fear River Watch and Moores Creek National Battlefield invite participants to join in a roughly 2.5-mile, out-and-back paddle on May 16 in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

The trip will offer an experience of the creek as it was in 1776, beginning at the battlefield, passing under a historic bridge, and then into untouched cypress swamps.

Moores Creek flows into the Black River, a major tributary of the Cape Fear River.

The paddle will be followed by lunch (bring your own) in the park where, afterward, a park ranger will take participants on an exclusive history tour.

Moores Creek National Battlefield commemorates the Feb. 27, 1776 battle between Patriots and Loyalist militia. The national park in Pender County is where the Patriots won their first major victory.

Those interested in the paddle may register online.

Cape Fear River Watch has a limited number of boats (single kayaks) available and asks for a donation of $25 per boat, including personal flotation device and paddle. If you prefer to use one of the organization’s kayaks, indicate that when you register.

Anyone who prefers to paddle in a tandem kayak may make that request to Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette prior to registering for the paddle at kemp@cfrw.us.

Paddlers who bring their own kayaks are asked to contribute a $10 donation either online when registering or by cash or check the day of the paddle. Donations help cover the costs of Cape Fear River Watch programs, including its paddle series, water quality monitoring, and educational seminars.

Participants should meet at the Moores Creek National Battlefield Patriots Hall parking lot no later than 8:30 a.m.

Paddlers are encouraged to bring snack and lunch, sunscreen, bug spray, sunglasses, hat, and water shoes.

Those who register should check their email the night before and the morning of the paddle to make sure the event has not been canceled.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management is now accepting reservations for a series of free-of-charge public field trips this summer to the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort.

Beginning in June, two types of field trips will be offered on the Reserve, including nature hikes, which will occur during low tides when the most land on the island is exposed.

Participants of these hikes must wear close-toed shoes to protect their feet from the abundance of oysters, specifically their sharp-edged shells. Make sure your footwear is suitable for wet, muddy conditions. And, if you desire to wade in the water on the hike if given that opportunity, dress accordingly.

For those who prefer a little drier ground, the division is also hosting boardwalk trips, which will take you down Taylor’s Creek to the boardwalk on Carrot Island. Close-toed shoes are required for these trips as well.

Field trips have been scheduled as follows:

• June 16 — Boardwalk trip.
• June 23 — Nature hike trip.
• June 30 — Boardwalk trip.
• July 7 — Nature hike trip.
• July 16 — Boardwalk trip.
• July 23 — Nature hike trip.
• July 30 — Boardwalk trip.
• Aug. 6 — Nature hike trip.
• Aug. 13 — Boardwalk trip.
• Aug. 18 — Nature hike trip.

Boats will depart from Pivers Island in Beaufort.

Participants must be at least 4 years old and all are encouraged to bring sunglasses, hats, binoculars, water, and sunscreen.

For additional information or help making an online reservation call 252-515-5426. If you leave a voicemail, expect a return call within 24 hours.

To join a waitlist if a trip is full, you may call the number above or email staff at lori.c.davis@deq.nc.gov.

While these field trips are free, donations are accepted for the nonprofit organization Friends of the Reserve  by PayPal.

Featured Image

Two cottonmouths, aka water moccasins and known scientifically as Agkistrodon piscivorus, came face to face while foraging Sunday at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s 6,000-acre North River Wetlands Preserve, with one rising up and the other backing down. One of six venomous snakes in North Carolina, the cottonmouth is the most aquatic, preferring wetter habitats. It’s a pit viper, having a pit on its face that senses heat. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission offers tips on how to coexist with snakes. Photo: Doug Waters

Help shape the future of Wilmington’s newest public park.

The city is hosting a public engagement from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on May 2 to gather community input on the park’s design, amenities, and overall vision.

Those who attend the engagement at the MLK Center at 401 S. Eighth St. will have the opportunity to share their ideas directly with project partners and design teams.

Family-friendly activities, games, and food trucks will be available to attendees of the vent 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Design teams at 1 p.m. will provide a brief recap of key themes and feedback shared during the event.

Last March, the city, with funding support from The Endowment and New Hanover County, purchased 25 undeveloped acres off Greenville Loop Road to undertake a project that aligns with Wilmington’s Comprehensive Parks, Recreation + Open Space Master Plan.

The city aims to open the site for public use in five years.

On May 2, the city is launching a digital survey as a way to encourage broader community participation.

Featured Image

A brightly hued eastern bluebird peeks out from a knothole in a tree at the Dare County Arboretum and Teaching Garden in Kill Devil Hills. Male bluebirds tend to draw attention to themselves at their nest cavities in this way to lure potential mates, according to Cornell Lab. Dare County Extension Master Gardener volunteers maintain the arboretum garden at 300 Mustian St. Photo: Kip Tabb

Part of an ongoing series on North Carolina’s observance of America’s 250th.

As the United States recognizes the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776, Dare County is celebrating its unique role in American history Saturday with “Liberty, Legacy, and Lift Off in the Land of Beginnings.”

The Dare A250 Faire is a two-event celebration, with the first scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in downtown Manteo. The Star Spangled Spectacular is scheduled for that afternoon from 3:30-7 p.m. at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

“Rooted in a place known as the ‘Land of Beginnings,’ this milestone event honors Dare County’s unique role in America’s story — from the earliest English settlement attempts to the birthplace of powered flight. With a spirit of innovation, discovery and freedom woven throughout, the Dare A250 Faire promises a vibrant and meaningful tribute to 250 years of American history,” according to the county.

Both celebrations are no charge for the public, though the evening program requires those who wish to attend to reserve a spot through the online portal. As of publication, the tickets were all claimed. Those who wish to attend can continue to check the online portal to see if a seat has come available due to a cancelation.

Dare County is the “Land of Beginnings” because it is the location of England’s first attempt to establish a colony in 1587, now known as the “Lost Colony” because more than 100 settlers vanished from the site between arriving and 1590, and the birthplace of Virginia Dare. Dare was the first English child born in the Americas in 1587. The county is also the site of the Wright Brothers’ flight in 1903, the first controlled and powered heavier-than-air flight.

Dorothy Hester, co-chair of the Dare County A250 Committee, explained to Coastal Review that visitors can expect a full day of family-friendly fun in a festive, patriotic atmosphere.

“Downtown Manteo will come alive with a street festival featuring live music, street performers, storytelling, arts and crafts vendors, nonprofit exhibits, and several food vendors,” Hester said. “The celebration continues into the evening at Roanoke Island Festival Park with the Star-Spangled Spectacular, which has officially sold out–an exciting reflection of the strong community interest and support for this event.”

Hester said that the committee has been meeting for more than a year “to thoughtfully plan how our community would mark this historic milestone.”

The Dare A250 Faire emerged as the cornerstone event of that effort, which she said was designed to bring residents and visitors together in a meaningful and memorable way.

“What began as an idea has grown into a true community-wide collaboration among Dare County, local partners, local organizations, businesses, volunteers and sponsors,” Hester said.

Related: Dare County begins America’s 250th commemoration

The Dare A250 Faire was originally scheduled at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, but was relocated to Manteo and Roanoke Island Festival Park “to allow all aspects of the planning committee’s vision to be included in the celebration,” organizers said in a press release in late February. The park “highlights the area’s rich history as the ‘Birthplace of America,’ with the historic Elizabeth II serving as a meaningful backdrop to the festivities.”

The Elizabeth II is a representational 16th-century English merchant ship from the 1585 Roanoke voyage berthed at the park, where a settlement site illustrates an English military colony from the era.

Hester urged those interested in attending the celebrations to visit DareA250.org/faire for full event details, as well as information about other A250 initiatives, including the interactive map, and additional events taking place throughout the year.

The Dare County committee organizes events under the umbrella of the state’s official celebration, America 250 NC, an initiative of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

The celebration committee launched earlier this year a passport program and an interactive online map to share the county’s history.

Musical performances

Entertainment begins at 11:10 a.m. Saturday at the All-American Stage in downtown Manteo with Cypress Society Singers & Dancers, representing the Lumbee and Kahtehnuaka Tuscarora Eastern Woodland Native nations.

An opening ceremony follows at 11:45 a.m., then attendees can listen to live music throughout the afternoon, including a jazz performance by Connected, Ruth Wyand to perform roots Americana and the Daniel Jordan Band to play Southern country-rock.

The Dare County All-American Award Ceremony starts at 3 p.m. The ceremony will recognize participants in a variety of categories, including patriotic attire, patriotic pet, most decorated business and boat displays, as well as Dare A250 Scholarship Awards. Participants should report behind the stage at 2:30 p.m. for judging.

Performances scheduled for the Magnolia Freedom Stage feature Ascension Music Academy, Shiloh and Enrique with the Mustang Music Outreach Program, and the OBX Jazzmen.

Street entertainment

Roving patriotic performers will wander throughout downtown Manteo from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., including stilt walkers, a bubble artist, a juggler and a hula hooper.

Historical interpreters from The Lost Colony, Roanoke Island Festival Park and Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station and more than 60 local artisans and community organizations will be on-site. Several local businesses and restaurants will offer special events and discounts. A list of visitors is available on the event website.

Student musicians from First Flight Middle School and Manteo Middle School will perform on Sir Walter Raleigh Street at noon.

Storytelling stage

The historic Pioneer Theater, 109 Budleigh St., Manteo, is hosting a storytelling series highlighting the people, traditions and defining moments of the Outer Banks.

Moderated by Miles Daniels, the program organizers are billing as “a marquee element of the Dare A250 Faire,” will feature the following four distinguished speakers sharing personal insights and historical perspectives:

• 11:30 a.m. Clark Twiddy: “Vision, Risk, and Reinvention: How the Outer Banks Became a Destination.”
• 12:30 p.m. Robin Daniels Holt: “The Families Who Stayed: Generational Memory and Cultural Continuity.”
• 1:30 p.m. Nancy Gray: “Water, Work, and Survival: The Working Coast of the Outer Banks.”
• 2:30 p.m. Ken Mann: “Stories of the Outer Banks: Voices, Characters, and Coastal Memory.”

Archival film and video presentations will be shown between speakers.

For young artists

Children can add their own touch from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to a large patriotic painting. Local painter Brad Price is to enhance the artwork before going on permanent display at the Outer Banks Community Foundation. 

Families can also enjoy coloring a rendering of the first governor of an English colony in America, called a “Flat John White,” and festive tablecloths. Placemats that can be colored will be available at participating businesses throughout Manteo. 

Star-Spangled Spectacular Finale

The Star-Spangled Spectacular performances at Roanoke Island Festival Park will begin at 3:30 p.m. with Just Playing Dixieland, followed by an opening ceremony at 4:15 p.m. and an Earth, Wind & Fire tribute by the Ray Howard Band at 4:30 p.m.

The day will conclude with the Dare A250 Grand Finale at 6:15 p.m. with a multimedia patriotic production with a community choir and tribute.

Volunteers needed

With the committee expecting thousands to visit downtown Manteo and Roanoke Island Festival Park for the two events Saturday, there’s a need for volunteers to help oversee parking areas, serve as a friendly point of contact for guests, and to ensure everything runs smoothly in each designated lot, according to the county.

“No special experience is required, just a welcoming attitude and a willingness to help,” and volunteering is a way to “be part of a once-in-a-generation community celebration,” organizers said.

Volunteers can register online for any of the multiple shifts and activities or contact contact Patty O’Sullivan at patricia.o’sullivan@darenc.gov.

Dare County, Manteo, Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, Southern Bank, The Don & Catharine Bryan Cultural Series and Roanoke Island Festival Park are sponsors of the celebration.

Featured Image

An American alligator sunning at North River Wetlands Preserve in Carteret County slides in for a dip recently as March temperatures rose. The 6,000-acre preserve is the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s project to return farmland back to its original state and to use the wetlands to naturally treat polluted runoff. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review. Photo: Doug Waters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Featured Image

A snapping turtle climbs from the water for a snack recently at Sandy Run Park in Kitty Hawk. The park at 4343 The Woods Road offers public access to the Kitty Hawk Woods Maritime Forest, a half-mile nature trail with a pair of gazebos, canoe or kayak access, a nature observation tower, a catch and release fishing pier, picnic tables, benches and interpretive signage. While Sandy Run Park is home to friendly turtles, visitors are asked to not feed them. Photo: Kip Tabb

Work is set to begin this week to repair and restore the Bodie Island double keepers’ quarters that was damaged in an electrical fire more than a year ago.

Once the damages are repaired, Cape Hatteras National Seashore plans to install new exhibits on the first floor of the building, which has been closed since the Jan. 7, 2025, fire.

“Restoring the interior of the Bodie Island DKQ, with support from Outer Banks Forever, will allow the Seashore to once again tell the stories of the light station’s important history,” David Hallac, National Parks of Eastern North Carolina superintendent said in a release.

The project is a partnership of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and its official nonprofit partner Outer Banks Forever, which is funding the repairs.

“We’re honored to partner with the National Park Service to restore this beloved, historically significant building so park visitors can have an immersive experience learning about the lightkeepers and families who played important roles in Outer Banks and United States maritime history,” Outer Banks Forever Director Bryan Burhans stated in the release.

Outer Banks Forever has received a special use permit for the project.

Featured Image

A male pileated woodpecker, or Dryocopus pileatus, searches for a snack Sunday in the bark of a pine tree in Nags Head Woods Preserve, one of the largest remaining maritime forests on the East Coast, according to The Nature Conservancy. This woodpecker, which feeds on insects in trees and logs, is one of more than 150 bird species visitors may spot at the preserve, and at least a third nests here, according to the conservancy. Photo: Kip Tabb

MANTEO — Shoaling in a Roanoke Sound channel just outside Shallowbag Bay has once again prevented the state attraction Elizabeth II from leaving its moorings at Roanoke Island Festival Park for maintenance.

And once again, Dare County has agreed to help manage another dredging project for the state so the ship can motor to the Wanchese state shipyard for its overdue haul-out.

“We’re still essentially in the planning stages,” Dare County Waterways Commission administrator Barton Grover said in a recent interview. “We’re not exactly sure what path we’re going to take moving forward.”

The 43-year-old wooden-hulled vessel, built to represent a 16th-century English sailing ship that participated in Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages, was last hauled out for dry-dock maintenance in 2021, after sitting in brackish water for four years.

Grover said that the proposed project would be addressing the same clogged area near where the channel intersects at Roanoke Sound and Shallowbag Bay that had earlier blocked the ship from moving.

In November 2020, the county had approved a contract and a grant application to conduct maintenance dredging in the channel to allow larger vessels, including the Elizabeth II, to access Manteo harbor. The vessel, which has an 8-foot draft, was able to safely leave its dock in Dough’s Creek about a week earlier than completion of the project in late February 2021, according to the county website.

Although the Roanoke Channel is officially a federally authorized channel, Grover explained that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pipeline dredge does not do work north of Wanchese. Ultimately, a bucket-and-barge method was used for the 90-day project, which increased the depth of about 2.2 miles of channel from as little as 1 to 5 feet to 9 feet. Another 290 feet in a connector channel to the ship’s berth was also dredged. Costs for the $1.9 million project were appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly, with an additional $170,000 provided by the state’s Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund and the town of Manteo.

Some of the factors that come into play with the proposed dredge project, Grover said, include higher costs to dispose of the dredged material, as well as the lack of an obvious disposal area.

In the earlier projects, the material — scooped from the channel, piled onto a barge and then transported to land — was hauled off in a truck to the be placed on top of the county’s Manns Harbor landfill. But the increased expense may have made that option less attractive, he said. Other possibilities could include placement in a permitted area of water, or beneficial re-use along a shoreline or other area, he said.

Another consideration under review is whether the local hopper dredge Miss Katie would be capable of doing the necessary work instead of again using a bucket-and-barge method, Grover said. But the choice of an appropriate disposal site could also come into play in determining costs for that dredge to reach the site.

Typically planning and permitting for a similar dredge project takes at least “six-plus” months, he said. Also, the state has yet to secure the funding. Ideally, he said, a project would be ready to go during the upcoming winter of 2026-2027.

By then, the 69-foot-long ship will have been sitting in the brackish water alongside its dock in Dough’s Creek for about six years.

Michele Walker, assistant communications director at the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said in an email responding to questions from Coastal Review that the last condition report was done by surveyor Paul C. Haley with Capt. G. W. Full & Associates Marine Surveyors in 2016, when numerous issues, including signs of rot and deterioration of the exterior and interior, were detailed.

When the vessel was hauled out in 2021, she added, Haley did not travel to the Outer Banks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he verified with the firm’s staff on site that the earlier repair recommendations had been completed.

“In addition, the ship is inspected annually by the U.S. Coast Guard,” Walker wrote. “This provides us approval to operate as an attraction vessel, which allows us to have passengers on board while moored.”

Walker added that the ship is maintained above the waterline throughout the year, with more extensive maintenance done while Roanoke Island Festival Park, a state museum that memorializes regional English precolonial and Native American history, and the adjacent Elizabeth II State Historic Site are closed January through mid-March.

Haley’s 2021 report, while emphasizing his familiarity with the vessel from doing the surveys in 2004, 2011 and 2016, also lauds the park for always following through on the surveyors’ recommendations.

Notably, when compromised planking documented in the earlier survey had been replaced, he said, the frames exposed during the work were observed to be in good condition. Also, all the critical repairs and plank replacements had been completed, he said.

“The vessel has a good maintenance program by the park and they haul out the vessel on a regular basis for repainting of the bottom and doing any maintenance work that requires the vessel being out of water,” he wrote.

Except for a few months in the winter, the Elizabeth II welcomes visitors aboard to experience a sailor’s view of ship life and duties, guided by interpreters in period costumes who regale them with stories.

As a representative vessel, the Elizabeth II was built based on knowledge of the tools, materials and basic designs used in Elizabethan-era shipbuilding, but there are no original design sketches of the actual merchant ships that sailed during the late 1500s to Roanoke Island from England. Still, the three-masted, square-rigged ship with dashing blue-and-white markings contrasting with its wooden hull — even while rarely moving from its dock across from the Manteo waterfront — has reliably served its mission as an ambassador for the state, the Outer Banks and Manteo’s heritage as the site of the first English colony in America.

But since the flashy ship’s 1984 launch during the town’s 400th anniversary celebration of the Roanoke Voyages, which culminated in the ill-fated “Lost Colony” that was never seen again after its governor left for supplies in 1587, once-routine day trips to visit coastal ports or join in community festivals fell by the wayside due to lack of funds, scheduling difficulties and other challenges. And gradually, even annual haul-outs started being delayed for multiple years, despite that prolonged time in the water for wooden hulls can lead to damage from shipworms and rot.

The ship’s current dockside stranding was not anticipated during the last review five years ago.

“It is the plan of this office to be present and to conduct a full survey at the haul out at the beginning of 2022,” Haley wrote in the report. “With this in mind, it is our opinion that the vessel is suitable for her present use.”

On Dec. 18, the nonprofit Friends of Elizabeth II indicated no intent to give up the ship, so to speak, posting a notice seeking to hire a new captain for the vessel. Applications were due Jan. 29. In addition to overseeing the maintenance of the ship and leading the crew and interpreters, the job’s responsibilities include training staff and volunteers in rigging, sailmaking and marine woodworking.

The required duties also illustrate that the Elizabeth II isn’t just a pretty ship decorating a small historic North Carolina town’s harbor. The captain must not only understand Coast Guard regulations associated with “moving watercraft” through waterways, the captain must be capable of “sailing the Elizabeth II as needed.”

Popular sites and attractions along the North Carolina coast are closing Friday in anticipation of a winter storm expected to bring this weekend snow, blustery winds, dangerously cold temperatures and some coastal flooding.

The National Parks Service announced Friday morning that it is closing all of its visitor facilities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial through at least Monday morning.

Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke campgrounds were to close at noon Friday.

Portions of the beach in Rodanthe and Buxton already have been closed because the presence of threatened oceanfront structures.

In Rodanthe, the beachfront is closed from East Point Drive south to Surfside Drive. Buxton’s ocean shore is closed from the north end to near off-road vehicle ramp 43.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, which has been closed since November 2024 for renovations, has rescheduled its reopening from Saturday to Feb. 21 because of this weekend’s forecast, officials announced this week.

The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher in New Hanover County will close to the public Saturday and Sunday. Updates, including plans for Monday, will be provided on the aquarium’s media pages on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

Powerful winds, sound-side flooding, and the potential for as much as 1 to 1.5 feet of snow is expected to impact areas along the coast begging late Friday into Saturday. Residents are being urged to make preparations for the storm by Friday evening.

The combination of snow, cold and wind are expected to create life-threatening conditions.

The National Parks Service will provide operational updates its Outer Banks Group’s severe weather webpage and social media accounts.

The North Carolina Forest Service will be conducting a controlled burn of about 30 acres within the nature preserve of a popular Wilmington park.

The burn is part of an ongoing effort to restore longleaf pine in Halyburton Park and will be conducted between January and early March, weather permitting, according to a city notice.

“The controlled burn is designed to promote longleaf pine and wiregrass — both fire-dependent species — reduce the risk of future wildfires, and improve habitat for wildlife,” according to the notice.

Funding for the restoration project comes through a 2024 Longleaf Stewardship grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Halyburton Park is a recognized North Carolina Natural Heritage site.

Message boards will be placed along 17th Street in Wilmington to alert the public prior to the burn.

Love horses? The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve has an offer for you!

Applications are now being accepted for the Pony Patrol, a volunteer-driven program that helps raise community awareness, protect wild horses and promote compliance with wild horse guidelines at the Rachel Carson Reserve and Shackleford Banks in Carteret County.

Candidates who are selected will receive training in visitor communication, the importance of allowing wild horses to remain wild, and skills required to protect the safety of visitors and horses.

Volunteers serve three- to four-hour shifts patrolling and talking with visitors about ways to respectfully experience the wild horses and their natural behaviors. Volunteers are expected to serve a minimum of three times a month.

Last year’s volunteers conducted 260 patrols and engaged with about 3,900 visitors at both the Rachel Carson Reserve and Shackleford Banks, according to the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, which partners with Cape Lookout National Seashore and the Foundation for Shackelford Horses Inc. to offer the program.

Applicants must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and physically able to walk through sandy terrain in conditions to include intense sun, heat, humidity, wind and insects.

Applicants who want to volunteer for Rachel Carson Reserve and Shackleford Banks must apply to both locations.

Positions are limited and therefore competitive.

The online application will close at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 23. Candidates who are selected will be contacted for interviews in late February or early March.

Children’s activities, guest speakers, a “tea party” on the Intracoastal Waterway, demonstrations by weavers and spinners, an encampment of reenactors, and Virginia Reel dance lessons are all on the schedule for the Historical Society of Topsail Island’s celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary.

The event, “Colonial Topsail,” is set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in the Historic Assembly Building, 720 Channel Blvd., Topsail Beach. There’s no cost to attend.

The opening ceremony will be hosted by a Thomas Jefferson reenactor and be joined by Topsail High School JROTC Coast Guard Color Guard, and the Tryon Palace Fife and Drum Corps.

There will be a Revolutionary War encampment in partnership with Moores Creek National Battlefield, and demonstrations by the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution.

Children’s activities begin at 11:30 a.m. with “What is Freedom?” and tea party, and from 12:30 to 3 p.m. colonial-themed crafts such as weaving, beading and whirligigs. Outdoor games include hoop races, hopscotch and jump rope. Activities are geared toward ages 4 to12.

A “Colonial Lunch” of Brunswick stew, cornbread, a drink, and dessert will be available for $12 per person from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made through the society’s website.

The Missiles and More Museum will open from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day.

“We are pleased to kick-off the America 250th anniversary with Colonial Topsail,” said Kim McClusky, the A250 committee chair, in a release. “Our region has significant Revolutionary War history. Colonial Topsail will be a fun, family-friendly, awareness-raising, celebration of our history.”

BUXTON – Faced with devastating destruction across a significant segment of its beachfront, this small Outer Banks village is seeking help for coastal solutions, including measures that could require potentially controversial legislative action by the state and federal governments.

Since September, 15 houses have collapsed on a stretch of beach in Buxton just north of Cape Hatteras, the distinctive point of land midway along the East Coast that juts far into the Atlantic. Adaptation to storms and natural forces have fortified the community since its establishment in the late 1800s, but now stunningly rapid erosion is endangering its future.

“Today, small areas of our oceanfront have deteriorated to the point where we can no longer shoulder these challenges alone,” Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard wrote to members of the North Carolina General Assembly in November. “With your support, we can preserve our coastline, protect public infrastructure, and sustain the economic engine that benefits all of North Carolina.”

The county is one of the few “donor counties” in North Carolina, with more than 3 million people annually visiting Dare’s beaches and national parks and generating significant state tax revenue, he said. So far, he added, the county has spent about $275 million for beach nourishment as well as additional millions to maintain inlets, with little state or federal assistance.

In addition to a beach nourishment project in 2026 for Buxton, the county is planning to repair a purportedly half-intact groin, one of three installed in 1969 to protect the former Navy base constructed in 1956 near the original location of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

Dare and Hyde counties also have asked the state Division of Coastal Management to lift the 1985 state ban against hardened structures so the remnants of the two deteriorated groins at the site can be replaced.

But beach stabilization of any sort on the Outer Banks, with its extraordinarily high-energy coastal conditions, is becoming more challenging in a changing climate with quickly evolving and often unpredictable consequences: Sea levels are increasing faster than projected, storms are intensifying, rainfall is heavier.

In recent years, Hatteras and Ocracoke islands on the barrier islands’ southern end have been suffering dramatically increased shoaling in its inlets and far worse erosion at numerous hot spots along N.C. 12, the island’s only highway. Over wash, loss of dunes and road damage is becoming more frequent and difficult to mitigate, sometimes resulting in loss of vehicular access for hours or days. 

People say things feel different. Residents — from old timers to long-time transplants — have noticed places flooding where they never did before, shoaling in waterways that had never clogged before, and erosion consuming an entire shoreline that had been wide and stable just a few years before. And this fall and winter, even seasonal nor’easters have switched to overdrive, with the storms coming in one after another and more often than some ole salts say they’ve ever seen. 

“When we really developed these islands in the ’70s and ’80s, it was a different system, and we need to recognize that, acknowledge it, and plan accordingly,” Reide Corbett, executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute and Dean of the Integrated Coastal Program at East Carolina University, said in a recent interview. “We can’t let self-interest lead the way. We need to understand what this looks like, and we need to get behind better policy. And it starts with how we develop.”

Responding to increasing numbers of house collapses in Buxton and Rodanthe, the Hatteras Island’s northernmost village, state leaders are urging Congress to pass legislation introduced by Rep. Greg Murphy, a Republican from North Carolina’s 3rd District, that would authorize proactive Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance payments to remove threatened oceanfront houses before they fall.

While the proposal has garnered bipartisan support, FEMA is currently understaffed and targeted for downsizing, reorganization or even elimination, and its flood insurance program is woefully underfunded.

A delegation representing local, state and federal officials toured the damaged area in Buxton on Nov. 24, where dozens of additional oceanfront houses are scattered willy-nilly, awaiting near-certain demise. Numerous members of the group expressed shock at the disarray and destruction at the scene.

Meanwhile, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson has directed the Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel to analyze shoreline stabilization options, including the potential effectiveness or negative impacts of groins.

Erosion on Buxton’s oceanfront has been a persistent problem for many decades, at least to the infrastructure on the beach, such as the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

“It was quite obvious to everybody that in the course of time the lighthouse would topple into the Atlantic Ocean and the thousand acres of park land, upon which no tree and scarcely any blade of grass grew, would be swallowed up by the warring ocean currents that swirl around the point of Cape Hatteras,” author Ben Dixon MacNeill wrote in an article published on July 30, 1948, in the Coastland Times. At that point, he noted, in just the lifetime of a middle-aged man, erosion had already whittled away 1,500 feet of beach. 

Despite the 1937 congressional directive to the National Park Service to preserve what would later become Cape Hatteras National Seashore as a “primitive wilderness,” until the early 1970s, according to park documents, the agency spent more than $20 million to stop the “natural process” of barrier island movement. Projects included installing in 1930 steel sheet pile groins along the beach by Cape Hatteras Lighthouse; installing in 1933 additional sheet pile groins at the lighthouse; nourishment of the beach in 1966 near the Buxton motel area with sand dredged from Pamlico Sound; and in 1967 placement of revetment of large nylon sandbags in front of the lighthouse.

In addition, the U.S. Navy built three reinforced concrete groins in 1969 to protect its facility near the lighthouse; the beach near the Buxton motels was nourished again in 1971 with material dredged from Cape Point; and the beach near the Navy operation was nourished in 1973 with Cape Point sand. 

Those actions were in addition to construction and repeated reconstruction of sand dunes, as well as beach fences and planting grasses, shrubs and trees to hold the dunes. 

Finally, in 1973, the National Park Service acknowledged the futility and unsustainable costs of stabilization, and abandoned its efforts. The agency, however, did continue various attempts to protect the lighthouse with riprap, offshore artificial grass, sandbags and a scour-mat apron. With the sea by then lapping at its base, the lighthouse in 1999 was relocated a half-mile inland.

In a letter dated Jan. 9, 1974, from the U.S. Department of Interior to a Buxton resident, the agency promised that all available data would be analyzed before determining future beach stabilization management decisions in the Seashore, including relative to the groins.

“The most reliable scientific data we have obtained thus far offer no evidence that the existing jetties or groins at Buxton provide acceptable protection from ocean forces,” the department added. “While some stabilizing effect may be gained in the immediate area, the jetties actually cause more erosion in adjacent locations.”

A report the year earlier published by University of Virginia coastal scientist Robert Dolan, et. al, to analyze the effects of beach nourishment in Buxton, in fact, said that the groins — short jetties extending from a shoreline — rapidly increased erosion by the motel area, causing dune destruction and ocean over wash into private property.

“The groins, somewhat unexpectedly, are trapping sediment at the expense of the beaches to either side and as a result of their success, the reach protected by the groins has become stable,” the report said, adding that the localized erosion problem at Buxton had followed construction of the groins.

Barely more than four years after they were built, the groins were damaged by storms and required repairs with new sheet piling. Patches and reinforcements continued until the Navy in 1982 abandoned the base, apparently leaving the groins to the elements.

By the time heated discussions kicked in about whether the lighthouse should be saved in place or moved, the community tried to persuade the federal government to not only maintain the by-then-deteriorating existing groins, but also to add a fourth groin. The petition was soundly rejected, and the Navy, the Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appeared to want nothing to do with the groins.

Today, the county sees the sand trapping barriers — even a single groin — as a way to prolong the effectiveness of a $50 million beach nourishment project, and importantly, as a way to buy time while consultants determine a long-term strategy for Buxton.

Dare County Manager Bobby Outten reported in March that, according to Coastal Science & Engineering, the firm hired to do the beach nourishment and groin work, the southern-most groin would meet the state’s 50% rule that allows repair of an existing structure that has 50% or less in damages. The county is currently awaiting approval from the state, as well as acknowledgement that the application meets the exemption criteria for an exemption from the hardened structures statute, he said.

If the groin work is approved, contractors estimate the $2 to $4 million project would take up to two months to complete this summer and involve about 640 feet of repairs, using steel sheet pile and riprap scour protection within the original footprint.

As Outten summed up the current dilemma facing Dare and other North Carolina coastal communities: There are two extremes, either hold the coast in place as it is, and build sea walls. Or let nature take its course, let the houses fall and see the economy crumble.

“And neither one of those extremes is acceptable,” he told Coastal Review. “To anybody.”

The national memorial on the Outer Banks that honors the accomplishments of Wilbur and Orville Wright is celebrating Dec. 17 the 122nd anniversary of the brothers’ first heavier-than-air, controlled, powered flight.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, the National Park Service will be joined for the celebration by Dare County Schools, and the nonprofit organizations, the First Flight Society and Outer Banks Forever. The First Flight Society promotes awareness of the history and future of flight. Outer Banks Forever is the official nonprofit partner of the Wright Brothers site, as well as the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Park entrance fees are waived for the day.

As part of this year’s program, the First Flight Society will induct at 9 a.m. William P. Lear (1902-1978) into its Paul E. Garber Shrine, a portrait gallery located inside the memorial’s visitor center that honors those who have achieved significant firsts in aviation. Lear was an American inventor and businessman, best known for founding Lear Jet Industries. His portrait will be installed inside the gallery at 11 a.m.

The First Flight Society established the shrine in 1966 and named it after the curator and historian at the Smithsonian Institution who played a key role in the 1946 National Air Museum.

An introduction Wright Flight Academy is at 9:10 a.m. The two-year program began in 2023 as part of Dare County School’s Aviation Program, which offers juniors and seniors an opportunity to learn about aviation, science, and engineering while building a workable airplane on the memorial’s grounds.

At 10 a.m. as part of the celebration, students plan to unveil their completed airplane built during the academy. The build is the second airplane ever constructed on the historic site, “following in the footsteps of the Wright brothers’ and carrying their legacy into a modern classroom,” organizers said.

“The project underscores how Career and Technical Education, strengthened by community partnerships, can inspire the next generation of aviators and engineers. In a true full-circle moment, students are carrying forward the same spirit of innovation that launched the world’s first flight on the very ground where aviation history began,” organizers continued.

Throughout the day there will be demonstrations with the replica 1903 Wright Flyer, and the Wright Brothers Monument will be open for visitors to view the lower atrium, weather dependent. Ranger-led educational programs outside of the visitor center are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

The First Flight Society‘s annual luncheon that commemorates the flight anniversary will be from 12:30 to 3 p.m. that afternoon at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head. The organization invited to speak from the Lear world, Bill Lear’s daughter, Shanda Lear-Baylor, and Jeff Coggins, chief pilot and assistant director of operations for the Phoenix Air Group. Lunch will be served and there will be a silent auction. Tickets are $60 each before Dec. 10 or $75 after, and available on the website.

The North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve will hold a series of local advisory committee meetings at different reserve sites and virtually between Nov. 5 and Nov. 18.

Meetings, which are open to the public, are scheduled as follows:

• Buxton Woods Reserve, 1 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Fessenden Center, 46830 Highway 12, Buxton.
• Bird Island Reserve, 1 p.m. Nov. 6 virtually by joining https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/j.php?, meeting number 2427 890 9441, password BirdIslandLAC.
• Rachel Carson Reserve, 3 p.m. Nov. 6 in the administration building at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Beaufort Laboratory, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort.
• Zeke’s Island Reserve, 10 a.m. Nov. 7 at the Fort Fisher Recreation Area – Education Room, 1000 Loggerhead Road, Kure Beach.
• Bald Head Woods Reserve, 1 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Bald Head Island Conservancy, 700 Federal Road, Bald Head Island.
• Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve, 1 p.m. Nov. 12 at Kitty Hawk Town Hall, 101 Veterans Memorial Drive, Kitty Hawk.
• Currituck Banks Reserve, 1 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, 1160 Village Lane, Corolla.
• Masonboro Island Reserve, 11 a.m. Nov. 14 in the habitat conference room at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Center for Marine Science, 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane, Wilmington.
• Permuda Island Reserve, 10 a.m. Nov. 14 in the meeting room at North Topsail Beach Town Hall, 2008 Loggerhead Court, North Topsail Beach.
• Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge Reserve, 10 a.m. Nov. 18 at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Reserve main office, 205 S. Ludington Drive, Columbia.

The local advisory committees provide guidance and feedback regarding program activities and management of the reserve sites to the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve staff.

Committees are made up of residents and representatives from community organizations, government agencies, and non-governmental partner organizations.

Dare County is going to cover the cost for its debris-removal contractor to make one last round on Wednesday to collect the lumber, siding, appliances and other remaining debris from the 10 unoccupied houses that collapsed in recent weeks along the Buxton oceanfront.

The county asks that the private contractors move the debris they’ve collected to the right-of-way along the east side of Old Lighthouse Road in Buxton no later than Wednesday morning. Once placed there, the county’s contractor will collect and dispose of the material.

Dare County had previously coordinated an emergency debris removal with its contractor, Dupon, from Oct. 8 until Oct. 18 after eight unoccupied Buxton homes collapsed into the ocean between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3 because of severe beach erosion caused by a strong coastal storm, officials said Tuesday.

“This initial cleanup effort was conducted as an emergency response to an unprecedented situation in order to protect public safety and facilitate a timely cleanup of the affected area; however, it is not financially feasible for Dare County to continue to provide debris removal services for private properties,” county officials said, adding that property owners will be responsible for working with their private contractors to coordinate any debris removal going forward.

“Dare County appreciates the cooperation and understanding of the affected homeowners, their contractors and the Hatteras Island community as this final debris collection effort is completed,” officials continued.

An undeveloped park that will include access to two popular waterways in Leland has received a major funding boost to build a public boat dock and boardwalk.

The Brunswick County town has received a $443,108 North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, or PARTF, grant for construction of water access amenities to be included at the planned Sturgeon Creek Park.

The boardwalk will be Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant and guide visitors to a boat dock, reduce foot traffic in fragile areas and safeguard wildlife habitats within the more than 78-acre tract.

The park project builds on goals outlined in the Sturgeon Creek Park Master Plan and will “provide greater access to outdoor activities such as boating, fishing, and wildlife observation,” according to a town release.

Under the grant program, the town is required to contribute half of the total project cost.

Construction on the park is slated to begin early next year, with phase one of the project completed by January 2027.

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.

More than $4.6 million will go to coastal conservation efforts such as property acquisition and living shoreline projects out of $36 million in statewide grants through North Carolina Land and Water Fund, the state announced earlier this week.

The fund gets appropriations from the N.C. General Assembly to support projects by local governments, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations that restore and protect the state’s natural and cultural resources.

“North Carolina is home to remarkable natural beauty,” Gov. Josh Stein said in a release. “These grants will help preserve that beauty.” 

These projects, which “will support North Carolina’s $28 billion outdoor recreation economy,” are broken up into four types: acquisition, stormwater, planning and restoration, the North Carolina Department of Natural and Coastal Resources said in the announcement.

Property acquisition projects selected for the coast are:

• $1.57 million to Kill Devil Hills for land at Nags Head Woods.
• $1.06 million to North Carolina Coastal Land Trust for land at Powells Point on the Albemarle Sound.
• $1.27 million to the town of Leland for the Silver Timber Tract – Nature Park.
• $752,000 to the North Carolina Coastal Federation for land in Carteret and Onslow counties.
• $3.5 million to Unique Places to Save for the St. James — Boiling Spring Lakes Wetland Complex, however this is a provisional award and depends on if the funds are available before July 1, 2026.
• $335,000 to The Nature Conservancy for land in Onslow and Pender counties. One of the three awards is provisional as well.

In addition to property acquisition, the Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, has been selected for just shy of $1 million for the following projects:

• An update to the Oyster Blueprint for Action Restoration and Protection Plan.
• A stormwater plan for the Ocean City Jazz Festival site on Topsail Island.
• The second phase of a living shoreline for Jockey’s Ridge State Park.
• A living shorelines cost-share program.

Sound Rivers Inc. has been awarded $243,200 for a stormwater wetland education site in Craven County and nearly $30,000 for a watershed plan for a section of Slocum Creek.

A North Carolina State University-sponsored program in Onslow County has been awarded $234,241 for a stormwater infrastructure maintenance robot.

New Hanover County has a $75,000 grant for a Pages Creek feasibility plan.

A statewide list is available online.

Previously the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the fund was put in place in 1996 to protect the state’s drinking water sources. The General Assembly expanded the fund’s mission to include conserving and protecting natural resources, cultural heritage and military installations.

A celebration marking the 100th anniversary of Greenfield Park in Wilmington will be hosted next month with tributes, family activities, and a free concert.

The Nov. 1 ceremony will kick off at 11 a.m. with remarks from various officials, including city and New Hanover County officials, followed by the dedication of a time capsule.

Community vendors, local food trucks and a bounce house will be on site during the celebration, which will extend through the afternoon for a free centennial concert at the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.

Officials are to announce additional information, including the lineup of concert performers, on its website.

Anyone with photographs of Greenfield Park who would like to include them in the time capsule may bring pictures no larger than 4 by 4 inches to the ceremony. Photographs may also be mailed to City of Wilmington Parks & Recreation, P.O. Box 1810, Wilmington, NC 28402.

The Bird Island Stewards will host monthly guided nature walks every third Wednesday beginning next month through May 2026 on the Bird Island Coastal Reserve in Brunswick County.

The first walk will be hosted at reserve in Sunset Beach at 10 a.m. on Oct. 15.

During these topical walks, stewards will highlight the history, ecology, and wildlife of the reserve, which includes pristine sandy white beaches, dunes, and more than 1,000 acres of salt marsh and meandering creeks.

The Wednesday walks will begin at 10 a.m., cover nearly 3 miles and last approximately 90 minutes to two hours.

Participants are encouraged to wear closed-toe shoes, pants and bring water.

Guides will meet participants at the marsh overlook near 40th Street (West Main Street) in Sunset Beach.

The town enforces paid parking 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. between April 1 and Oct. 31. Ensure you park in a designated parking spot with a valid pass.

Two coastal communities are in line for their share of the $8.7 million in grants for parks and recreation projects that the governor’s office announced Friday.

Holly Ridge is to receive $500,000 out of the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to expand a municipal park, and Wilmington is to receive $237,618 from the Accessible Parks Grant program to replace an existing playground.

“North Carolina has incredible natural beauty, and a strong parks system allows every North Carolinian to enjoy it for years to come,” Stein said. “These investments will strengthen local economies and improve people’s health and quality of life.”

The Parks and Recreation Authority selected the 21 projects out of 41 applications during the Aug. 22 meeting. A maximum of $500,000 can be awarded to a single project, and the awardees must match the grant funding.

Holly Ridge has invested the last few years in making plans to add new features to an existing municipal park. The first phase of improvements, estimated to cost $1.6 million, is to include a multi-use path, splash pad, an inclusive playground, restrooms, fitness stations and parking. New water and sewer services along with storm water detention facilities to support the additions, according to the town’s Municipal Park Master Plan.

“This is great progress for Holly Ridge,” Mayor Pete Parnian said in May when announcing the council’s decision to move ahead with the project. “The park plan reflects our commitment to building a vibrant, active, and connected community, and Phase 1 will lay the foundation for a space residents of all ages can enjoy for years to come.”

Wilmington officials said in early 2025 that the Parks and Recreation Department planned to apply for the grant to replace the existing playground at the Fit For Fun Center with one that is an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant structure, extend the playground surface, and install new fencing.

An indoor play space for children, the center’s outdoor playground was installed in 2002, “sees a comparatively high volume of use, and is not ADA accessible,” officials said at the time. The grant is to “help ensure that the playground is replaced within two years and potentially with a better structure than the City could provide without additional funding.”

For the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, or PARTF, the total recurring funding is distributed to state parks and DuPont State Recreational Forest, municipalities, counties, and public beach and coastal accesses. The funds can be used for land acquisition, new recreation facilities, or improvements to existing parks.

The Accessible Parks Grant program was authorized in the 2023 budget to provide matching grants for parks and recreation. The second and final round of nonrecurring funding considered 29 applicants requesting a total of $11.7 million. Awardees must match the grant with at least $1 of local funds for every $5 in grant funds.

Both PARTF and the nonrecurring Accessible Parks grant subset are managed by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources through its Division of Parks and Recreation. A partnership with Recreation Resources Service at N.C. State University offers assistance from grant specialists to local applicants.

Guest Commentary

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

Our national forests are special resources that meet the needs of many constituencies and comprise 193 million acres spread across 44 states. In 2001, the federal Roadless Rule was adopted with massive public support, and it now protects 58.5 million acres of roadless national forestland in 39 states.

Roadless areas across our national forests are very popular with hikers, fishermen, hunters, and more. They also serve as natural repositories for the unique flora and fauna that live in a region.

In the future, expanding urban areas and increased fragmentation of private lands make it likely that the largest and most extensive tracts of undeveloped land will be those in public ownership. But right now, the Roadless Rule and the resource protections it offers are in jeopardy: On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) opened an official process to revoke the rule.

Here in eastern North Carolina, we are fortunate to have the Croatan National Forest in our backyard. It’s home to some of the few larger tracts of longleaf pine savanna left in North Carolina.

This ecosystem was once one of the most extensive in North America, covering more than 90 million acres. Today less than 6% of this ecosystem is left, up from 3.6% just two decades ago. It’s home to a diverse collection of fish, amphibians — including the gopher frog, Lithobates capito, which is ranked “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and is considered endangered, threatened, or of special concern in every state within its range — reptiles, mammals, and birds, such as the federally threatened red-cockaded woodpecker (a longleaf pine savanna obligate).

The Croatan National Forest also contains and protects rare populations of at least 16 species of carnivorous plants including the Venus flytrap, pitcher plant, and sundews, as well as the federally endangered rough-leaved loosestrife (Lysimachia asperulaefolia). This vital habitat is under increasing pressure from development. The Croatan contains four Designated Wilderness Areas – Catfish Lake South, Pocosin, Pond Pine, and Sheep Ridge – totaling over 31,000 acres. 

Additionally, there are thousands of acres of other “inventoried roadless areas” (IRA) contiguous to the Wilderness areas where road construction is regulated by the Roadless Rule.

The rescission of the Roadless Rule would remove inventoried roadless areas from special scrutiny and would open these areas to construction of roads to facilitate logging and other industrial activities. Ostensibly, the reason given for this regulatory change is to better manage the roadless areas for fire control, but in reality increases in road construction lead to more fires, according to the Wilderness Society. Roadbuilding in the inventoried roadless areas leads to habitat destruction itself and the activities roadbuilding allows, such as increased logging or other extractive industrial activities, diminish the value of these areas, as well as the value of nearby wilderness areas.

In addition to protecting habitat and acting as a biological reservoir, our National Forests protect water quality of our aquifers and streams. The West Carteret Water Corp. draws its water directly from wells in the Croatan National Forest. Also on the Crystal Coast, the Croatan National Forest drains into Bogue Sound, the White Oak River, and the Neuse River. Increased roadbuilding and industrial access both create runoff and increased pollution to these protected headwaters. This in turn will negatively impact the local commercial and recreational harvest of shellfish and finfish, which the local tourist economy depends on.

Now that the USDA has opened a public comment period on its plan to revoke the Roadless Rule, it is important for all of us to speak out for these areas. Public outcry stopped the proposed sell-off of public lands this past summer as part of the budget bill. Our voices are powerful, and we can use them again to protect these jewels of our National Forest System.

Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of Coastal Review or our publisher, the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

Coastal Review will not publish Monday in observance of Labor Day.

The Coastal Resources Commission on Wednesday afternoon unanimously adopted a rule that restricts development within Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

The rule the 13-member commission adopted mandates how and where sand may be moved within the park and establishes the park’s area of environmental concern, or AEC, boundaries.

AECs are areas of natural importance that the division designates to protect from uncontrolled development.

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

And, sand within the AEC cannot be altered or prevented from moving freely by development activities “except when necessary” to maintain or construct a road, residential or commercial structure, accessway, lawn, garden, or parking area unless approved by the park’s management plan.

The rule will now go to the state Rules Review Commission for approval.

In the fall of 2023, that commission removed the rule along with more than a dozen other CRC-adopted longstanding rules from the North Carolina Administrative Code and kicked them back to the coastal commission, a move that triggered a legal fight between the two commissions.

Earlier this year, a Wake County Superior Court judge ruled all 30 rules be returned to the administrative code.

The coastal commission adopts rules for the state’s Coastal Area Management Act and Dredge and Fill Act, and establishes policies for the North Carolina Coastal Management Program.

National Park Service officials announced Friday that Cape Lookout National Seashore facilities would be reopening this weekend from closures related to Hurricane Erin.

The visitor center at Harkers Island reopened Friday. Its hours of operation are daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The light station visitor center and pedestrian boardwalks from the lighthouse ferry dock leading up to and around the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and to the oceanside pedestrian beach are open. Its hours of operation are daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Passenger ferry service via Island Express Ferry Service to South Core Banks and Shackleford Banks from Beaufort and Harkers Island is back in service.  For information, call 252-728-7433, or visit islandexpressferryservice.com. The ferry departs daily from Beaufort every 30 minutes between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and from Harkers Island daily, every hour from 8:15 a.m. until 5:45 p.m.

South Core Banks opened Friday to pedestrians and beach driving only because of standing water on the backroads and is expected to open Saturday to vehicle traffic.

As of Saturday, Aug. 23, the Great Island Cabin Camp will reopen. For information regarding cancellations or upcoming reservations, call 877-444-6777, or visit www.recreation.gov.

Visitors with vehicle ferry reservations may call for more information regarding schedule and/or reservations for Cape Lookout Cabins and Camps Ferry Service, Davis, at 252-729-9751.

On Sunday, Aug. 24, the Keeper’s Quarters Museum will reopen. Its hours of operation are daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Also on Sunday, North Core Banks will reopen to vehicles. Visitors with vehicle ferry reservations may call Morris Marina in Atlantic for more information regarding schedule and/or reservations at 252-225-4261.

National Park Service staff are to continue monitoring ongoing recovery efforts regarding Hurricane Erin and will post updates as needed on the park website and via Facebook and Instagram.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cape Lookout National Seashore officials plan to hold its annual duck blind permit lottery through the National Park Service’s official reservations website later this month.

The permit allows duck hunters to place and leave temporary duck blinds in the park from Sept. 12 to March 31, 2026.  Construction of permanent duck blinds is illegal, and the temporary blinds must be removed by the permittee no later than March 31, 2026.

The lottery will open on recreation.gov at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, and close at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28. There is a $10 registration fee to enter the lottery.

Lottery slots are a limited in number. Those who want to enter the lottery are encouraged to create an account before the lottery opens.

After the lottery closes, the lottery order will be randomly selected from the pool of applicants and a time assigned for the required in-person, 15-minute appointment sometime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. Those selected will be notified by email.

During the appointments in the visitor center at 1800 Island Road, Harkers Island, lottery winners will be able to select where their blinds will be located, complete the permit paperwork and pay their permit fees.

Hunters are limited to two blinds. There is a $50 permit fee for the first blind, and a $25 fee for the second blind, or $75 for two blinds. The fees are used to administer and monitor the program. 

Applicants must bring a valid driver’s license or identification card, a North Carolina hunting license, and a signed federal duck stamp or federal e-stamp.

“If you arrive for an in-person appointment without ALL these documents, you will not be issued a permit and will forfeit your scheduled lottery appointment,” rangers said (their emphasis).

Those not selected during the lottery or who can’t make their scheduled appointment time are welcome to go to the visitor center to be seen on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Sept. 17.

Hunting is authorized within the national seashore, subject to State of North Carolina hunting regulations and federal law. 

Hunters are advised that failure to obtain a permit or failure to remove blinds at the end of the permit period may result in penalties, a bill for the cost of removing the blind, and exclusion from the program in future years. Illegal duck blinds found in the park will be removed without notice and the cost of removing illegal and abandoned blinds significantly adds to the cost of the program and may have to be passed on to the hunters in future years.

Commercial hunting or fishing guides must obtain a permit to conduct commercial activities in a national park.  To obtain a Commercial Use Authorization, or CUA, permit, guides should contact park business manager Katherine Cushinberry at 252-838-8899. 

Guides with a CUA permit may advertise that they are an authorized hunting guide for Cape Lookout National Seashore. Those caught guiding without a CUA permit may be prosecuted and lose lottery and hunting privileges for a minimum of two years.

For more information regarding the 2024-25 Duck Blind Lottery at Cape Lookout National Seashore, contact Ranger Evan Knight at 252-838-8929.

The Outer Banks are known for vast, uncrowded beaches, towering lighthouses, and unique cottages, and while these features beckon millions of visitors, some Outer Banks communities are not as well-known.

Rather than towns, most communities here are unincorporated villages, each home to residential homes and unobtrusive tourist accommodations, a few businesses, and a post office. Hatteras may be one of the best known of these villages.

While it is much smaller than incorporated coastal towns like Beaufort or Edenton, Hatteras is home to centuries of history and a number of notable sites, particularly on the southwest tip of its namesake island.

Hatteras Island was populated in the 16th century by the Croatoan Native Americans. They hunted, fished and ate oysters, depositing the shells in massive middens that are one of the few remaining visible indicators of where they lived. They were one of the many Native peoples that the Roanoke Colony interacted with in the 1580s.

The Croatans allied with the Europeans and counted among their numbers Manteo, the first Native American christened by the English in the New World. They factor into the story of the Lost Colony, since Hatteras Island was one of the many areas where the colonists were rumored to have gone after leaving Roanoke. Due to the shifting sands of Hatteras and the lack of definitive records, the fate of the colonists remains a mystery to this day.

Europeans returned to the area in the middle of the 17th century. Historian David Stick notes in his book, “The Outer Banks of North Carolina,” that the first documented English settlers on Hatteras Banks, Patrick Mackuen and William Reed, likely arrived there by 1711. People on Hatteras lived by fishing, farming, and piloting boats. They also took cargo from the many shipwrecks that regularly washed ashore from the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

Despite a growing number of families living on Hatteras, the area was slow to develop as a proper town. Isolated and accessible only by water, Hatteras did not abut one of the major inlets that was open during the colonial period. As a result, it was ignored by the same legislative assemblies that facilitated town construction at nearby Portsmouth and Ocracoke islands. Although numerous people resided on the southwestern portion of the island by the late 18th century, colonial maps often showed just the empty banks and the cape. The area known today as Hatteras Village finally gained its first post office in 1858.

Hatteras remained mostly isolated through the 18th and early 19th centuries. But while it did not have obvious economic importance, it did have military significance to any group wanting to approach or protect North Carolina by water. This led to the construction of Confederate forts Hatteras and Clark on Hatteras Inlet in 1861.

The forts were surrendered to Union in the first combined action of the Army and Navy during the Civil War. This success, the first by Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside, helped the Union gain control of the North Carolina coast and allowed for future invasions of Roanoke Island and the eastern part of the state.

The post-Civil War period saw the emergence of coastal life-saving stations. These buildings housed crews organized to rescue victims from shipwrecks using the latest technology, such as the Lyle gun used to shoot rescue lines.

Three U.S. Life-saving Service stations lined Hatteras Island by 1905, from Durants near the village to Cape Hatteras at the eastern end of the island. Along with greater lifesaving capabilities came a new effort at political organization. Dare County, one of the last counties formed in North Carolina, was created in 1870 from what had been parts of Currituck, Hyde and Tyrrell counties to help administer the far-flung islands of the Outer Banks. Its southern boundary was the western tip of Hatteras Island.

The modern village of Hatteras began to develop in the early 20th century. Locals built a string of houses such as the Ellsworth and Lovie Ballance House, circa 1915, one of the oldest structures in the village and a survivor of numerous hurricanes over the past century, according to state historic preservation records. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Growth came mainly from tourism. Greater rail and automobile transportation helped more and more visitors reach the beach from such areas as Raleigh, Charlotte and northern cities. More tourists meant an increase in ferry traffic and the growth of roads that made those ferries accessible, such as the highway that became U.S. 264 connecting Belhaven, Swan Quarter and U.S. Highway 64 near Manns Harbor.

In the 1930s, the conservation movement also brought nature tourism to the island through the authorization of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in 1937, one of the first seashore-protection programs in the country. Conservation protected a unique ecosystem that continues to bring thousands of birding, fishing, and native plant enthusiasts each year. 

With these dynamics in place, Hatteras became a popular vacation destination. Thousands flocked to the coast every summer and engaged in new recreational activities such as surfing and kiteboarding. Demand led to new transportation outlets. The state began to pave roads on Hatteras Island in the 1950s, but it was the completion of the Herbert S. Bonner Bridge in 1963 that provided a direct land connection between Hatteras and the rest of the country.

Soon, the island became home to shops, restaurants and hotels, as well as the familiar fishing shacks and isolated tourist cottages. A 1990 New York Times travel article that praised Hatteras Island’s beach as “one of the loveliest on the East Coast,” also singled out the village for offering “the color of a commercial fishing hub.”

Hatteras has become one of the most popular tourist destinations on the East Coast, growth that has fundamentally altered life in the sleepy fishing village. About 500 residents now live in Hatteras Village fulltime. There are about a dozen restaurants, several seafood markets, general stores, visitor centers, and the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. A number of these businesses operate year-round and cater to both locals and the summer influx of tourists.

Despite these changes, residents largely are thankful that Hatteras retains much of its village charm.

Patricia Peele, a lifelong resident of the island, told Coastal Review that as recently as 15 years ago, it was like “they used to roll the streets up at 9 p.m. on Labor Day.”

Now, there are always tourists, filling a plethora of mini-hotels across the island. But Peele said that despite the changes, she knows that Hatteras is still secluded compared to the rest of the Outer Banks. It is “not built up like a lot of other places are,” and with the protections provided by the National Park Service, growth will likely remain limited.

Still, Hatteras Village faces many of the same challenges as the rest of the Outer Banks, including those related to rising sea levels, limited resources and strong coastal storms.

The Basnight Bridge, which replaced the Bonner Bridge when the 2.8-mile, $254 million project was completed in 2019, keeps Hatteras Island connected to the mainland, and no matter the challenges, people of Hatteras will likely continue to adapt to life on their ocean sandbar — just as they always have.

The public can hear an update on the work taking place to clean up the former Buxton Naval Facility site during the next Restoration Advisory Board meeting.

Doors open to the public at 5:15 p.m. and the meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 17, in the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, 47231 Light Plant Road, Buxton.

The public will be able to ask questions the last 15 minutes of the meeting, starting at 7:15 p.m. People from the community are encouraged to submit questions to CESAS-FUDS@usace.army.mil.

Now called the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site, the area around the Buxton beach access on Hatteras Island was a base for both Navy and Coast Guard operations from 1956 until 2010, when it was returned to the National Park Service. The Formerly Used Defense Sites Program manages the environmental restoration, or cleanup, of properties formerly owned or occupied by the U.S. Defense Department.

Back on Sept. 1, 2023, officials with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore announced that the beach beside the former military site had eroded, uncovering potentially hazardous infrastructure associated with the military’s previous use. This was after surfers and visitors reported a strong smell of petroleum.

Gayle Garland, project manager of the Buxton FUDS property for the Army Corps of Engineers, is to provide an update about the current property environmental restoration projects during the meeting.  

The Corps said last fall that it had removed nearly 4,600 cubic yards of petroleum-laced soil; nearly 100,000 gallons of petroleum-contaminated water; 278,000 pounds of concrete; 1,153 feet of pipe; and 1,088 feet of metal cable and wire.

The section of beach was closed in 2023 because of health and safety concerns related to petroleum contamination and potentially hazardous remnant military infrastructure, until it reopened in June.

This is the second meeting of the advisory board that was selected March 25. The first meeting was April 10. The board does not make decisions, but allows for the community to take part in the cleanup process.

Part of a series about the effects federal budget and staff cuts and the cancellations of programs and services are having in coastal North Carolina.

MANTEO — In the six months since the chaotic and seemingly random cutting in the federal government began, a terrible uneasiness has descended on the northeast corner of North Carolina, where all of the state’s nine national wildlife refuges employ neighbors and family members who live in the rural communities in which they’re located.

At least 10 Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuge Complex staff and five employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s regional Ecological Services office in Raleigh, so far, are believed to have voluntarily left their jobs, whether nudged by coercion or incentives.

With staff forbidden to speak with media, and ongoing legal challenges and limited public information creating uncertainty, no one appears to know what will happen to their refuges.

“I just found out we should be getting some staffing numbers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the next couple of weeks,” Howard Phillips, the Southeastern representative for the National Wildlife Refuge Association, a nonprofit advocacy and support group for the refuges, told Coastal Review, citing informed but unofficial sources. “The dust seems to be settling a little and (the agency) is starting to get a handle on where they stand.”

But Phillips, who retired at the end of 2020 as manager of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Tyrrell County, says he fears that serious consequences are already baked into the refuges’ cake, no matter what the government decides to do. The lack of trust engendered by often abrupt, unexplained cuts of staff, research and budgets as well as the “crippling” brain drain of expertise, experience and local knowledge has only made the situation more problematic.

“Could the administration suddenly decide they want to hire everybody back and start doing conservation again?” he continued. “That would take at least six months, probably 12 months. They’d have to be trained.”

The stark reality, he added, is that without knowing the Trump administration’s timeline or goal in the current upheaval, it’s impossible to understand the long-term impacts and impractical to expect much to change, much less improve.

“I mean, they’ve just given no indication that they’re going to do anything that’s going to reverse the trend right now, which is down, down, down, down,” Phillips said.

An unnamed spokesperson from the agency’s public affairs office ignored Coastal Review’s request to authorize or facilitate a refuge staff interview, but responded to several questions about impacts on North Carolina’s wildlife refuges in a May 23 email.

“As part of the broader efforts led by the Department of the Interior under President Trump’s leadership, we are implementing necessary reforms to ensure fiscal responsibility, operational efficiency, and government accountability,” the spokesperson wrote. “While we do not comment on personnel matters, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remains committed to fulfilling our mission of conserving fish, wildlife, and natural resources for the American people.” 

Refuges in the coastal complex encompass nearly a half-million acres of farmlands, swamp forests and pocosin peatlands, intersected by rivers, streams, canals, lakes and sounds within the nation’s second-largest estuarine system.

The nine refuges — Alligator River, Pea Island, Mackay Island, Currituck, Mattamuskeet, Pocosin Lakes, Cedar Island, Swan Quarter, Roanoke River — are stretched along vast swaths of geography in the coastal plain that provide habitat for unique species and globally important ecosystems.

For instance, the critically endangered wild red wolves, the only surviving in the world, roam within a five-county recovery area based out of Alligator River, descendants of Spanish mustangs range free in Currituck, and thousands of migratory birds and waterfowl passing along the Atlantic Flyway overwinter every year at Mattamuskeet and Pocosin Lakes.

Mattamuskeet, the state’s largest natural lake, is undergoing an innovative and intensive watershed restoration project many years in the planning. And Pocosin Lakes, named for the Native American term for “swamp on hill” because of its boggy peat soil, has been studied by Duke University researchers for its ability to remediate carbon pollution. The refuge has also nearly completed an extensive rewetting project to restore the ability of the pocosin peat to absorb carbon dioxide and resist wildfires.

Two major wildfires in and around the refuge in recent decades have burned deep in the ground for many weeks, spewing tons of carbon back into the environment, with one smoldering for six months before it was finally extinguished.

Therein lies the dilemma — and the risk — to the refuges: What happens when there’s no one available to take proper care of the refuges, and to even continue the conservation mission?

Pocosin Lakes, for instance, with the recent retirement of former manager Wendy Stanton, no longer has a refuge manager.

“You know, with Wendy gone now, I don’t know that there’s anybody left at Pocosin Lakes that really understands that hydrology restoration and how it works,” Phillips said.

But it’s more than the upper-level staff, said Bonnie Strawser, president of the Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society, a local nonprofit group that supports all of the eastern North Carolina refuges. It’s also the loss of staff that maintain buildings and trails, she said, as well as the biologists who monitor water and test soil.

Strawser, who retired in 2020 after 40 years with Fish and Wildlife as visitor services manager, said that the project leader for Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuge Rebekah Martin has designated acting managers in each refuge, but that’s in addition to their regular jobs with the refuges.

Martin is based at the agency’s Roanoke Island headquarters but is not authorized to speak to reporters. According to a 2023 article on the coastal refuges website, Martin oversees about 400,000 acres of habitat with more than a dozen endangered or threatened species. At the time, it said, the complex had 35 employees and more than 400 volunteers.

“We are currently down to 10 staff, and this is regular O and M — operations and maintenance — funded by general funding, refuge funding,” Strawser said in a recent interview. “Now that does not include firefighters or law enforcement, because they are funded through different programs.”

Strawser said that there were no probationary employees in eastern North Carolina, so no one had been outright fired. Some staff who agreed to resign under one of the agency’s two rounds of the deferred resignation program, she said, were quickly shut down and put on administrative leave for varied periods of time while collecting their salaries.

Cuts in both the U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service will also hamper the agencies cooperative response to wildfires and disasters, including with the national interagency incident management teams. Strawser is a member of one of three teams in the southern area.

“I don’t know what in the world we’re going to do when fire season comes,” she said. “They stood down our team. It’s not going to be available, they said, at least until after July.”

As Strawser noted, a lot goes on behind the scenes to keep the refuges humming, including procedural processes to keep records and run programs, as well as have sponsors to maintain the “casual hire” personnel to respond to emergencies.

“But the Fish and Wildlife Service, because they lost so many people in the administrative positions, they don’t have anybody to handle the payments and the travel, so they can’t sponsor” for a team member, she said.

For the time being, the public many not notice much difference when they go to a refuge, Strawser said.

“The visitor centers are run by volunteers,” she said. “The public programs are conducted mostly by volunteers.” But there’s only three maintenance people for their nine national wildlife refuges.

“There’s been no talk of closing anything, but it’s just common sense there will problems if there’s nobody to grade the roads, if there’s nobody to do the mowing on the road shoulders, she said. “And if there’s no ‘daylighting’ of the roads, they’ll get overgrown, the sun won’t reach down, and the mud doesn’t dry out and the road is destabilized and before you know it, they’re not drivable.”

Mike Bryant, who was succeeded by Martin, had served as refuge manager for 20 years, from 1996 to 2016, and he witnessed decreasing support for the refuges from the federal government, he told Coastal Review in an interview. After retirement, he had also served as consultant for the National Wildlife Refuge Association, and was former president of the Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society. Although he said he keeps in touch, he is no longer directly involved with either group.

Since about 2010, Bryant said there has been a steady decline in staffing.

“You have refuges where there were multiple people, and with some of them, there’s just one person left, and so that’s part of the story,” he said. “So it had nothing to do with the past 60 or 90 days, whatever it is now.”

But it’s not just mandated reductions in staff that threaten the refuges, he said. The management challenge is also an aging workforce that may not be replaced.

“You got over half a million acres of National Wildlife Refuge in multiple counties, and spanning across North Carolina to the Virginia border, with all kinds of infrastructure and management mandates and no staff to get those mandates done,” Bryant said. “They’re just wondering, how are we going to meet our responsibilities if we’re the only ones left? It’s a morale buster.”

After being fully staffed around 2003, he said it seemed as if the Department of Interior stopped prioritizing conservation and Congress slowly began losing interest in supporting the refuges.

“The Fish and Wildlife budget has so many facets to it, so many other responsibilities under various laws, endangered species and ecological services and all these other entities within the agency, fisheries and all those things, are all important,” Bryant said. “But Congress was never convinced to budget specifically for operations and maintenance of national wildlife refuges.”

Meanwhile, scores of new refuges came on line in the last 25 years. And rather than hiring more personnel, more work was heaped on less staff.

“I was hired in 1996 to manage Alligator River and Pea Island,” Bryant said. “Two years later, when the manager left Mackey Island and Currituck refuges, the regional office called me and said, ‘Hey, we want you to manage those two.’ All of a sudden, I had four refuges.”

Two years later, he was told to hire and supervise a new manager at Pocosin Lakes. Then staff was reduced, forcing him to share staff between the refuges. Next, Roanoke River was added to his responsibilities — along with the 90-minute drive each way. During all those years, he was bumped up just one pay grade.

Bryant said he gets why people get frustrated with the inefficient, cumbersome aspects of the federal government. But he remembers back when the Clinton administration had reduced both staffing and regulations, and not only succeeded, but ended up with a balanced budget.

“We went through all of those things without ever feeling like the sky is falling,” he said. Rather than taking rational steps to achieve efficiency, the interest now seems more in “just destroying the government, constantly degrading it, and yes, crafting corruption.”

“There’s a few bad actors, no doubt, always, in every organization everywhere, no matter what the enterprise,” Bryant added. “There was a rational process to deal with bad employees, grounded in policy. And the policy was grounded in regulation, and the regulation was grounded in law.”

The first official unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System was Pelican Island in Florida, established for conservation in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Today there are 570 refuges and 30 wetland management districts on more than 150 million acres entrusted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and enjoyed by 69 million visitors.

Bryant is rooting for not just survival of the struggling refuge system, but its revival.

“I think we’ll recover,” he said. “I’m optimistic about that. But we’ll be deeply scarred.”

State and local law enforcement officials are reminding visitors to the Masonboro Island Reserve this coming holiday weekend to stay safe, be prepared and be respectful of the research and dedicated state nature preserve.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office urge the public to “act responsibly” while visiting the reserve through the July 4 weekend.

“As you enjoy Masonboro Island or any of North Carolina’s Coastal Reserve or National Estuarine Research Reserve sites this July Fourth, we urge you to respect this unique natural habitat by practicing responsible recreation and leaving no trace,” Division of Coastal Management Director Tancred Miller said in a release. “Your care and cooperation are essential to protecting the island’s wildlife, research opportunities and preserving its beauty for future generations.”

Miller noted the division’s collaboration with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, “which helps ensure the safety of visitors” to the reserve.

Visitors should not attempt to swim across Masonboro Inlet.

If you plan to visit any of the state’s reserve sites you are encouraged to review the visitors guidelines and safety information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related: Take a hike Saturday to celebrate National Trails Day

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

Jockey’s Ridge is a remarkably complex environmental wonder.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Celebrate National Trails Day Saturday by taking a hike in one of the many publicly accessible lands in North Carolina.

Related: Jockey’s Ridge State Park celebrates 50 years

“Aptly named the ‘Great Trails State,'” the national event observed the first Saturday in June “highlights the tremendous benefits that our state, federal and local trails provide, from recreational opportunities to fostering a deeper connection with nature,” according to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Officials are encouraging the public to mark the day by attending a trail event, going on a hike at one of the many parks and wildlife refuges in the state, or volunteering to help with upkeep.

To find a hiking trail or outdoor activity near you, visit websites for The Great Trails State, the North Carolina State Parks, the National Park Service, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The nonprofit partner for national parks on the Outer Banks has opened its annual program that allows supporters to symbolically adopt sea turtle nests along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Outer Banks Forever, a a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the official fundraising partner of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial, organizes the Adopt A Sea Turtle Program raises funds for projects at the national seashore, which protects more than 30,000 acres from south Nags Head to the Ocracoke Inlet.

A donation of $100 or more reserves a 2025 sea turtle nest. Nest assignments begin in early June and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.  

As nests become available for adoption, the donor will be assigned a nest and will receive an adoption certificate by mail or email with initial information about the nest.

When the nest hatches later in the summer or fall, the supporter will receive a personalized update in the mail with information National Park Service rangers collect about your nest, including the number of hatchlings that made their way out to sea. The average incubation time for our nests is 61 days.

National Park Service rangers monitor the 70-plus miles making up the seashore and gather data about the hundreds of sea turtle nests laid each season.

Leatherback, loggerhead, green, Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridleys are the five species of sea turtles that typically nest on national seashore beach. There were more than 300 sea turtle nests in 2024 along the national seashore, including rare Kemp’s Ridley and Leatherback sea turtle nests.

“No individual or group who participates in this program can claim ownership of a sea turtle nest, eggs, or hatchlings. Nature is also unpredictable. If your adopted nest is lost to a weather event or damaged by some other means, we will assign you a new nest that may or may not be shared with another individual or group,” organizers said.

Contact Development & Adoption Programs Manager Nicole Erickson at nicoleerickson@obxforever.org with questions.

Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center has announced its summer Parlor Talk Series schedule.

The museum is headquartered on Harkers Island, and has a satellite location at 806 Arendell St., in downtown Morehead City, where the talks will take place.

The talks are scheduled for 2 p.m. every Thursday from June 19 to Aug. 28 and will be in the upstairs parlor. No reservations are needed. Accessible accommodations are available.

The following is the 2025 summer series schedule:

• June 19 “The Education of an Island Boy: Growing up on Harkers Island” with author Joel Hancock.
• June 26 “Menhaden: A Biologist’s Thirty-Two Year Journey with the Fish and the Fishery” with author Joe Smith.
• July 3 Horses of Shackleford Banks with Cape Lookout National Seashore Wildlife Biologist Dr. Sue Stuska and Foundation for Shackleford Horses.
• July 10 “Growing Up in Old Beaufort” with Geoffrey Adair, lifelong resident.
• July 17 “Eastern North Carolina’s Baseball Heroes” with Frank Tursi, author of “Tar Heel Boys of Summer: North Carolina’s Major League Ballplayers.”
• July 24 “Songs & Stories About the People I Love” with Connie Mason.
• July 31 New programs at Carteret Community College with its president, Dr. Tracy Mancini.
• Aug. 7 “Language and Life on Ocracoke” with two of its authors, Candy Gaskill and Walt Wolfram.
• Aug. 14 “The Value of Diamonds: A coastal North Carolina Down East Novel” with author, Lura J. Salter Hill.
• Aug. 21 “Flooding – More Than You Know” with researchers James Collins, Ryan McCune, Dr. Katherine Anarde and others.
• Aug. 28 “Fish House Liars Keep Telling The Tales” with Rodney Kemp and Chris Yeomans.

The satellite site and gift shop in downtown Morehead City is open year-round and carries curated collection of locally sourced gifts, art, home and outdoor decor, books, jewelry and much more.

The museum at 1785 Island Road on Harkers Island houses permanent exhibits on Carteret County’s heritage and history, traveling exhibits and serves as a community meeting place.

Past parlor talks are archived for viewing on the museum’s website.

Visitors to the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort are being reminded to keep a safe distance from wild horses that call the reserve home after human disturbance led to a foal being separated for hours from its mother earlier this month.

A 6-day-old foal was separated May 10 from its mother “following disturbance by humans on foot and boats,” according to a North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality release.

Several days after the foal was reunited with its mother, the young, wild horse and its social group were coaxed by a visitor on the reserve.

“Although these visitors likely did not mean harm, their behavior is illegal and can be dangerous for both the horses and visitors,” Paula Gillikin, the division’s horse herd manager for reserve, said in the release. “In particular, survival of foals can be compromised by disruptions to their natural behaviors such as nursing and resting. The first few years of a wild horse’s life are critical to their long-term survival.”

Visitors to the reserve should maintain a lawful distance of at least 50 feet away. More distance is recommended when a foal is present. Similar rules apply around wild horses roaming Shackleford Banks.

“We realize visitors and boaters are excited about seeing the new baby, but we need your help to ensure it can survive,” the reserve posted on social media.

Beaufort also has an ordinance prohibiting the harassment of wild horses and coming within 50 feet of the animals.

“While these instances are occurring more and more and being posted to social media, the most effective way to immediately address this situation is to contact my staff by call 252-726-1911,” Beaufort Police Chief Paul Burdette said in the release. “Timely identification is critical in not only protecting the horses, but for effective enforcement up to and including the issuance of citations.”

The presence of horses on the Rachel Carson Reserve goes back to the 1940s, when a local resident brought the animals to the area, where they eventually became wild, living primarily on saltmarsh cordgrass. They dig for fresh water.

Coastal Reserve staff and volunteers continually monitor the wild horse herd. Locals help protect the horses by reporting harassment, educating visitors, and participating in the volunteer Pony Patrol program.

Visitors who witness a violation on the Rachel Carson Reserve or Shackleford Banks are encouraged, if it is safe, to take a photo of an incident, including boat registration numbers, and report to the Beaufort Police Department.

Beachgoers to Hyde or Dare counties during the busy season can sign up for ocean and beach condition text alerts from Outer Banks lifeguards, ocean rescue agencies and the National Weather Service.

To receive Dare County Emergency Management’s rip current forecast alerts, text OBXBeachConditions to 77295.

“Swimming in the ocean is not the same as swimming in a pool or lake. Wind, waves, the change of the tide, the slope of the beach and other factors can cause strong currents to be present in the water even on the calmest days,” according to Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials.

Rip Currents are “fast flowing channels of water that extend from close to the shoreline through the surf and past the breaking waves,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The easiest way to spot rip currents is from an elevated position overlooking the beach. Look for darker, muddy, or choppier waters than surrounding areas and where waves are not breaking, NOAA continues.

Seashore officials warn that the ocean presents additional hazards, such as lightning, high surf and shore break, and urgers beachgoers to avoid swimming in dangerous situations such as in rough seas and inlets, around fishing piers and surfers, at night or during extreme weather.

To learn more about safely visiting the ocean, beachgoers can check out Dare County’s Love the Beach, Respect the Ocean website, where information on the rip current risk for the day, beach conditions, and more can be found.

Seashore officials recommend swimming at one of its five beaches staffed with lifeguards from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

Lifeguards are at the following locations:

• Coquina Beach Access is across from the Bodie Island Lighthouse site.
• Rodanthe Beach Access, provided by Dare County, is at 23732 N.C. 12.
• Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Beach Access is adjacent to the old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse site.
• Frisco Beach Access is just south of Frisco Village.
• Ocracoke Beach Access is 1.5 miles south of the seashore’s campground or half-mile north of Ocracoke Village.

Masonboro Island Reserve in Wilmington was the latest to be highlighted in a multiyear campaign raising awareness of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and the role of these natural coastal areas.

State officials and guests, including N.C. Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, took a guided boat tour Friday of the reserve followed by a short walk along a trail as part of “Discover the N.C. Coastal Reserve” campaign. This was the fourth stop of the campaign that spotlights the role of the state’s 10 Coastal Reserve sites and programs.

The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve is a department of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management, or DCM. The May 16 afternoon tour kicked off with remarks by DEQ officials, including the department’s Secretary Reid Wilson and Division Director Tancred Miller.

“The Masonboro Island Reserve and our other Coastal Reserve locations are great places to hike, swim, paddle, learn, and relax. Here, people from all over can connect and recharge with nature, all while boosting tourism and our local economy,” Wilson said in a release. “It’s critical that we restore and protect coastal habitats, and I’m proud that our state is a national leader in these efforts. Thanks to our partners, volunteers, commission and advisory committee members, and community leaders who help to preserve these coastal lands and waters for current and future generations.”

The Masonboro Island Reserve, which sits across the Intracoastal Waterway from the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science, spans more than 5,600 acres comprised largely of marsh and tidal flats. It stretches nearly 8.5 miles, and includes 10 different habitat types, including those for various species of concern and threatened species such as loggerhead and green sea turtles, American oystercatchers, black skimmers, Wilson’s plovers, least turns and diamondback terrapins.

“Across our sites and through our stewardship, research, education, and training programs, our work is incumbent on the range of partnerships we foster to accomplish the exciting and challenging work of coastal management,” Coastal Reserve Program Manager Rebecca Ellin said in the release. “A special thanks to each of you who we work with to accomplish our mission. It is our hope that today provides the opportunity to connect and reconnect with this special place, the Masonboro Island Reserve, and with the people and work of many who protect it now and into the future.”

Programs spotlighted at the Masonboro Island Reserve included the science and monitoring at the site and how that information is used to educate and inform decision making, and how the area provides natural buffers to waves and storms, which enhances community resilience.

CMS Executive Director Ken Halanych and William “Bill” Raney, a member of the Masonboro Island Reserve Local Advisory Committee, also spoke.

“UNCW’s Marine Quest program has integrated Reserve-collected environmental data into academic curricula which helps students apply theoretical concepts to real-world environmental events,” Halanych said. ”UNCW’s Research Hatchery Operations team partners with the Reserve to support continuous water quality monitoring at the CMS pier which helps Hatchery staff monitor source water quality for life support systems and supports numerous ongoing research projects in the UNCW Research Sanctuary. This partnership helps grow our coastal workforce.”

The division is celebrating this year the 40th anniversary of North Carolina’s National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is designated by the state and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to protect special places, including Masonboro Island Reserve.

The “Discover the N.C. Coastal Reserve” campaign is to run through 2026 and include guests invited to visit reserves to learn more about the ecosystems they protect and the work occurring at each site. The next tour is expected to take place in the fall.

BUXTON — As anyone who owns an old house knows, repair projects often reveal unfortunate surprises. Such is the case with the first complete restoration of the 155-year-old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, but the remedy will be considerably more complex.

Halfway into the $19.2 million project, potentially dangerous cracks in critical structural components of the tower’s ironwork have been discovered deep in the tower’s upper wall, creating inevitable project delays and unbudgeted cost increases.

In an update on the project provided Thursday during a virtual presentation, Lindsay Gravel, project manager for North Brookfield, Massachusetts-based contractor, Stone & Lime Masonry Restoration Services Inc., detailed recently uncovered degradation of iron support brackets near the top of the 198-foot-tall lighthouse.

Signs of deterioration had been first detected in 3D scans done in August, and engineers decided that further investigation was warranted inside the wall, Gravel told a small group of media.

“After we did this first round of exposure, we had the architectural and engineering team come out on site, and they had some concerns,” she said. “So with the shoring in place, we decided it was beneficial to expose the entirety of these brackets, each and every one.”

Out of the 16 brackets, 13 were severely cracked on the interior flange, and 15 had cracks on the exterior elbow, which engineers determined to be a structural concern. Looking deeper, more cracking was found in the interior web.

“So this has a large crack in this exterior component,” Gravel said, pointing to a slide showing the bracket. “And this is where the observatory deck plate sits on top. So this is where visitors will be walking, which is why these brackets are such a large component of the lighthouse for visitor safety.”

Gravel later added that each of the brackets weigh 2,200 pounds, while each deck plate weighs 1,000 pounds. “So 16 of those brackets, and 16 of those deck plates, it’s a lot of weight up there,” she said.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac said that the National Park Service has not yet determined what the additional work will cost. After a structural engineering model is developed to determine the cause of the cracking, recommendations will be devised for proposed repairs.

“And once we know what that repair prescription looks like, we will develop an estimate to do that work,” he said. “And then once we know what that total is, we’ll determine how we’re going to fund it.”

While he was not happy about the kink in the restoration plan, Hallac emphasized that he is pleased with the overall work.

“We actually have not seen a lot of unknowns in this project,” he said.

The project, which began in late 2023, was initially supposed to be completed in about 18 months.

The unexpected is to be expected during restoration of historic structures, Hallac said, and he lauded Stone & Lime for their expertise.

“They have made incredible progress on this project and done a really good job of working with us as a team to work through the challenges that have come up,” he said. “Because no project on a structure like this that’s unique and over 150 years old is going to move forward without some surprises.”

During her comprehensive review, Gravel provided a brief history of the lighthouse, followed by a head-spinning recitation of the work that has been completed, is underway, and is upcoming.

An overview

First, 25 levels of scaffolding were installed around the lighthouse. Then coatings on the exterior, including the famed swirled black-and-white day mark, and interior, including stairs, hand railings, landing beams, window sills, were removed. Metal components were primed to prevent rust. Mock-ups of new day marks were developed to test how they weather in different lighting.

Also about 700 bricks have been replaced, and 75 bricks repointed with natural cement, the historic stockade fence that went around the keepers’ buildings is being installed, the ornamental fence that had once encircled the lighthouse is being replicated, and landscape plantings have been installed.

Extensive work has also been done on many of the 269 lighthouse steps, parts of which had signs of corrosion, Gravel said. After a small crack was detected in one stair tread, the 255 stairs up to level 10 were surveyed, as well as some others. More than 100 stair treads will be repaired, and 44 treads, four brackets, 200 bolts, 120 nuts and 75 spindles will be replaced.

Gravel showed a photograph taken high up on the spiral staircase, with a missing step providing a dizzying peek of the black hole at the bottom — a view most lighthouse climbers would prefer to avoid.

“It’s not every day that you get to see the lighthouse with a missing tread in it,” Gravel said.

By incorporating the project’s modeling and precision molds created for components, Gravel said the technology helps the contractor’s team streamline its workflow, prevent errors and accurately capture the as-built conditions.

“This result is a high modern, high value approach that supports long term preservation efforts and leaves a detailed digital record to use for the future,” she said.

In 1999, the lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet inland to protect it from the Atlantic Ocean that swirled at its base. Although the dramatic and successful move protected the tower from being taken by the ocean, the historic 1870 lighthouse structure itself was not restored. But after the move, there were projects done to replace degraded stair treads, according to an email from the Park Service, responding to questions from Coastal Review.

After a chunk of metal fell in 2001 from a bracket on the lower staircase, the lighthouse got more attention.

Most of the stair treads were replaced in 2002 and 2008, the Park Service wrote. The current project will install tread replacements to replace those that were not originally replaced and those that are damaged, according to the information. The stair system’s spindles and bolts that hold them and the treads onto the stair stringers have corroded over time and “will be repaired or replaced based on their condition,” the email said.

Cracking in a couple of brackets had been known from investigations in the 1980s, the email said.

“At that time, architects and engineers recommended leaving the damaged lighthouse brackets alone because the load paths — the way that forces on the metal was routed from the top of the lighthouse to other areas — had likely been reestablished through the masonry following the cracking,” the email said. “In other words, any downward forces on the structure from the weight above was now being held up by the bricks in the limited areas where the cracked brackets were observed.”

Though potential cracking was anticipated, the email continued, the extent could not be known without removing multiple layers of brick.

“With substantially more cracking being observed now, bracket repairs or replacements will be necessary for the long-term structural integrity of the tower.”

Typically, about 1,500 visitors a day between April and October climb the lighthouse, the tallest brick beacon in the nation. The lighthouse is likely not going to reopen before 2026, or later depending on the bracket repair timeline. Meanwhile, Cape Hatteras National Seashore is currently developing new plans for climbing, the Park Service said.

“We expect that at least the same number of people will be able to climb annually,” according to the email. “There may be fewer people in the lighthouse at a time to help reduce crowding, but we expect at least the same number of people to be able to climb annually through expanded climbing opportunities throughout the day and year.” 

The Cape Hatteras Light Station store, restrooms and portions of the grounds remain open to visitors.

Long-suspended seasonal ferry service from Hammocks Beach State Park to Bear Island will begin next week.

Ferry service will begin May 14, according to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Division of Parks and Recreation, after being suspended since April 2024 as a result of a major water and sewer construction project at Bear Island.

Reservations at the island’s primitive tent and group campsites are also opening on May 14.

Service will run on an hourly basis May 14-18 and again May 21-22. There will be no service May 19-20.

The ferry will run every 30 minutes beginning May 23 through Memorial Day. Then, beginning May 27, hourly service will be offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and every 30 minutes Thursdays-Sundays and holidays, until Labor Day.

Service will start at 9:30 a.m. daily and end at 6 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend and 5 p.m. all other dates.

Round-trip tickets are $10 for adults ages 13-61, $5 for children ages 3-12, and seniors 62 and older. Tickets for children 2 and under are free.

A 2025 N.C. State Parks Annual Pass and a 2025 N.C. State Parks Annual Pass with four-wheel-drive beach access cover up to four ferry tickets daily.

Camping is $20 per night, including a $3 nonrefundable reservation fee, for tent sites and $50 for group camping. Campers must pay for one set of roundtrip tickets to use the ferry.

Campers who stay multiple nights have have purchased one set of roundtrip tickets are allowed one free ferry roundtrip ride per day during their stay.

Pets are prohibited on the ferry and collapsible-only carts or wagons are allowed.

The full ferry schedule is available at ncparks.gov/habe/ferry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Frisco-based real estate company is requesting that Dare County remove language in an ordinance that restricts building multifamily dwellings in the half-mile buffer around the 1,007-acre Buxton Woods Reserve on Hatteras Island.

A public hearing on the proposed text amendment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday as part of the county board of commissioners’ regular meeting taking place in the commissioners meeting room, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo.

Related: Protective zone around Buxton Woods may be unenforceable

The 1,868-acre special environmental district, or SED, called the “zone of influence” in the ordinance is solely in Buxton and Frisco. The district surrounds the Cape Hatteras well fields within the state-protected Buxton Woods Reserve. The Cape Hatteras well fields help supply portions of Hatteras Island with potable water. 

The applicant, OBX Timber Trail LLC, is requesting the county “remove the Zone of Influence Dwelling Density Limitation for multi-family development, townhouses, or condominium projects located within ½ mile of any SED-1 zoning district boundary,” from the ordinance, according to the public hearing notice.

The Coastal Resources Commission, or CRC, adopted rules in 1977 to establish an area of environmental concern, or AEC, around the Cape Hatteras well fields. The AEC boundaries measured 500 feet on either side of the centerline of the existing well field, according to county documents.

The commission in 1987 amended the rules to expand the boundaries from 500 feet to 1,000 feet on either side of existing and future well fields. The commission also established standards for development and the use of groundwater absorption sewage treatment systems within the boundary of the area of environmental concern, and required development proposals to obtain a Coastal Area Management Act, or CAMA, permit. 

The county adopted the special environmental district language in 1988 to create “additional development standards to further protect lands internal to and outside of the CRC’s AEC to protect the groundwater of the well field and protect the natural resource that is the Buxton Woods.”

Petitioners argue in their zoning amendment application that “Dare County along with the rest of the nation has a housing crisis and limitations to the number of single-family dwelling units within ½ mile of the SED-1 zoning district effectively eliminates the number of housing configurations and density that can be constructed in all of Buxton and most of Frisco.”

Petitioners also argue that the zoning district “targets residential uses but ignores other uses with much higher intensities such as Motels/Hotels, RV Parks, Restaurants, Marinas and boat works, etc.”

The county planning board on April 1 unanimously recommended to remove the zone of influence language in its entirety based on consistency with the Dare County Land Use Plan. County staff requested that the board “act favorably on the proposed amendment as recommended by the Planning Board” following the public hearing, according to agenda documents.

Any person may comment at the hearing or submit written comments by mail to the Dare County Board of Commissioners at P.O. Box 1000 Manteo, NC 27954 or email to dcboc@darenc.gov or noah.gillam@darenc.gov.

Reprinted from The Outer Banks Voice

Speaking April 16 to a room of more than 40 concerned residents gathered in the former Buxton Volunteer Fire Station, Dare County Planning Director Noah Gillam addressed community concerns over the fate of a zone of influence district designed to protect Buxton Woods Reserve.

The zone of influence is an area on the soundside of N.C. Highway 12 from Billy Mitchell Airport Road north to the Buxton and Cape Hatteras National Seashore boundary. The zone may have been written to give extra protection to the maritime forest when it was established as a reserve site in 1988 by the North Carolina Coastal Reserve, a land protection program under the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

But based on what came to light during the meeting organized by the Buxton Civic Association, the zone of influence was not referenced in Buxton or Frisco zoning ordinances for at least 30 years, and apparently the Dare County Planning Department was not aware of it.

In April, a request for a text amendment for a fourth apartment in a three-apartment building in Frisco brought the zone of influence language to Gillam’s attention. Based on that, the variance would not be a permitted use. But there are legal questions about whether the 1988 ordinance can be applied and is enforceable, and whether anything can or should be done about apparent nonconforming uses within the zone of influence.

Gillam said he learned of the zone of influence ordinance when researching a request from New Jersey resident Brian Suth, who owns an office building in Frisco that is part of the S-1 zoning district, requested information on converting the offices to four apartments.

“The language that’s in the (zone of influence) ordinance prohibits him from doing that,” Gillam said “So he has requested (removing) the density limitation for multi-family housing that was established in September of 1988.”

The S-1 district is defined as allowing “broad flexibility of services and uses while establishing certain density limitations, setbacks, parking requirements and other general requirements.” Based on that description, Suth’s request would have been allowed. However, based on the language in the zone of influence, the additional apartment could not be permitted.

The zone of influence ordinance was apparently designed to stop a proposed 40-unit condominium project according to Alyson Flynn, coastal advocate and environmental economist with the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

“There are minutes that point to a 40-unit development that was denied originally,” Flynn said. Gillam agreed, noting, “That was the triggering point of what created the language in ’88,” he said. The zone of influence language is very specific, reading, “No multi-family development, townhouses, or condominium project located with ½ mile of any SED-1 zoning district shall exceed a dwelling density of three single family units…per acre or usable land area.”

The SED-1 district is the special environmental district that includes Buxton Woods in Buxton and Frisco and contains the most restrictive language of any county zone. The zone of influence borders the SED-1 zone, but it is not part of it.

The ordinance was written in 1988, but references to the zone of influence were not included in zoning language for either Frisco or Buxton. Because some of the provisions in the zone of influence are more restrictive than the zoning requirements in those communities, state law requires a reference to the additional zoning language, Gillam explained.

As it stands right now, the zone of influence ordinance may not meet the legal standards of the state.

“There’s a (North Carolina) general statute that establishes that if you make an amendment ordinance and you don’t codify it throughout the ordinance to the lands it affects, that ordinance is not legal…That’s what we’re investigating now with the county attorney. Is this language even enforceable?” Gillam said.

Whether or not it is enforceable, Gillam said, the ordinance is flawed. He pointed out that if the purpose was to restrict high-impact development, it failed to do so.

Flynn agreed with Gillam, noting that “It seems like this ordinance was put into place to stop a specific development that the county didn’t want…so in that sense it has worked because there aren’t 40-unit condominiums in Buxton or Frisco,” she said. “But Noah is exactly right. There could be a hotel there, and that’s where it starts to get hairy, because on one hand, it seems like it did its job, but on the other hand, it very clearly has not.”

There are other concerns as well. Asked if, based on the zone of influence language, there are nonconforming uses, Gillam answered, “When you look at Buxton, or just in the zone of influence area, I think I counted seven campgrounds that have a density way surpassing three units per acre.”

Pressed by The Voice to address what would happen to the zone of influence language if it were successfully challenged in court, Gillam answered, “It would be struck from the ordinance.”

“And that is what (county manager) Bobby Outten is investigating right now,” Commissioner Mary Ellon Ballance added.

It is unclear what, if any, effect removing the zone of influence ordinance would have. The zoning language has not been applied since it stopped the 40-unit condominium in 1988, and monitoring of the 1,007-acre Buxton Woods, which is the “largest remaining contiguous tract of Maritime Evergreen Forest on the Atlantic coast,” according to the Buxton Woods website, has shown it to be a healthy maritime forest.

Asked by the Voice what she felt the next steps should be to address concerns about the zone of influence ordinance, Ballance noted “There’s a lot of unknowns at this point, other than our first step has got to be a determination of whether this is even enforceable.”

She wondered if there could be “a 30-day freeze on building and on any new permitting within the zone of influence.” And in suggesting a moratorium on new permitting, Ballance’s position was similar to comments Flynn made during the meeting.

“I think we need to just take a step back and look at what removal of this ordinance would look like. Find more information so we can make an informed decision,” she said.

This story is provided courtesy of The Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review partners with The Voice to provide readers with more stories of interest about our coast.

BUXTON – Just north of Cape Hatteras, businesses along a small stretch of soundside beach colloquially known as Canadian Hole have become a microcosm and barometer of a newly fraught international relationship.

Windsurfers from Canada have reliably flocked to the Outer Banks since the 1980s, and they were later joined by kiteboarders when that sport took off in the 1990s. But the Trump administration’s recent threats to annex the nation’s northern neighbor, followed by the U.S. imposing tariffs on trade, have triggered a backlash among our otherwise would-be Canadian visitors.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows that visitors crossing the Canadian border into the U.S. dropped 12.5% in February and 18% in March, according to an April 18 NBC News report. In 2023, about 20.7 million visitors from Canada visited the U.S.

Although there have been cancellations, local watersports shops say that plenty of Canadians are still visiting the Outer Banks because of its renowned conditions for windsurfing and kiteboarding.

With spring bringing warmer temperatures and a nice southwest wind, the northern watersport enthusiasts are starting to arrive on the Outer Banks for the season.

“I’ve put up a Canadian and a U.S. flag,” said Brian Klauser, owner of Ocean Air Sports in Avon.

Klauser said he had received “tremendous feedback” from his regulars.

“All of my customers are repeat customers. You can set your watch to it,” he told Coastal Review.

And, as Klauser noted, these visitors are dedicated.

“They’re not just coming for a week,” he said. “They’re coming for two to eight weeks, because they love it here.”

Pamlico Sound’s Canadian Hole, a watersports destination between Avon and Buxton on Hatteras Island, is often referred to as the Haulover Day Use Area. With its shallow, wide-open water, mild weather and windy conditions, the spot has earned a reputation among enthusiasts, along with some other Outer Banks beaches, as the premier windsurfing and kiteboarding destination on the East Coast.

All of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands are within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

“We get a lot of Canadians in the shop and there’s a lot of return folks we talk to,” Chris Rutledge, a salesman at REAL Watersports in Waves, a Hatteras Island village north of Avon, told Coastal Review. “It’s probably down a little bit, but I’m seeing a lot of people down in Canadian Hole.”

Any kiteboarders and windsurfers from northern climates who may still have snow on the ground appreciate that spring is a great time of the year on Hatteras Island to enjoy their sport, he said. Those conditions remain favorable into fall.

“This area is so special,” Rutledge said. There’s plenty of unobstructed space in the sound to ride, or to catch waves in the ocean, he explained, yet the spot is smaller and less crowded than other destinations.

Despite that difference — and despite the unpredictable tariff-wielding elephant raging in the background — politics is sidestepped by businesses here as much as possible.

“We appreciate our Canadian customers,” said Stacey Saunders, the general manager of Frisco Woods Campground on Hatteras Island. She emphasized in a recent interview with Coastal Review that the business tries to avoid anything political, but she has heard some outspoken opinions from even the campground’s most loyal Canadian customers.

“We believe in your right to free speech,” she said in a comment directed specifically to Canadians and the right to express their political opinions, while she, herself, wanted to avoid politics.

Numerous Canadian customers have blamed politics or a sense of feeling unsafe for deciding not to come back to the Outer Banks, said Saunders. She cited a recent email as an example. 

“I’m sorry to inform you we wish to cancel our May camping reservation due to Mr. Trump,” explained the author of an email that she read aloud. “We will probably return in four years when Mr. Trump is president no longer.”

Saunders said that, so far, there had been only a “moderate” number of cancellations from Canadians, and about 80% have been from repeat customers.

Still, she noted, sites reserved for June and July mostly by windsurfers and kiters are not canceling. The campground, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, has a large waterfront launching area that makes it very popular with these visitors.

“They’re very loyal and have been here for years,” she said.

One notable cancellation was a “caravan” of Canadians who had reserved 23 campsites, which equals about 60 people, she said.

“We’ve also lost store revenue,” she added, “because if they’re not here, they’re not purchasing anything.”

But looking on the bright side, Saunders said that the canceled reservations open more sites on the soundside – and potentially for new customers.

An April 10 post on Reddit by ParkingKnowledge6105, said that his group of 25 Canadians, who have traveled to Cape Hatteras for about 30 years for a monthlong vacation, have all canceled.

“It is hard to underplay how deeply offensive the Trump 51st state bs has been. Or the lies about fentanyl or balance of commerce,” according to the post. “You guys have no idea how pissed off Canadians are , and dismayed by how many still support Trump. A lifelong friendship was thrown under the bus.”

Keith Croghan, owner of The Sea Monkey Lodge & Kite School on Ocracoke Island, said the island always has its share of visiting windsurfers and kiteboarders, although not as many at Hatteras Island.

And not yet this year.

“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Canadians,” he recently told Coastal Review. “So the impact on us is even greater.”

Ocracoke, a small island on the far-south end of the Outer Banks, is — more than most — dependent on tourism revenue.

‘I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Canadians.’

— Keith Croghan, The Sea Monkey Lodge & Kite School, Ocracoke Island

“Yeah, we really feel it when people don’t show up,” said Croghan, who has run the The Sea Monkey Lodge & Kite School for 15 years.

“I would like to consider Ocracoke a sanctuary,” he added. “If any Canadians feel ostracized by all this, tell them they’re welcome to come down and visit our special little island here on the Republic of Ocracoke.”

Lee Nettles, executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, also prefers to look beyond the current gloom of uncertain times.

“We, of course, welcome international guests, and we want to continue welcoming international guests,” he told Coastal Review. “But from the last statistics that I saw, Canadian visitors are less than 1% of our overall visitation. So in terms of the real business impact, it remains to be seen, but I don’t expect it to be great.”

Most Outer Banks visitors drive from Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and other northeastern states. And, he added, tourists from Canada represented about 50% of total international visitation.

As the 2020 pandemic showed, Nettles said, the Outer Banks’ reputation for its natural environment and wide-open beaches is sought out as a refuge during stressful periods. That and being an affordable drive-to destination has somewhat sheltered the barrier islands from the same shocks other destinations may experience.

“Everybody’s calling for a soft year,” Nettles said about other tourism areas in the state, “and it seems like we’re in better shape than a lot of folks.”

Over the years, Dare County has proven to possess a remarkable ability to not only recover from various shocks, but also to come back strong.

In 2023, the most recent available data, Dare’s total visitor spending was $2.15 billion, about 9% higher than the previous year. State taxes were $70.4 million and the local taxes were $77.9 million, totaling $148 million for the year. Combined with the visitor spending, the total of $3,891 per capita is the highest of any county in North Carolina.

As far threats of layoffs or funding decreases in the national parks and refuges, Nettles said he doesn’t yet know details and won’t speculate on impacts except to say he has confidence in the management.

“Obviously the national and state parks and our refuges are hugely important tourism assets and are greatly valued by our visitors,” he said.

The Outer Banks tourism-based economy has survived a series of human-made and natural disasters, and not just hurricanes.

“I think the storms come in different forms,” Nettles said.

“We’re no stranger to challenges. We’ve had wildfires, road closures, bridge closures. We’ve had recessions, we’ve had government shutdowns, and COVID,” he said. “All of which to say, tourism has been real resilient despite natural and man-made challenges.”

First in a new commentary feature, Tabb’s Trails.

Verdant and beautiful, coastal North Carolina boasts hidden treasures of nature. For the most part, the maritime forest reserves and parks that are found throughout the area require no special equipment or knowledge to explore, just a willingness to spend some time enjoying the environment’s beauty and the unexpected surprises it offers.

Sandy Run Park on the The Woods Road in Kitty Hawk is a 16-acre town park. The trail is a completely level, half-mile loop around a pond and marsh that is half boardwalk and half gravel and packed soil.

For birdwatchers, it is a small slice of paradise with a remarkable variety of birds in the trees and feeding in the ponds. For families with children, it is as good an introduction as there could be to the beauty and fascination of the natural world.

Spring has returned to Sand Run Park in Kitty Hawk.

Regular visitors for the past four or five years, the osprey pair have been busy repairing their nest that was destroyed in a storm last September.

As the weather warms, the winter residents leave, and there is perhaps no winter bird as ubiquitous as the yellow-rumped warbler. It’s rare to see one after April 1.

By Outer Banks standards, it was a snowy winter with one storm covering Sandy Run with more than 6 inches of snow. Among the reeds in the marsh a downy woodpecker found a meal.

During spring, summer and fall, the waters of Sandy Run are most alive. If there is symbol for the park, it would be the yellow-bellied sliders. There are also large snapping turtles and an occasional painted turtle, but it’s the yellow-bellied sliders that can be seen everywhere in the ponds.

For families with children, lettuce is a great snack for the turtles.

With abundant fish, frogs and food, blue heron are regular residents, but they are not the only member of the heron family to call Sandy Run home.

Especially in the spring and summer, green heron perch on tree limbs and deadfall.

Woodpeckers have been working on the trees for years. Red-bellied woodpeckers are the most common, although downy woodpeckers are seen from time to time, as well as an occasional pileated woodpecker.

Talkative, highly visible and ever-present, tweeting cardinals are year-round residents.

In the summer, the dense foliage of a maritime forest surrounding a coastal marsh teems with life. The intense red of trumpet vines seems to attract pollinators in extraordinary numbers.

Part of Duck Pond Creek, Sandy Run is a catch-and-release-only fishing site with three kayak launches. The creek connects with Kitty Hawk Bay, although paddling to the bay includes a carry on foot across The Woods Road.

Visitors to the Bodie Island Lighthouse will soon get the option to climb its more than 200 steps to experience breathtaking views of the Pamlico Sound and Atlantic Ocean.

The National Park Service recently announced that the lighthouse will be open daily for climbing between April 18 to Oct. 13.

A total of 214 steps spiral to the observation deck of the 156-foot-tall lighthouse.

Tickets for this experience may be purchased only on the day the visitor intends to climb. Tickets go on sale at 7 a.m. and are available for purchase at  www.recreation.gov/ticket/252034/ticket/10087143.

Visitors are encourage to create their own recreation.gov account before purchasing tickets. For additional information about climbing lighthouses, you may visit www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/lighthouseclimbs.htm.

Ongoing restoration efforts of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse will shutter climbing opportunities this year.

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

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

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

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

The newly formed restoration advisory board for the Buxton Naval Facility Formerly Used Defense Site will meet for the first time Thursday, April 10, at the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club in Buxton.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the doors at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting is from 6:30-8 p.m. The last 15 minutes of the meeting have been reserved for questions. Officials encourage the public to submit questions before the meeting to Cesas-FUDS@usace.army.mil.

The advisory group is expected to review and approve operating procedures, elect the community co-chair and receive an update on the current Buxton Naval Facility restoration projects.

While the stakeholder advisory group, which was selected March 25, does not make decisions, it allows community members to be part of the environmental restoration process and influence cleanup decisions.

The Buxton Naval Facility Formerly Used Defense Sites, or FUDS, property was used by the U.S. Navy as a submarine monitoring station under a special permit from the National Park Service from 1956 to 1982. The U.S. Coast Guard then used the property until 2010, when it was returned to Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The National Park Service in September 2023 alerted the Corps that organic material with a petroleum odor had washed up on the beach during a storm surge related to Hurricane Idalia.

The following year, there were “reports of petroleum, sheen, and odors at the property were sporadic and limited to a three-tenths of a mile section of beach,” and in early 2024, remnants of military infrastructure was exposed after an erosion event, according to the Corps.

The Army Corps said in a release this week that it is working to remove visible petroleum-impacted soil and sample soils along the beach and dunes that have exhibited odors and sheen. Future action includes soil and groundwater sampling within the project area to determine the nature and extent of petroleum contamination.

For more information, visit Buxton Naval Facility (army.mil), or email Cesas-FUDS@usace.army.mil.

Two of the committees that help steer the types of programs and management of coastal reserves in the state are set to meet later this month.

Spring local advisory committee meetings of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve are open to the public. The meetings are in-person only.

The local advisory committee for the Rachel Carson Reserve is scheduled for 3 p.m. April 22 in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Beaufort Laboratory administration building 101, Pivers Island Road in Beaufort.

The committee for the Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve will meet at 1 p.m. April 23 in Kitty Hawk Town Hall.

Committee members are residents, representatives from community organizations, government agencies and nongovernmental partner organizations who provide guidance and feedback on program activities and site management to the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve.

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.

The National Park Service is asking the public to provide input for a study to determine the feasibility and suitability of designating a future national heritage area that includes the Great Dismal Swamp and other areas in North Carolina and Virginia.

A 60-day comment period for the Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Feasibility Study began last week and continues through May 19. More information about the study and survey questions are available online.

To inform the public about the study and solicit comments, the park service has scheduled virtual meetings for 4 p.m. Tuesday, noon Wednesday and 6 p.m. Wednesday. Links to the meetings will be posted beforehand on the project website.

Officials said public input “is both necessary and critical to this study. The study team seeks to learn more about the region from the people who know it best.”

Feedback will help inform the work of assessing the Great Dismal Swamp study area as a potential national heritage area, officials continued.

The study was authorized in 2023 in a measure that identified Camden, Currituck, Gates, and Pasquotank counties in North Carolina and the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk and Isle of Wight County.

The study is to assess the evidence of community support, including businesses, residents, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

“The study will gather and assess the region’s unique and important American stories, how they can be experienced by the public and how a coordinating entity could organize a potential National Heritage Area if Congress were to designate one,” officials said.

The study is expected to run through 2026. The study’s assessment, along with any recommendations from the Interior secretary, will be reported to Congress.

Comments may be submitted by visiting the project website, clicking “Links” on the left, and then “Open for Comment;” or by mail to National Park Service, Denver Service Center, Attn: Great Dismal Swamp NHA / Julie Bell, 1 Federal Center, Building 50, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225.

Featured Image

An angler recently tries his luck from beneath the Scuppernong River Bridge on the the Scuppernong River Boardwalk at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge visitor center in Columbia, in Tyrrell County. Money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was appropriated to replace the boardwalk, a project that was announced to take place in fiscal 2026. Congress directly appropriated $455 million to the refuge over five years for programs related to the previous administration’s America the Beautiful initiative announced in 2021. The nonprofit National Wildlife Refuge Association has said that continuing resolutions, such as the emergency funding bill signed into law last week, throw refuges into chaos and uncertainty and can prevent new project starts. Photo: Mark Hibbs

Update March 18: The post has been updated to include the correct email address. The previously published email address was provided to Coastal Review in error.

Got a kayak, smart phone and basic math skills?

If the answer is yes, you’re eligible to participate in this year’s Terrapin Tally.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal management Coastal Reserve program and partners from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, N.C. State Parks, Bald Head Island Conservancy, N.C. Audubon, N.C. Aquariums and National Park Service are seeking volunteers to count the elusive diamondback terrapin in their coastal habitat from Carteret County to Brunswick County.

This year marks the 11th Terrapin Tally, a community science project created to collect a snapshot of the diamondback terrapin population numbers in the state. Literal headcounts are conducted from volunteers on kayaks during specific times and predetermined routes.

These surveys, over time, will provide wildlife biologists with population statistics and trends of diamondback terrapins. Tallies collected have contributed to new research projects and management programs for terrapin populations at Masonboro island Reserve and other coastal sites.

“Many NC Coastal Reserve sites provide ideal habitat for diamondback terrapins, and we are excited to continue these efforts for the 11th year alongside the NC Wildlife Resources Commission,” Elizabeth Pinnix, Coastal Reserve southern sites manager, said in a release. “These data are important in understanding terrapin population trends and contribute to informed management decisions to protect this estuarine turtle.”  

Diamondback terrapins are the only reptile that can tolerate brackish waters, where salinity levels constantly change as freshwater runs off land and mixes with ocean saltwater.

The turtles were once abundant in salt marshes, estuaries and mangrove swamps along the country’s East and Gulf Coasts. But coastal development, habitat loss, commercial harvest and fishing interactions have contributed to a population decline.

Diamondback terrapins are a species of special concern in North Carolina.

“Data from the past ten years of Terrapin Tally events has helped point us to areas where further study is needed and has supported management actions that provide additional protection in specific coastal areas,” Wildlife Resources Commission Eastern Wildlife Diversity Supervisor Hope Sutton said in the release. “We hope to continue to contribute to broader conservation goals related to this special little turtle. It will take time and substantial effort, considering the extensive area of its potential habitat here in N.C.”

Volunteers must register to attend one training session in which they will learn how to use a smartphone application and sign up for at least one field collection session scheduled sometime between April 25 and June 15.

Training sessions will be held in-person 10 a.m.-noon April 12 at Carolina Beach State Park visitor center, Hammocks Beach State Park visitor center and via Zoom.

Collection sessions will be conducted in two-hour blocks on the following dates:

• April 25-27.
• May 10-11 and May 15-18.
• June 12-15.

Times may vary by site depending on the tide. Volunteers may choose the dates and number of sessions they would like to complete.

Tally sites this year include Cape Lookout National Seashore, Rachel Carson Reserve, Calico Creek, Hammocks Beach State Park, Lea Hutaff Island, Masonboro Island Reserve, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Zeke’s Island Reserve, Bald head Island and Bird Island Reserve.

For questions, email terrapintallync@ncwildlife.org.

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.”

Federal funds are available for federal, state and local government agencies, as well as qualified nonprofit organizations with a trail project in mind.

Applications are being accepted for grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 through the North Carolina Trails Program, and for up to $5,000 for funds through the trail program’s safety and education grant, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation officials announced Thursday.

The Recreational Trails Program applications are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 5 through the WebGrants application. The spring safety and education grant applications are due by 5 p.m. April 11 through WebGrants as well.

“Recreational Trails Program Grants support all types of greenways and trails for hikers, bikers, paddlers, equestrians and off-road vehicle users,” according to the website.

The grants provides funding for construction of new trails, the maintenance and repair of existing trails, land acquisition, tool purchases, and planning, legal, environmental, and permitting costs. There is a 25% match requirement.

The safety and education grants are a subset of the program and are awarded for safety and education instructor fees, speaker fees, displays, signage, and other trail uses.

The division’s trails program manages the federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.

The program’s regional trails specialists are available to assist prospective applicants with questions about the grant application process and requirements, and provide a technical review of applications for those submitted by Aug. 1.

From the editor: Kip Tabb, who resides on the Outer Banks and writes for Coastal Review and other regional publications, documented his recent walk along the Freedom Trail at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

The Freedom Trail on the north end of Roanoke Island is a beautiful walk through history. A history that is both uplifting and troubling.

Beginning at the visitor center of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, the trail is an easy 2.5-mile out and back hike through a verdant maritime forest that ends at Freedmen’s Point on Croatan Sound.

Depicting the story of the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island, interpretive signs along the path give details of what life was like there. Metal silhouette statues stand behind the signs in silent testimony to the tale that is told.

The Freedmen’s Colony is the story of the enslaved people who came to Roanoke Island desperate for freedom and hope.

It is a story that is interwoven with the men and women who came from the North to help an illiterate population learn to live in a free society.

After Union forces seized Roanoke Island in February 1862, enslaved people came by the hundreds and even thousands to the island, seeking refuge and freedom.

At first, the men and women who had escape bondage were called “contraband.” Because the South was in rebellion against the North, any property seized was considered contraband of war.

In the South, enslaved people were considered property and based on that premise, they were not returned.

Even before President Abraham Lincoln’s Jan. 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people behind Union lines were considered free people.

In 1863 the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony was officially established. It was the first in North Carolina and one of the first in the nation. At its peak, according to an 1864 census, it had a population of 3,901.

In 1867 it was disbanded.

About the trail

Along the trail are eight interpretive signs and nine silhouettes that represent individuals who lived and worked at the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island, according to the National Park Service.

The trail was unveiled June 1, 2024, during a ceremony organized by the National Park Service and the Dare County Trails Commission.

The sign, “Roanoke Island Before 1862,” with silhouettes representing Annice Jackson and her daughters, Marie and Alice in the background, highlights Marie Ferribee Watkins, who “was born enslaved in North Carolina. Through the strong will of her mother Annice Ferribee, she was able to become part of the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony. After beginning formal education at the colony, she went to present-day Hampton University, becoming a college graduate and eventually an educator,” the National Park Service website states.

The nine silhouettes represent different people who were part of the history of the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island.

When war came to Roanoke Island, Thomas Robinson who grew up enslaved on Hatteras Island, helped Union forces navigate the local waters.

He never officially was part of the Freedmen’s Colony, but stayed with Gen. Ambrose Burnside throughout the war. Afterwards, records show he moved to Rhode Island.

The thirst for literacy was intense among the residents of the Freedmen’s Colony. During its time on Roanoke Island, 10 schools were established.

“Arriving on Roanoke Island as an illiterate fourteen-year-old boy and leaving three years later as an accomplished scholar and educator, Reverend London L. Ferebee exemplifies how many Freed people used the Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony as a springboard into emancipated life,” according to the park service.

As the colony became established, missionaries from the north came to teach in schools and spread the Gospel. Of particular note was Horace James.

“Horace James was an evangelical minister from Massachusetts who served as a Union Army chaplain and director of the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island. A graduate of Yale University, James enlisted as Army chaplain of the Twenty-Fifth Massachusetts Volunteers on October 29, 1861. In April, 1863, Major General John G. Foster appointed James “Superintendent of All the Blacks” in the Department of North Carolina. Based in New Bern, James was put in charge of the colony,” according to the park service.

In May 1863 the US Colored Troops was formed and many of the men of the Freedmen’s Colony enlisted, among them were Richard Etheridge, who went on to be the Pea Island Lifesaving Station Keeper and Spencer Gallop.

“Spencer Gallop worked on Roanoke Island cutting down trees for the Union forces after the Battle of Roanoke Island. When the Army began recruiting on the island, Spencer enlisted and served in the 36th U.S.C.T. becoming one of the first official Black soldiers in the U.S. Army,” according to the park service.

Religion was a central part of the Freedmen’s Colony experience. The enslaved people were educated by missionary women from northern churches and African American pastors from the AME and AME Zion churches.

Sarah Freeman stayed on Roanoke Island after the Civil War ended to help the formerly enslaved people navigate a life of freedoms. She left in 1866.

“Despite being one of the oldest teachers at age 51, Sarah Freeman’s remarkable dedication during her time as a teacher at the Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island distinguished her as a resilient and industrious woman. Even when she was stricken with malarial fever and confined to her bed for a period, Freeman persisted in her unwavering efforts, alongside her daughter, to tirelessly distribute food and clothing to the formerly enslaved individuals on the island,” the park service says on the website.

The federal government broke their promises to the people who had come to all Freedmen’s Colonies.

“This colony, similar to others established by the Union army, gave African Americans their first tastes of independence and freedom. However, like other sites, it was short-lived and soon faded from the pages of history,” states the park service website.

Although the government had promised land and farming equipment to the residents of the Freedmen’s Colony, with Andrew Johnson as president, those promises were withdrawn and support for all Freedmen’s Colonies severely curtailed. By 1867 the Roanoke Colony was disbanded.

A rare type of woodland spanning nearly 200 acres on Bald Head Island was recently added to a national network of protected, old-growth forests.

The 191-acre Bald Head Woods Reserve is now one of four North Carolina forests and the 277th to be added to the Old-Growth Forest Network. There are 39 states included in the network.

“The site is located in the central portion of Bald Head Island and is characterized by its extremely old, large live oak trees that create an intricate maritime forest canopy system,” according to a release from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

The N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, a program of the department’s Division of Coastal Management, oversees Bald Head reserve and 9 other coastal reserve sites.

A dedication ceremony took place late last month.

“Showcasing this forest in the Network is an invitation to others to see what is ecologically possible. Less than one percent of old-growth forests remain in the eastern US,” Dan Camacho, Old-Growth Forest Network, said in a release. “These forests offer a glimpse into the ecological potential of our wild, native forest ecosystems. They offer a blueprint for sustaining biodiversity and a weapon for fighting climate change.”

Bald Head Woods Reserve was added to the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve in 1993, a move that forever protects maritime forest and interdune swale communities on the land “as a living laboratory,” according to a state Department of Environmental Quality release.

N.C. Coastal Reserve Manager Rebecca Ellin said the program “is fortunate to be entrusted with the protection and preservation of ecologically important habitats on our coast. We appreciate the local partnerships and recent dedication from the Old-Growth Forest Network that support our management of the Reserves and promote stewardship of these natural areas.”

Featured Image

Fog blankets the cannons Monday at Fort Macon State Park at the east end of Bogue Banks in Carteret County. Built during the decade after the War of 1812 to defend Beaufort Inlet, the fort was taken by Union forces early during the Civil War and was never again relinquished to the Confederates. Now, Fort Macon is one of the state’s most visited parks, welcoming more than a million visitors annually. Photo: Dylan Ray

COROLLA — Officials with the Donal C. O’Brien Sanctuary and Audubon Center at Pine Island hope to add to their toolkit for mitigating the effects of sea level rise on marsh environments with help from a recent $3.05 million grant.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded the money to the sanctuary in Currituck County in late 2024, “to fund innovative marsh restoration pilot projects.”

Marsh islands that once protected Currituck Sound shorelines along the Outer Banks and in mainland Currituck County are disappearing. The marsh itself is retreating, and slowly, incrementally, Currituck Banks are becoming narrower.

The marsh, in order to grow as water levels change, needs a steady supply of sediment, but the main source of that supply has been choked off by efforts to control ocean beach erosion.

“By fixing the (Outer Banks) in position, we are limiting these over water dynamics,” Dr. Sid Narayan, assistant professor in the East Carolina University Department of Coastal Studies, told Coastal Review recently. There is still sediment that comes from rivers, but, he explained, “that’s more limited.”

Pine Island Audubon Center Director Robbie Fearn has spent more than 10 years on Currituck Sound, and he has seen the effects Narayan described.

“You don’t get the overwash anymore,” Fearn said. “A lot of what we’re struggling with out here is that we don’t have much sand. It used to be, with barrier islands all being barren, the sand would just blow in. Now it doesn’t blow in, so there’s no sand source from here, either overwash or blown sand. It’s a real challenge.”

Narayan said the situation is not hopeless, but it does require new ways of thinking. Fearn agreed.

“I  think what we need to get creative with is to find ways in which we can start to introduce as much of these ocean-to-sound dynamics as possible,” Fearn said, retrieving a U.S. Geological Survey map from a drawer, spreading it across a table and pointing to a series of small islands of the Currituck Sound marsh called Shoe Hole Bay.

“All of this area out here is falling apart. It’s not much of a bay anymore,” Fearn said.  “Once we lose those, then all of this inner marsh complex gets exposed to that high fetch, and this is where the marsh birds like to nest, in protected high marsh.”

Fearn then moved his finger across the map, pointing to an island opposite from Shoe Hole Bay that forms the eastern boundary of Poplar Branch Bay and the community of Walnut Island that borders it.

“This island, Marsh Island, actually protects all of Walnut Island from storm surge,” Fearn said, noting that on the north end of the island the waters of Currituck Sound are “trying to break through.”

‘Years of hard work’

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, or NFWF, is a nonprofit conservation organization that Congress created in 1984. A 30-member board of directors approved by the Secretary of the Interior governs the private organization.

The NFWF grant is the latest in a series of grants awarded to the Pine Island site for restoration. In 2019, the North Carolina Attorney General’s office awarded an Environmental Enhancement Grant to the Audubon Society that created the framework for the NFWF grant.

“This is the culmination of many years of hard work and partnership across many different organizations and engineering firms and researchers,” said National Audubon Society Senior Coastal Resilience Program Manager Cat Bowler.

Those organizations will be invaluable in moving a project forward that will look to new ways to approach restoring the marsh.

“These projects are some of the first of their kind in Currituck Sound and in some cases, in the state of North Carolina. We want to do everything that we can to learn as much as we can about these marsh restoration techniques so that we can share what works well and what doesn’t work well,” Bowler said.

One of the issues confronting marsh restoration in Currituck Sound is that it is an environment unlike almost any other. Techniques that may have been successful in the Pamlico or Albemarle sounds often will not work at Pine Island.

“The majority of these coastal restoration projects, particularly in North Carolina, have been done in saltier-water environments, so they tend to depend heavily on oyster reefs and that sort of thing. In this very low-salt environment (at Pine Island), nobody really knows what works,” Fearn said.

The grant calls for Audubon to test and evaluate three different approaches. Two of the methods that will be tested are deemed low-tech and inexpensive. For Fearn, that is particularly important. He said that, although the testing will be done at the Pine Island marsh islands, if successful, they could offer less-costly restoration alternatives to surrounding areas.

“We really wanted to pilot some techniques that perhaps a farmer could use to protect their fields or some other landowner could utilize to protect their property that was not at that high price point of a living shoreline,” he said. “If you’re putting in rock or you’re putting in those vinyl breakwaters, the vinyl breakwaters are probably $125 to $250 a linear foot (to build). Well, if you got a lot of shoreline, you’re talking $100,000.”

The two less expensive systems that are being used are, according to information from Audubon, “coir logs, which are made of woven, biodegradable material and are placed on bare mud in front of a marsh to help dampen the force of waves,” and “pine tree breakwater(s) will be created by laying recycled trees between pilings in front of marsh islands.”

The coir logs are a coconut fiber log, and if the technique works, could be a simple method to rebuild the marsh in the right circumstances.

“We are looking at things like the coconut fiber log, because that can be installed, once you have the permit, by anybody,” Fearn said.

The pine tree breakwaters are a more complex installation, but still relatively low cost, especially compared to a living shoreline.

“The Christmas tree breakwater is a little more advanced, but once again, it’s low-tech installation,” Fearn said, explaining that after pilings are in place, “you place the Christmas trees.”

But, he added, there is research that has to be done.

“Does having that much pine in one area create a change in the water chemistry in that area?” was a question Fearn posed.

Perhaps the most ambitious — and expensive — method funded is thin-layer placement.

Thin-layer placement is a “novel technique,” Bowler said, “which has been used successfully in other coastal states, but is still very new in North Carolina.”

Audubon describes the technique as applying dredged sediment in thin layers on the marsh surface. This has been successful in Louisiana and other coastal states, but has not been tested at scale in North Carolina. The process, which requires dredging silt and placing it in the marsh environment, is significantly more expensive and requires far more technical expertise than either coir logs or pine tree breakwaters.

Marsh Island, where it borders Walnut Island and Poplar Branch Bay, was identified as the site to test the thin-layer component. When first conceived, planners looked at Oregon Inlet as a source for silt, but “it was just terrible for the ecology and the cost for moving all that sand up here was ridiculous,” Fearn said.

Instead, the dredging will happen at two locations much closer to the marsh and will have added benefits, Fearn explained.

“We wanted to have community benefits as well. We’re in a place with lots of channels, (and) we found just north of the Poplar Branch boat ramp is a shoal area. In fact, they’ve got markers to warn people,” he said. “If we can lower these shoals, we have a navigational benefit and the Walnut Island community has these channels that are silting in cleared.”

The grant project is still in its initial stages. Permits are still needed and it may take longer than usual because of the experimental nature and because regulators and Audubon want to be sure it is be done correctly.

“The regulators are very much interested in these projects, because they are groundbreaking in many ways, and we need as many tools in the toolbox as we can get to address these changes that are happening to our coast,” Fearn said.

“We’re very much committed to working in partnership with the regulatory community to make sure that we get these projects right, and that we learn as much as we can from these pilot techniques,” Bowler added. “We are planning to have those permits in hand by summer. That’s our goal.”

Featured Image

An immature white ibis nearly blends into its surroundings as it forages just off a Bodie Island trail that ends at a series of creeks southwest of the lighthouse. Photo: Kip Tabb

Volunteers are needed to help the organizations that care for the wild horses on Shackleford Banks and Rachel Carson Reserve raise community awareness during the busy season.

Cape Lookout National Seashore, the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses Inc. have joined efforts for the second year to offer the volunteer program dubbed “Pony Patrol.”

Interested candidates can apply online through Friday, Feb. 21. The positions will be competitive because there are limited spots available. Those selected will be contacted for an interview in early March, organizers said.

Those selected will go through training before walking the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, Shackleford Banks, which is part of Cape Lookout, or both locations to talk with visitors about how to best experience wild horses in their habitat and understand “the importance of giving wild horses space to be ‘wild’,” according to the release.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old, a United States citizen or permanent resident. Volunteers will be expected to work three- to four-hour shifts, at least three times per month, and must be able to walk the islands’ sandy terrain, and tolerate the extremely sunny, hot humid, windy and buggy environments.

Volunteers in 2024 conducted 254 patrols and interacted with more than 3,800 visitors.

MANTEO — The structure that serves as the visitor center and park store for Bodie Island is closed indefinitely after fire damaged parts of the interior earlier this week.

The fire on Tuesday in the Bodie Island Double Keepers’ Quarters was extinguished with no reported injuries.

According to the National Park Service, staff from Eastern National, which operates the building’s retail store, spotted smoke and called 911 at around noon Tuesday. Everyone evacuated to safety.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials were evaluating the internal damage to the structure and working with the Nags Head Fire Department to investigate the cause.

The building will remain closed pending completion of the investigation and needed repairs.

The Nags Head Fire Department, upon arriving at the scene, reported seeing smoke coming from the structure’s four chimneys.

“Cape Hatteras National Seashore is grateful for the timely response to this afternoon’s fire by multiple local fire departments,” Cape Hatteras National Seashore Superintendent Dave Hallac said in a statement. “Their efforts minimized damages to this historic structure.”

In addition to Nags Head, the Roanoke Island Volunteer Fire Department, Kill Devil Hills Fire Department, Colington Fire Department and Dare County Emergency Medical Services all responded to the incident, according to the park service.

KILL DEVIL HILLS — It speaks to the storytelling talent of National Park Service interpreter and historian Darrell Collins that audiences listening to his talk about the Wright brothers’ aerodynamic breakthrough of roll, pitch and yaw would often have tears welling from their eyes by the end.

Collins, who won numerous national and international awards during his four-decade career with the agency, died in his Manteo home on Dec. 24 at age 69.

As sons of a preacher, with lives absent scandal or even romance, Wilbur and Orville Wright’s story of first flight might seem heavy on aviation physics and difficult to translate in an engaging way, Scott Babinowich, acting deputy superintendent with the National Park Service Outer Banks Group, said during a remembrance for Collins held Saturday at Wright Brothers National Memorial.

“But Darrell had a gift to take those challenging concepts and craft them in a way that’s relatable to everybody,” he told the audience that filled the park’s Flight Room, where Collins had given his talk “thousands of times to hundreds of thousands of visitors.”

“He found a way to blend science and history and art to paint a picture that resonated with everybody that entered this building.”

Babinowich noted that in an agency as large as the park service, “it is rare to find a park ranger who had such a lasting impact in a single park” the way Collins did. With his easygoing approach, Collins had a way of enabling listeners to see themselves in the Wrights’ story, but also to give them a reason to “care and cherish the monumental achievement,” Babinowich said.

After four years of experiments on the Outer Banks, the Wrights achieved the first powered and controlled manned flight on Dec. 17, 1903, at what today is Kill Devil Hills.

A video of a brief portion of a Flight Room talk played during the remembrance shows Collins, wearing white conservator gloves and dressed in his olive-green and tan park service uniform, standing next to a full-size model of the 1903 Wright Flyer. Speaking in a soft Southern accent, he demonstrates how the pitch of the plane was controlled with a stick, which he then starts moving back and forth, accompanied by rhythmic squeaking as parts in the front of the aircraft respond.

Much of Collins’ mastery of his presentation was in his understated style that both moderated and modulated his speech and body language, building from an even cadence and simple demonstrations with his hands to closing with an intensified voice, soaring language and dramatic, sweeping arm gestures. Like a natural storyteller, he never faltered as he spoke. He employed gentle humor. And he used space between words and sentences to create the rhythmic cadence of a preacher.

“The elevator controls the pitch,” he says on the video, pausing as he slowly raises his right arm, “of the machine.”

“Take off and landing.” He slowly drops his arm.

“This motion of an airplane in flight …” he pauses as he moves his arm up faster, “is controlled by the elevator.”

As part of his typical 20- to 30-minute talk, Collins would bring the audience, almost imperceptibly, to seeing the Wrights’ feat in the context of humanity: the men, their family and their country.

He would talk about the intense competitive nature of aviation and science at the turn of the 20th century; of the contributions from the Outer Banks community; of the brilliance, fortitude and ingenuity of the brothers; and of the loyalty the brothers had to one another and their family.

He attributed the Wrights’ success to their willingness to persist, even after numerous disappointments, as well as their high character and extraordinary dedication to solving the mystery of flight.

At this point, Collins would start speaking a bit louder and faster, telling of how dramatically the two publicity-shy brothers from Ohio changed the world that day in 1903 at the sandy outpost on the Outer Banks. Visitors in the Wright Brothers Flight Room could see the exact spot right outside the large windows where the Wrights’ plane first found lift.

Indeed, as Collins would say in closing, it took just 66 years from the brothers’ first 12-second flight until the Apollo landing on the moon. That fact alone makes the Wrights’ invention Earth-shattering. But that’s not all, Collins would remind his rapt audiences.

“Folks, just about everything that flies — satellites, missiles, rockets, space shuttles — use the same fundamental principles,” Collins said in the 2014 Flight Room talk.

“You see,” he would add emphatically, his voice rising, “this is the immortal legacy of the Wright brothers.”

Often, people in the audience would sit quietly for a moment after Collins finished, dabbing their eyes.

Dave Hallac, superintendent of the park service Outer Banks Group, recounted after the remembrance how he had been at an agency event out of the area shortly after arriving on the Outer Banks when he mentioned his connection to the Wright Brothers park. The person he was speaking to responded that she had heard a talk there that had left her in tears. Hallac, who had not yet seen Collins’ presentation, apologized for the ranger upsetting her. But he had misunderstood.

“She said, ‘It was one of the most inspiring talks I’ve ever heard,’” Hallac recalled, adding about Collins: “He’s a legend. His ability to tell the Wright brothers’ story was unparalleled.

A native of Manteo with family roots dating back to the 1863-1867 Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony, a community of formerly enslaved people and free Black people, Collins graduated from Elizabeth City State University with a bachelor’s in geology and history. In 1977, he started work as a seasonal park ranger on the Outer Banks and set his sights on securing a permanent position as a history interpreter.

Early on, Collins had told interviewers that he was influenced by Paul Garber and Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith, both well-known aviation historians and celebrated speakers. Although Collins soon gained acclaim for his speaking skills and as an expert on Wright brothers history, his fame shot up to international levels in the lead-up to the Centennial of First Flight in 2003.

Collins’ secret was that he was just “doing what he loved,” his wife Tonya Collins said after the event.

“It was just his passion for the Wrights, for choosing this place when they did,” she said. “He had a sense of pride in this place and its people. He was proud of the people here and that he was part of these people.”

According to his obituary, Collins was considered as one of the top three Wright brothers historians in the world. Even after retiring in 2017, he continued traveling to give lectures on the Wrights for five years. He was also a regular speaker for 35 years at the “Speakers’ Showcase Series” at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Oshkosh Fly-In in Wisconsin.

His many awards include the Experimental Aircraft Association’s President’s Award, the Freeman Tilden Award as the park service’s top interpretive ranger in 1990, and in 2003, both the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the North Carolina governor, and the Paul Tissandier Diploma by the National Aeronautic Association.

Collins also served for 18 years on the Manteo Board of Commissioners, filling the same seat on the town board that his mother Dellerva had held for 26 years before her death in 2005. In addition, he was the founder and president of the Pea Island Preservation Society Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to the Pea Island Lifesaving Station, the only all-Black station in the nation.

Collins, who had family connections to Pea Island, had taught the story of Keeper Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers to Dare County fourth graders.

Tonya Collins, who was married to Darrell for 22 years, said that her husband’s modest and friendly demeanor was genuine. Similar to his mother Dellerva, he never got angry, she said.

“He was truly raised by a kind person,” she said. “He came by it quite honestly.”

Reid Wilson does not disagree with those who tell him he had the best job in state government.

He loved being secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

It’s a role he said he’s going to “miss terribly” when he steps in Monday as head of the state Department of Environmental Quality, a position appointed to him by Gov. Josh Stein.

“But I think now is a time of important opportunities and challenges in terms of public health and environmental protection and moving to DEQ brings me back to some of my roots,” he said in a recent telephone interview.

His is a storied environmental career spanning more than a quarter of a century. He’s been an environmental advocate, national political director of the Sierra Club, held three different titles during his tenure of nearly eight years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clinton administration, and a public affairs consultant to national environmental groups.

Outside of work, he’s a husband and father of two adult children. He declares himself the least musically talented in his family. His brother played the French horn in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for more than 30 years.

Wilson enjoys everything from classical to bluegrass to rock.

And, he loves to do his laundry.

“I don’t trust anyone else not to shrink something,” he said.

Wilson and his wife left the nation’s capital for Raleigh almost 22 years ago, lured by a job he said his wife was doubtful he would get.

She figured the Conservation Trust for North Carolina would not be interested in out-of-state applicants, Wilson said. He applied anyway.

He would go on to lead the statewide nonprofit as its executive director for 14 years. During that time, the organization’s budget nearly doubled and its success in educational outreach to youth in conservation became a national standard.

Wilson has been with the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, or DNCR, since 2017, first at the department’s chief deputy secretary. He was appointed secretary in 2020.

Today, he is grateful to call Raleigh home. Sure, he misses the friends he made in Washington, D.C., but not life inside the Beltway.

He relishes the fact that William B. Umstead State Park is a 15-minute drive from his home.

There’s a particular spot just off Company Mill Trail where Wilson often goes when he needs to think through something or make a big life decision.

Sometimes he goes there to not think at all and breathe in the tranquility he finds in the sound of water cascading over boulders and rock slabs in a creek that cuts through the park.

“It’s just a very peaceful spot for me to sort things out. It’s just perfect for sitting and watching the water in the creek go by as it tumbles over some very small falls,” Wilson said.

He is a self-described lover of hiking. Nature is his refuge.

And whenever he gets the opportunity, he indulges in both, which married well with his position as DNCR secretary because it afforded him opportunities to hike when he visited a park or preserve on official business.

He knows the terrain he’ll be visiting as DEQ secretary will be a tad different. He’s looking forward to visiting as many of the department’s coastal reserves as he can.

“I do think one of the things I want to do is get out more, to leave Raleigh and see what’s going on with DEQ work around the state and especially with all of the challenges associated with Hurricane Helene,” Wilson said. “I want to see those challenges for DEQ firsthand.”

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend on Sept. 26, 2024, and charged north through western North Carolina, demolishing communities and killing more than 100 people in this state alone.

Wilson did not see the areas hardest hit by the hurricane when he visited portions of western North Carolina with former Gov. Roy Cooper last fall.

“But I did get a good sense of the amazing challenges ahead and the incredible work being done by people in those communities,” he said. “There are piles and piles and piles of debris still in the affected areas. There are water quality issues in lakes and streams. There are challenges with water and drinking water structure that continue so there will be lots of work that DEQ will be doing to help communities in western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene. I think it’s important to see that work to understand it so that, back in Raleigh, we can do everything we can to efficiently help those communities. One thing I’ve learned over and over again is you understand an issue so much better if you actually go there and see it and talk to the people involved.”

He knows the work related to water quality issues will not be isolated to those areas of the state ravaged by the storm.

Tens of thousands of North Carolinians living everywhere from unincorporated, rural communities to towns and cities, including those within the Cape Fear Region, have been grappling with the knowledge their drinking water sources are contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

PFAS are chemical compounds that are used in the manufacturing of a host of consumer goods from food packaging to water resistant clothing.

While research is ongoing into possible human health effects of these chemicals – there are anywhere from 12,000 to upwards of 15,000 – some have been linked to cardiovascular disease, weakened immune function, various types of cancer and decreased liver and kidney function.

Wilson underscored what he said is a firehose of information that is only starting to trickle in as he takes his new role.

“At this point I have a lot more to study on that issue so that I can speak with a deeper knowledge base,” he said. “Having said that, these are dangerous chemicals that settle in the environment. EPA has set drinking water standards for them that local water utilities must meet to protect their customers.”

The state Environmental Management Commission appears to be moving forward with establishing health standards of PFAS in groundwater, but for only three of eight chemical compounds suggested by DEQ.

The commission’s proposal has been met with a flurry of public backlash as residents demand more protections for their drinking water sources.

“I know there’s conflict about the best next steps to protect people from them, but my hope is to be able to bring together different viewpoints and figure out a way that’s equitable, that protects people from these forever chemicals,” Wilson said.

He has an outline in his head of how he wants the first month to go. There will be meetings with staff, briefings, working with members of the North Carolina Senate on the state confirmation process, and making sure he understands the intricacies of big decisions that will need to be made in his early days with DEQ.

Looking back, Wilson said he’s proud of the dramatic expansion of state park land, trails and other outdoor recreational access in the state park system under his tenure.

The department continues to work hard updating old exhibits at history museums, historic sites and other facilities that share history, expanding their online content, and making sure those exhibits include more perspectives.

He’s particularly proud of the Dueling Dinosaurs exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. If you haven’t seen it, you must, he said.

The one thing he’ll miss most about DNCR secretary? Introducing bands that perform at the big music festivals DNCR sponsors in the state.

“Let’s just put it this way, introducing The Avett Brothers three years ago at MerleFest was a big highlight,” Wilson said. “That’s not going to happen anymore. But I am excited about (DEQ’s) mission, which is to protect public health by protecting air quality, water quality, our land and soils and that mission is also critical to strengthening our state’s economy.”

Public accesses, trail markers, sidewalk additions and solar-powered lighting are included in a number of recently awarded projects that aim to enhance tourism in Dare County.

The Dare County Tourism Board last month awarded 12 area nonprofits and government entities in the county a total of $1.16 million in Tourism Impact Grants.

“Our Tourism Impact Grants are an example of how we can leverage the power of tourism to enhance the quality of life for our residents and quality of place for our visitors, helping to protect our natural environment and preserve our rich history and culture,” Lee Nettles, Executive Director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau said in a release. “Since 1993, the Dare County Tourism Board’s restricted fund grants have supported 221 awards to 47 local non-profits and municipalities, resulting in $19.54 million for programs and services that provide a tangible and sustained benefit for our community.”

Projects that will be covered in this latest round of grants include replacing two public access boardwalks in Avon, restoring the 1874 Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station’s western façade, 10 new trail markers at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, adding solar-powered lighting to a dozen crosswalks along N.C. 12 in Kitty Hawk, sidewalk additions and shoreline protection.

Dare County Commissioners unanimously consented to the grants during the boards December meeting. 

The tourism board sponsors the grants each year for projects including multiuse paths, beach accesses, environmental sustainability initiatives and infrastructure programs at cultural and historical attractions.

“The Tourism Impact Grant we received will support our efforts to create a new educational trail at Jockey’s Ridge State Park – the Ten Points of Interest Trail – enhancing the experience for more than one million park visitors each year,” Friends of Jockey’s Ridge Executive Director Colette Walker said in a release. “Creating a new trail with interactive components and a curriculum guide will allow children and adults to gai more in-depth knowledge of the unique ecosystems and history of our 427 acres as we approach the 50^th anniversary of the park in 2025 and beyond.”

Reprinted from Daily Advance

SOUTH MILLS — Unlike past First Day Hikes at Dismal Swamp State Park, Wednesday’s didn’t include a guided tour by a park ranger.

But that didn’t seem to matter to the couples, families and friend groups who showed up for the annual Jan. 1 event designed to showcase state parks and get more people outdoors to enjoy them.

John Wray and Jennifer Chavez, both of Virginia Beach, Virginia, said they were visiting a friend in the area when they remembered that the First Day Hike is an annual event at Dismal Swamp State Park.

Because they enjoy visiting state parks in Virginia, they decided to explore the park just below the state line.

“We’ve visited First Landing (State Park), Kiptopeke (State Park)” in Virginia, Chavez said. “We’re trying to get to as many as possible. We are trying to visit all 42 or 43 state parks in Virginia. This is our first time here at this park in North Carolina.”

James and Amy Kermitz of Tyner also enjoy visiting state parks. They said they were participating in their second straight First Day Hike.

“Last year we went to Merchants Mill Pond Park” in Gates County, Amy Kermitz said. “We haven’t been on this one in quite a while. We like to hike a couple of times a year when the weather is nice. We walk a lot.”

Terry Hutson said he showed up for the First Day Hike because he wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet and the amazing sights and sounds in the park. In addition to the exercise he gets from hiking, park visits also allow him to practice his photography skills, he said.

He participated in last year’s First Day Hike at Dismal Swamp Park and has kayaked the Dismal Swamp Canal during the summer.

“It’s good to get out in nature — nature does you a lot of good,” he said. “A nice casual walk, nothing too strenuous. To get out here, soak it all in — it’s calming. … It’s my goal to do more of that this year.”

Lauren Ross brought along to Wednesday’s First Day Hike her 3-year-old son, 10-month-old daughter, her sister and brother in-law.

“We’ve come every year since my son was born so now we are bringing the newest one to get her First Day Hike sticker like (my son) got his in his first year,” Ross said. “We’re going to save them in their memory boxes.”

Ross’ sister, Kaitlen Holman, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was busy scouring the scavenger hunt sheet that visitors were issued at the park’s visitor center on Wednesday. The list contained a list of clues that helped visitors complete a self-paced scavenger hunt in the park.

She said park visitors who passed up the scavenger hunt just to enjoy a morning of exercise missed a good event.

“They are missing the beauty of everything, getting out on the first day of the year and starting off on the right foot,” Holman said.

Tim Aydlett, president of Friends of Dismal Swamp State Park, greeted visitors as they arrived at the park’s visitor center. The all-volunteer group was serving free hot chocolate as well as passing out the scavenger hunt lists. Park officials estimated about 150 people took part in the First Day Hike at the park.

“All of our 41 state parks in North Carolina are having a First Day Hike today,” he said. “I’ve been involved in several of them in the past. The goal is to get people outdoors and enjoy our naturally wonderful state park.”

Aydlett shared a few tips for hikers who hoped to see examples of the park’s wildlife on their trek.

“I’ve seen some wildlife on other days much farther away in the park, farther away from here (the visitor center),” he said. “What I’ve heard lately is the prothonotary warbler, that little yellow bird that makes a lot of racket.”

It’s also important to speak in a low voice — or not at all — when you’re hiking.

“If you’re hoping to see wildlife, you must be quiet when you’re walking,” Aydlett said. “You can’t talk and laugh loud and expect to see wildlife.”

The Daily Advance is a newspaper based in Elizabeth City that serves Chowan, Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank and Perquimans counties. Coastal Review is partnering with The Daily Advance to provide readers with more stories of interest about our coast.

A portion of Buxton’s ocean shore will remain closed to the public as officials continue monitoring the section for likely contamination.

The closure entails three-tenths of a mile of shoreline adjacent to the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site, or FUDS, an area that was as a submarine monitoring station by the U.S. Navy for decades.

In September 2023, soils on the beach adjacent to the site, also known as the Buxton Beach Access, tested positive for petroleum contamination.

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with Cape Hatteras National Seashore, issued the updated public health advisory Tuesday.

The decision to keep this portion of beach closed “was made after factoring in the amount of contaminated soil and water removed by the Corps (of Engineers) and the prolonged period of time between the last report of apparent petroleum sheens or odors in the area,” according to a release.

About two-tenths of a mile of beach starting at the southernmost jetty in Buxton and continuing south was reopened.

Additional information on the Buxton beach access and conditions may be found online.

COLUMBIA — The only wild red wolves in the world have been thrown a lifeline for Christmas.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has been awarded $25 million to construct wildlife crossings that can provide safe passage for the critically endangered species, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration announced Dec. 20.

Only 17 to 19 of the red wolves are believed to remain within the designated 1.7 million-acre recovery area made up of public and private lands in six northeastern North Carolina counties.

Despite renewed success in recent years under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service management, the wolves’ survival has been threatened by numerous vehicle collisions on a main route to the Outer Banks, a popular beach resort area.

“Red wolves are one of the most endangered animals on the planet, and for the last four years, vehicle strikes have been their number one source of mortality,” Ron Sutherland, chief scientist at the nonprofit Wildlands Network, said in an email. “Building the first set of wildlife road crossing structures on US 64 through Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a vital step towards pulling the red wolves back away from the edge of extinction in the wild.”

Habitat loss and overhunting in the 20th century had decimated the population of red wolves, which had once roamed much of the Southeastern U.S. In 1980, the red wolf, which is a separate species than its cousins the gray wolf and Mexican wolf, was declared extinct in the wild under the Endangered Species Act.

Seven years later, four pairs of captive-bred red wolf pups, offspring of a few wild red wolves captured earlier in Louisiana, were released at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Through a series of innovative management techniques, the population of red wolves in the recovery area rebounded to as many as 120 or so. But after 2010, the program lost much of its political and public support, and management measures were scaled back.

As a result, the wild population crashed to as few as seven known red wolves, as well as 20 or more un-collared red wolves. Numerous lawsuits by nonprofit conservation groups resulted in restoration of the program by 2022 and successful reintroduction of pups into the wild. Sadly, vehicles deaths have undone much of the population’s recovery momentum.

The grant from the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program will provide funds to build 11 wildlife underpasses of various sizes along sections of the highway through the refuge, according to a Dec. 20 press release from the Defenders of Wildlife.

“We know the benefits wildlife corridors can provide to species traversing our state’s roadways, and perhaps none are in more need of safe passage than Red Wolves,” Ben Prater, Defenders’ Southeast program director, said in the release. “In the face of environmental changes that are increasingly transforming and fragmenting the landscape, this funding comes at a critical time, when we have the opportunity to make our roadways safer for motorists and wildlife alike.”

As part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the five-year program included $350 million for grants awarded competitively to states, tribes and federal agencies, the release said.

For 2024, Federal Highways awarded $125 million for 16 grants to design and build new wildlife crossings around the country. NCDOT applied in September for funds to build crossings and associated fencing to guide animals to the crossings on a key stretch of U.S. 64 that for years has been a hotspot for Red Wolves, bears and other species being struck by vehicles. 

Construction of the wildlife passages will also be supported by $4 million in private donations raised by the Center for Biological Diversity, Wildlands’ Network and an anonymous donor.

NCDOT applied in September for funds to build crossings and associated fencing that would guide animals to the crossings. The agency is contributing more than $6 million in matching funds for the project. The Volgenau Foundation, the Felburn Foundation, and the Animal Welfare Institute also provided a total of $305,000.

“Marissa Cox and her team at NCDOT prepared an excellent proposal, with help from Joe Madison at US Fish and Wildlife Service and Travis Wilson at NC Wildlife Resources Commission,” said Nikki Robinson, North Carolina project manager at Wildlands Network. “We’re also really thankful that NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins gave this effort his strong and enlightened support.”

As Sutherland added, not only will the project save numerous other animals from vehicular demise, it will also spare many humans the injuries and damages inflicted by striking the creatures.

“The wildlife road crossings that will be built with funding from Federal Highways will benefit not just red wolves but all kinds of other wildlife too. US 64 cuts right through the top end of the immense and biologically diverse Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and the combination of busy beach highway and high density of wildlife leads to carnage on the asphalt every year.”

As many as 22,000 collisions with large wildlife were reported annually between 2021-2023 in North Carolina, resulting in 20 human fatalities, 2,754 injuries and more than $200 million in damages.

Within the last five years, six red wolves have been struck and killed by vehicles on U.S. 64. A notably tragic loss happened in June 2024, when the death of a breeding male red wolf on the highway led to the deaths of his five young pups in the wild.

A daily roadkill survey conducted by Wildlands starting Aug. 1, 2024, counted to date more than 2,400 dead animals on U.S. 64, including bears, birds, bats, deer and, among others, more than 700 each of turtles and snakes and 600 frogs, Sutherland said.

A 2008-2011 study along U.S. 64, done for NCDOT by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, determined that 890 black bears, which can exceed 600 pounds, crossed the road from March 2009 to March 2011 in the 147,432-acre Alligator River refuge. In addition, the study found 15 GPS-collared black bears crossed the highway 99 times over three years.

“Providing wildlife with safe passage under US 64 will save thousands and thousands of animal lives each year,” Sutherland said.

The hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles that washed ashore after temperatures fell earlier this month on the Outer Banks have been given a second chance.

Over the last few weeks, staff at the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation, or STAR, Center at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island have been caring for close to 600 sea turtles that were cold stunned, which happens when water temperatures quickly drop before sea turtles can migrate to warmer water. Cold stunning can lead to death if not treated. 

The Roanoke aquarium’s Animal Husbandry Curator Leslie Vegas told Coastal Review Thursday that most of the sea turtles are rescued in the Pamlico Sound. They enter the sound through inlets because they are foraging for food in the subaquatic vegetation, or seagrass, beds. A few wash up on the ocean side, but the vast majority are rescued from the sound.

Vegas is among the more than 135 aquarium staff and volunteers to care for the 553 cold-stunned sea turtles delivered to the aquarium between Dec. 1 and Dec. 7.

As of Dec. 17, the aquarium had received 576 sea turtles including the state’s most common species, the loggerhead, green and Kemp’s ridley, according to the aquarium.

“Because we are still ensuring our numbers are accurate, we don’t have exact species counts yet — and because the event is not technically over — but for this event so far, we have received approximately 580 turtles, with the most being 163 in one day,” Vegas said. So far, 399 turtles have been released as part of this event, some are being cared for at other facilities and about 50 arrived dead or died shortly after arrival.

As of Friday afternoon, the STAR Center was caring for 60 animals, and more releases were expected to take place in the coming weeks, Vegas said subsequently. With temperatures expected to drop again, aquarium staff are preparing for more cold-stunned turtles. 

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission manages the state’s sea turtles, which are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“The great success in returning these turtles quickly to the wild is due to the combined efforts of many different volunteers and collaborators with the NCWRC Sea Turtle Project,” Commission biologist Matthew Godfrey said.

More than 20 different sea turtle project groups along the coast help monitor sea turtle nesting and stranding activities along the coast, including the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles, or N.E.S.T, the National Park Service, North Carolina Aquariums, the College of Veterinary Medicine at N.C. State University, the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.

For this recent cold-stunned event, aquarium staff, the STAR Center, and N.E.S.T. volunteers worked with Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the Wildlife Resources Commission, the Outer Banks SPCA, area veterinarian clinics, Phideaux fishing vessel, and the U.S. Coast Guard Stations at Hatteras Inlet and Fort Macon worked together to care for and release the sea turtles.

“Sea turtles are important to coastal ecosystems,” and because sea turtles are endangered species, any efforts to protect them are important, Vegas said.

Green sea turtles use sea grass beds as feeding grounds and they eat the subaquatic vegetation itself. “Just like plants on land, the SAVs and sea grass beds require ‘maintenance’ and ‘pruning,’ which the sea turtles provide. Without that maintenance, it’s possible that those beds would suffer enough damage to not thrive,” Vegas said.

Sea turtles use oceanic coastal shorelines to nest and lay eggs and these nests provide stabilization and nutrients to an ecosystem that is often nutrient depleted. These nutrients support the minimal plant life that exists on dunes, which also aid in shoreline stabilization, she continued.

Vegas explained that cold stuns occur naturally.

 “If the decrease in temperature is gradual, the turtles will naturally migrate to southern waters, but if there’s a rapid decrease, the turtles miss the environmental cue to migrate, and the stunning event occurs,” she said.

Sea turtles are exothermic and they cannot regulate their own body temperatures. When the temperature drops, typically below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the sea turtles become weak and lethargic, sometimes appearing deceased due to their extreme inactivity and lethargy. The turtles usually float to the water’s surface and from there, winds, tides or both can wash the turtles onto the shore, she added. Cold-stun events have been documented since the 1800s, and because it is not preventable, the response to these events is human intervention and rehabilitation to rescue as many as possible.

When temperatures drop, “our partners with the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles, the National Park Service, and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission scout the soundside shore for turtles and transport them to us at the aquarium,” Vegas said.

NEST Director Jerrica Rea told Coastal Review that the volunteer-run nonprofit organization is thankful for partners in the NPS, ferry system and aquarium.

“Without the collective work from everyone, managing an event like this would not be possible,’ Rea said.

During the cold-stun season that takes place from December to around March, NEST volunteers patrol the soundside waters of Hatteras Island looking for sea turtles.

“We monitor different things like wind direction and water temperature to determine when the turtles may start to struggle. Sea turtles will generally migrate to warmer waters as our water cools in winter but occasionally we will have a perfect storm like this event,” Rea said, referring to the cold-stunning from earlier this month.

The sea turtles are typically juveniles who are content to feed in sound waters and don’t get the cue to leave when the temperature goes from warm to cold quickly. The sudden drop in temperature and the prolonged nature of it led to NEST finding over 560 sea turtles in one week.

Those turtles are taken to a staging site in Buxton where NEST volunteers take measurements, photos and document them, Rea said. They are then transported to STAR center at the aquarium, a more than 100-mile round trip ride.

“As an all volunteer organization, we are extremely proud of the efforts from our cold stun team. They work in the worst conditions-rain, snow, wind and freezing temperatures. We have over 20 patrol responders, 50 staging site volunteers and many more transporters,” Rea said. “The dedication our volunteers have to rescuing sea turtles is indescribable. It’s an honor to be part of such an incredible team and to see the community come together to help this endangered species.”

Turtle triage, treatment

Once the turtle arrives at the aquarium, staff administer fluid therapy since the turtles have likely been exposed and may have become dehydrated while stunned.

The length, width and weight of each sea turtle is recorded as well as any abnormalities or injuries. Blood work determines if there are nutritional or other deficiencies, like organ impairment. Because their organs are not functioning optimally while stunned, additional medication is not typically dispensed until they are gradually brought to healthy, warm temperatures, Vegas explained.

Bringing sea turtles up to the right temperature cannot happen fast, either. For this process, the turtles are moved to different sections of the aquarium, each set at a slightly warmer temperature, to ensure that the warming is gradual.

The Roanoke Island aquarium uses an incident command system and emergency response in the form of triage, like how humans are triaged in emergency care, to rehabilitate the sea turtles.

“We split the turtles up based on the level of care necessary to release them, as well as by species and size. Some species can be housed together and some cannot. In an event this large, those that are most likely to survive are prioritized to maximize our number of turtles released,” Vegas said. “We provide supportive care to those with more complicated medical issues until we can devote more time to them, after healthier turtles are released.”

The sea turtles that only needed to be warmed up were released within two to four days of rescue. “The more complicated medical cases could be here for weeks or months depending on their rate of progress and the care they may require,” Vegas said.

“If the individual turtle has additional medical needs, we keep the turtle in house for treatment, to go through the full rehabilitation process that addresses their specific medical needs,” Vegas added, but if no other health issues are identified beyond cold stunning, the turtles are released to the Gulf Stream as quickly as possible after they are at temperature, their bloodwork is cleared by veterinary staff, and they exhibit normal sea turtle behaviors.

“The releases are made possible through our relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard at Cape Hatteras, who are kind enough to transport our turtles to the Gulf Stream,” Vegas said.

The incident command system ensures that all departments within the aquarium are engaged to provide excellent turtle care and supportive care for humans,” Vegas said.

“This event involved many partners and staff, and that has been the highlight of it all for me. Seeing the dedication and teamwork that was fostered, along with the animals that were saved, are the things we are most proud to share,” Vegas said.

Sea turtles that appear still or sluggish in the sound water or on a beach during winter months should not be pushed back into the water or moved. Report any turtles under duress to the Sea Turtle Stranding Hotline via N.E.S.T. at 252-441-8622.

The N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island operates under the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Sea Turtle Permit No. 24ST46.

Coastal Review will not publish Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in observance of the Christmas holiday.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation can begin work on a temporary solution to protect a stretch of N.C. Highway 12 in Rodanthe that frequently experiences overwash, coastal flooding and erosion — but NCDOT officials are looking for a more permanent fix.

Earlier this week, the Coastal Resources Commission unanimously approved NCDOT’s variance request to repair 1,300 feet of primary sand dune and install 1,100 feet of sandbags on the oceanside right-of-way near the visitor center for the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. A variance, once granted, allows coastal development that would otherwise be prohibited by commission rules.

“We hope to start the project sometime in mid-January, and it will take roughly one week to complete,” NCDOT Communications Officer Tim Hass told Coastal Review Tuesday. He said that during the project, which should cost about $400,000, there will be temporary single-lane closures in the area on N.C. Highway 12.

After a storm last month forced transportation officials to close N.C. 12 near the refuge’s visitor center, NCDOT submitted to Division of Coastal Management staff on Nov. 24 a request to modify the existing Coastal Area Management Act permit issued in 1999 that allows for maintenance work along the Outer Banks highway.

The division is under the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and acts as staff to the commission. Division staff make permit decisions based on commission rules.

Division staff on Dec. 4 issued a modification to NCDOT’s existing CAMA major permit but “conditioned out those aspects of the proposed sandbag structure which did not meet the Commission’s Rules, including the size and color of the sandbags, the size of the sandbag structure, and the impacts to existing dunes,” documents state.

If the division denies a permit request because the proposed project is outside of development rules, the petitioner can request a variance from the commission to allow the work, which is what NCDOT did, leading to the special-called meeting held Monday morning by web conference.

NCDEQ Assistant General Counsel Christy Goebel explained that NCDOT owns and maintains the public right-of-way easement through Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on Hatteras Island in Dare County.

“As we know, N.C. 12 provides the only roadway connection between the mainland and Hatteras Island. Beach erosion, dune loss and risk to Highway 12 have been particularly severe near the refuge visitor center,” she said.

The area has been identified as a “hot spot” since at least 2002 and is characterized by low topography and low elevations. The 2020 average annual erosion rate at the visitor center hot spot is 7.5 feet per a year, and the total width of the island there is between 3,500 and 5,800 feet, though much of that area is the refuge ponds. The space between the ocean and refuge ponds that N.C. 12 passes through is as narrow as 245 feet.

“Because of storm and tidal events, and the geomorphology of this area, the hot spot is susceptible to shoreline erosion, overwash, coastal flooding, the loss of beach and dunes, and sand cover. These circumstances can undermine the integrity of the road, making travel by the general public unsafe and forcing DOT to close the road,” Goebel said.

The Nov. 15-17 storm that severely damaged the primary dune along N.C. 12 by the refuge’s visitor center prompted NCDOT’s move to put in the temporary sandbag structure.

Goebel said that ocean overwash removed around 1,000 linear feet of dune, exposing the highway’s pavement edge to the high surf. Roadway flooding and pavement drop-off produced hazardous traffic conditions, and NCDOT temporarily closed the road to all traffic. NCDOT temporarily rebuilt the primary dune as maintenance work after the storm, under the existing CAMA permit.

Goebel said that NCDOT proposed using temporary sandbags for the project that would be white, trapezoid-shaped, woven polypropylene, an alternative to the traditional tan sandbags. Plans call for the sandbags to be placed in two adjoining rows parallel to the seashore.

The row closest to the ocean would be 6 feet high with an 8-foot base, and the row closest to land would be 4-foot high with a 6-foot base. The rows will be adjacent to each other and have a combined base of 14 feet. Both rows will be placed 2 feet below the roadway and 10 feet away from the pavement.

NCDOT plans to bring in sand to fill the sandbags and cover the sandbags after they are installed with a 6-foot-high and 20-foot-wide dune. “Sand would not be dredged from the swash zone on the beach, and there would be no wetland impacts,” Goebel said.

About 950 square feet of the protective dune will extend below the normal high-water line, as well.

Existing rules require the sandbags be tan, between 3 and 5 feet wide and 7 to 15 feet long when measured flat, with a base width no wider than 20 feet and total height no more than 6 feet. Rules also dictate that no primary dunes can be removed or located, and no part of the dune should be placed below normal high water line.

This type of sandbag has been granted variances twice before. The commission allowed for this type of sandbag to be used at the north end of Ocracoke Island, but that project didn’t come to fruition because of funding, and again in February 2022, for the north end of Rodanthe, she said.

Goebel said that division staff agrees with NCDOT “that construction of the sandbag structure and the dune and the use of the alternative bags will secure public safety and welfare, and it will preserve substantial justice as it will allow the petitioner to protect 12 in the short and midterm with alternative sandbags, while continuing to work towards a long-term solution for transportation along Hatteras Island.”

Special Deputy Attorney General Colin Justice reiterated to the commission that NCDOT officials believe there are benefits to using the alternative sandbags.

Justice, who represents NCDOT and works for the North Carolina Department of Justice, said officials believe these sandbags will be more durable. Installation will happen faster than traditional sandbags and cause less of an impact because of the way the bags are filled from the top. No hydraulic pump across the beach to fill traditional sandbags is necessary.

“We think that applying the rule strictly would prevent NCDOT from being able to do this repair as effectively, as quickly and for minimizing impacts the setback requirements,” he said.

The Division of Coastal Management’s NCDOT Project Coordinator Stephen Lane said Monday that NCDOT is looking at long-term solutions for the hot spot, and has obtained funds to study “long-term comprehensive solutions to try to keep Highway 12 open for the future,” he said.

Lane is referring to the $1.8 million grant announced earlier this year to study the 11-mile stretch of N.C. 12 between Oregon Inlet and Rodanthe on Pea Island. “The project will identify future construction projects, streamline environmental reviews, include public engagement and establish detailed, long-term plans for keeping the roadway passable during and following major storm events,” officials said in the at the time.

NCDOT Division 1 Engineer Win Bridgers states in the permit modification request dated Nov. 24 that the sandbag project is a temporary solution for maintaining N.C. 12 on the Pea Island refuge.

“NCDOT has recently been awarded a PROTECT Planning Grant from (Federal Highway Administration) to conduct a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study that includes comprehensive resiliency planning, alternatives development and evaluation, and robust public engagement for NC 12 on Pea Island,” Bridgers wrote. “Also known as Solving Access for NC 12 in Dare County (SAND), this project will establish a solid foundation for future project development and construction, with the goal of streamlining subsequent environmental review, accelerating project delivery, and securing the long-term resiliency of NC 12.”

He said that NCDOT anticipations the SAND project will determine short-term and long-term solutions for maintaining N.C. 12 on Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

“When those solutions are implemented, NCDOT would remove the temporary sandbags when no longer needed to protect the roadway of NC 12. With the stronger material and design, the Permashield bags can be more effectively removed when they are no longer needed. NCDOT anticipates quicker and more complete removal of Permashield sandbags as opposed to the challenging removal of traditional sandbags,” Bridgers said.

Cape Lookout National Seashore officials are set to begin preseason sales of off-road vehicle permits and start accepting reservations for the 23 rustic, oceanfront cabins on South Core Banks.

Starting at 10 a.m. Jan. 4, 2025, Great Island Cabin Camp reservations and off-road vehicle permit purchases can be made through Recreation.gov.

Cost for preseason off-road vehicle permits is $35 between Jan. 4 and March 12, 2025, up $10 from 2024. Permits for the regular season will cost $75 starting March 13, 2025, through the remainder of the year, up $25 from the current year. Permits must be purchased before bringing a vehicle to the seashore.

The season is mid-March through Dec. 31. Vehicles are only allowed on the oceanside beaches, ramps, the back road of Portsmouth Island and Davis Island. The only way to get a vehicle to the islands is by vehicle ferry.

Great Island Cabin Camp is scheduled to be open March 13 to Nov. 29, 2025, and only accessible by vehicle ferries or a personal watercraft.

The “rustic, wooden cabins at Long Point and Great Island offer beachfront views of the pristine, undeveloped barrier islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore,” according to the National Park Service. “The cabin camps can only be reached by boat, adding an element of both privacy and adventure. The park’s sandy beaches are prime locations for fishing, shelling, swimming, birding, and simply relaxing.”

Cabins range from 288 to 960 square feet in area, and have a water heater, private bathroom with shower, table and chairs, kitchen with a propane oven/stove with propane included, bunkbeds with mattresses, and a charcoal grill.

All are wired for 120-volt power but campers must bring their own generator. Campers will need to bring their own linens, bedding, cookware, food and food storage, coolers, first-aid supplies and anything else needed during their stay. Most bring flashlights or lanterns. Ice and fuel are available at the camp office.

North Carolina Maritime Museums officials are bringing back the overnight tour of wildlife refuges and seashores throughout Pamlico, Hyde and Dare counties to observe wintering waterfowl.

The Coastal Culture and Waterfowl Watching Excursion, a two-day adventure through the wildlife refuges and seashores in Eastern North Carolina, will be offered Jan. 8-9, 2025, and again Dec. 9-10, 2025, through the system’s Beaufort facility.

The program had been on hiatus for the past four years primarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking place mostly outdoors, museum guides will travel with participants throughout Pamlico, Hyde and Dare counties to observe wintering waterfowl.

“This is a unique opportunity to see some species of birds that are only in North Carolina for a limited amount of time each year,” Museum Education Curator Benjamin Wunderly said in a statement. “There’s great diversity in the winter waterfowl we see, everything from large tundra swans to small diving ducks like buffleheads.”

Participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult, and is not recommended for children under 12.

The fee is $95 each, or $85.50 for members of the nonprofit Friends of the Museum, program sponsor. The fee covers the guided tour and transportation by museum van for the overnight adventure. Meals and hotel accommodations are the responsibility of individual participants.

Seating is limited and advance registration is required. To register, visit ncmaritimemuseumbeaufort.com or call 252-504-7758.

Of the $7.6 million awarded last month to state-managed lands, $600,000 goes to Dismal Swamp State Park in Camden County to construct an equipment storage building.

The funding from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund for fiscal year 2024-25 was allocated by the nine-member Parks and Recreation Authority at their November meeting. North Carolina State Parks and Recreation announced the awards Thursday.

Barnes Sutton, representing Brunswick County, was reappointed to a three-year term and was sworn in during the meeting. Sutton is director of economic and community development director for Leland.

“Funding from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to expand and enhance state parks plays a vital role in preserving North Carolina’s remarkable natural areas, while also offering outdoor recreation and educational experiences throughout the state,” said D. Reid Wilson, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “We are grateful for the continued financial support from the General Assembly and Governor Roy Cooper.”

Located at the northeast border of North Carolina and Virginia, the Dismal Swamp State Park offers hiking, biking, paddling, fishing and birdwatching opportunities, access to the Great Dismal Swamp, “the largest remaining swamp in the eastern United States,” and the 22-mile Dismal Swamp Canal, according to the state parks system.

Including the building to house trail maintenance and canal system equipment at Dismal Swamp State Park, $6.4 million of the $7.6 million in funds will go to renovations and other projects at Carvers Creek State Park in Cumberland County, Stone Mountain State Park in Wilkes County, Elk Knob State Park in Ashe County, and Bob’s Creek State Natural Area in McDowell County.

The two land acquisition projects totaling $1.23 million will add 2,410 acres to the Wilderness Gateway State Trail in McDowell County and 1.7 acres to the William B. Umstead State Park in Wake County.

In addition, $2.2 million will go to repairs and preventative maintenance at parks throughout the system.

The state receives 65% of the fund’s annual appropriation and revenue for state parks projects and projects at the DuPont Recreational State Forest. North Carolina State Parks is under the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which manages more than 100 locations across the state.

BUXTON — When the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was rescued 25 years ago from the edge of the Atlantic, the nation’s tallest brick beacon was relocated with just an ordinary airport beacon in its lantern room.

It could be argued that return of the majestic first order Fresnel lens atop the 1870 lighthouse will be nearly as remarkable a feat as moving the 4,800-ton tower about a half-mile inland. But to the man crafting the replica, it’s the apex of a 40-year fascination with the unique lens that began with another lighthouse.

Dan Spinella, owner of Artworks Florida Classic Fresnel Lenses, has been meticulously replicating the design of the original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse lens as part of the current comprehensive lighthouse restoration project. The new prisms, made of a super-strong acrylic, are dyed to exactly match the sea foam green of the glass prisms they’re replacing.

Spinella is likely the only man in the nation, maybe the world, who knows about manufacturing those prisms. But when he visited the 1874 St. Augustine Lighthouse in the 1980s, it was the first time he had been even inside a lighthouse.

“And when I saw the lens, it’s like, ‘Whoa, what the heck is this?’” Spinnella recalled during a recent telephone interview. “I had no idea.”

St. Augustine’s Fresnel lens, the same impressive size as the Hatteras lens, immediately captivated him and set off an unusually productive obsession. Before he knew it, Spinella, who then was and still is employed as an engineer at Walt Disney World, offered to take dimensions and do some drawings to help in the lens restoration.

“Yeah, I went from volunteer to volunteer/business, and it just evolved over the years,” he told Coastal Review, speaking from his Orlando home. “Nothing that I planned; it just kind of worked out.”

The website of the nonprofit St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum credits the efforts of the Junior Service League of St. Augustine and others, including Spinella and Joe Cocking, the lampist who had later saved the fixed Fresnel lens atop Bodie Island Lighthouse, for restoring its lens after being damaged by a vandal’s gunshots.

After working on the St. Augustine project for about a year, Spinella, a professed history lover, said he had learned a lot about how Fresnel lenses worked. He started with engineering books from the 1850s he had located that were written by Scottish lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson, the father of writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

He found optic formulas that explained the lenses’ ability to refract and reflect light, allowing him to design a cross-section of the lens “perfectly,” he recalled. And while he kept learning, he kept going. Next, he volunteered at Ponce Inlet, Florida, then continued the work by helping to replace parts at other lighthouses. All along, he was experimenting with cast acrylic, machined acrylic.

“I tried several different ways of getting these prisms made,” Spinella said. “Then in 2004, I started making reproductions.”

Around that time, John Havel, then a graphic designer at the Environmental Protection Agency’s campus in the Raleigh area, had developed a fascination with the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. After focusing on its original blueprints and plans and collecting old photographs, Havel recounted in a recent interview, he was soon doggedly researching deep into historic lighthouse archives.

“When you study the lighthouse, you see that it is this magnificent, incredible, amazing example of American Victorian architecture,” said Havel, who is now retired from the EPA and the owner of Havel Research Associates in Salvo, a Hatteras Island village north of Buxton.

The Hatteras lens, as well, is an extraordinary piece of art.

“Every first order lens is different,” he said. “There are no other lenses identical to the Cape Hatteras lens, or to the Bodie Island lens, or to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse lens. Every single factor except the height and circumference of the lens is different.”

There are a total of six orders of Fresnels lens, with the smallest able to be slipped into a purse.

A couple of years into his research, Havel recalled, he was visiting the office of the historian with Cape Hatteras National Seashore and noticed a small prism on his desk.

“And he started telling me about this guy down in Florida who made these lenses and wanted to offer a replicas lens through the park service for Hatteras,” he said.

But it wasn’t until 2015, after speaking about the lighthouse restoration at the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society Keepers Weekend, that Havel flew to Florida meet Spinella.

To put it mildly, Havel was impressed. In the years since, as a member of the Lighthouse Society board, and as a dedicated volunteer, he encouraged the National Park Service to tap Spinella’s expertise. Today, Havel is employed as a historic preservation consultant for Massachusetts-based contractor Stone & Lime Historic Restoration Services Inc., as well as an assistant and consultant for Spinella.

The $19.2 million restoration project, of which Spinella is being paid about $1.25 million, began in early 2024 and is expected to be completed by late spring or early summer 2025.

“He’s doing this entire thing,” Havel said of the skilled lens maker. “He’s doing this by himself, while he has a full-time job at Disney … He’s a genius.”

Initially, the park service was considering the possibility of restoring the original 1853 lens, the remains of which are on loan to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras, a part of the North Carolina Maritime Museums system, which under the state’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

“Yes, we did talk about the option of doing that, and consulted with lampist Jim Woodward,” said National Park Service Deputy Chief of Cultural Resources Jami Lanier in a recent interview. “It was determined that it would probably not be feasible to do that for a couple of reasons (including) some issues with the frame of the lens not being exactly aligned to be able to accept the new prisms. And so it was felt that there could be some potential damage to the frame, or the lens itself, if that was attempted.”

Then there was the cost of replacing all the prisms — only 268 of the 1,000 or so prisms were salvaged — which “would have been astronomical,” she said.

The lens had been removed from the 1853 lighthouse, which was a taller version added to the 1803 tower, and installed in the1870 lighthouse, Lanier said. The lens was removed again in 1949, and in 1953 the lighthouse became part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. But in the years before and after World War II, the lighthouse was essentially abandoned and the lens was vandalized, she said.

Lanier explained that Woodward and his team had removed the original pedestal from the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 2006, put it together at the museum with the remains of the lens stored in a park facility on Roanoke Island.

Lanier said that the park service also discussed the potential of retrofitting the original lens with acrylic or glass replacements.

“You know, we went through all those discussions,” she said. “But in the end, it was just decided not to retrofit the original lens either way, and we knew if we were going with the replica that it would be acrylic.”

Indeed, it would cost four to seven times more to make the replica prisms in glass, Spinella said. Some prisms in glass restorations he has done cost $4,000 each, and some were as much as $20,000 each. And multiplied by 1,008 prisms, that could mean millions of dollars. Plus, glass is heavier and would put an additional load on the structure, he said. The original lens weighed 4,500 pounds, while the reproduction will weigh a mere 1,600 pounds.

A first order Fresnel lens, which is shaped like a beehive, is 8 1/2 feet high and 6 feet wide. Not only is the acrylic lighter, Spinella also used anodized aluminum frames that are a third the weight of bronze. Also, the aluminum will not deteriorate or tarnish, but it looks the same as brass except it’s not quite as shiny.

“Polished brass looks absolutely beautiful when I install them, but I can go back a couple months later and they look terrible just because of the humidity and condensation in the lantern room,” he said.

In 2009, Spinella worked with Woodward, who has worked on more than 400 lenses, to measure the lens, and he went back to his workshop and created a 3D model of it. During the intervening years while the park service mulled over having a replica lens, Spinella had continued his experiments, perfecting his acrylic prisms. The initial cast acrylic lacked the quality he wanted, and he eventually settled on optical acrylic.

“It’s a very high-quality acrylic,” he said. “I mean, they use it in fighter jet windows, and it’s UV stable, and it’s easy to machine, sand and polish and it can be tinted.”

Optical acrylic also is clearer than glass and transmits more light, he added. Although it’s strong and durable, it doesn’t last as long as glass.

Importantly, the reflective and refractive ability is nearly the same, with only slight differences.

“It actually bends light a little,” he said. “It’s got a slightly lower index of refraction, so … I’ve adjusted the formulas and adjusted the profile of each prism and shape of curvatures according to the refractive index of acrylic.”

A modern Fresnel-specific LED bulb, installed on a little stand on the pedestal, is hooked up to a sophisticated controller that, at $10,000, costs more than the $8,000 LED, Spinella said. But even with the light source now drastically different than the original kerosene oil lamp, the prisms are in the same arrangement around it.

“That lamp was a flame or omnidirectional light, so it spread 360 degrees spherically in all directions,” Spinella explained. “So that was the purpose of these lenses, to capture as much of that light as possible.”

As Havel noted, another engineering feat that Spinella accomplished was his replication of the lens’ clockwork mechanism, which was based on the 1853 original at the Graveyard museum. There are no known photographs or even descriptions of the lens and its machinery, he said.

“Dan has replicated that with all new gears, metals and whatever (mechanisms) rotated the lens so that it would flash out to sea,” Havel said.

The clockwork had been run by hemp rope, which was extremely strong but messy.

“Hemp sheds,” Havel said. “Dan found synthetic rope that looks the same but isn’t hairy like hemp.”

The rotating beacon’s original flash pattern of every 10 seconds, instead of the former 71/2-second burst, is being restored, and it will continue to be visible for up to 20 miles. As Spinella explained it, each minute the mechanism rotates a quarter turn, a full rotation takes four minutes, “And what that’ll give you is a 10-second flash interval,” he said.

Each lighthouse has its unique flashing characteristic and daymark, which are listed for mariners by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Once Spinella and Woodward reinstall the beacon — probably in June — there will be a day when people who climb to the top of the tower will be able to see for themselves the mesmerizing beauty of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse’s First Order Fresnel Lens.

Spinella said he has modified the lens with modern elements, but he said it’s still correct to consider the lens a replica because it follows the original design. For instance, while the clockwork mechanism and chariot wheels that rotated the lens are still part of it, the real rotation will now come from a 1/3-horsepower electric motor operated by a controller.

“I’ve done some things that make it more durable and more modernized,” he said. “But you really won’t see any of it.”

Interested in bringing a little horse play to someone this Christmas?

That special gift is yours to give this holiday season through the Outer Banks Forever’s adopt-a-pony program, one that supports costs associated with care and feeding of wild Ocracoke Banker ponies.

Recipients will receive a photo and official adoption certificate by mail or digitally, adopter’s choice. A minimum $50 gift is required.

Photographs and descriptions of the ponies up for symbolic adoption are available here.

Adoptions must be made no later than Dec. 11 by those who wish to send a photo and adoption certificate by mail.

To send digital documentation, check the “Digital Option” on the last screen before completing an adoption. Digital adoptions must be made no later than Dec. 23.

First of two parts.

The American black bear population is healthy on the North Carolina coast, but that hasn’t always been the case.

The species was in jeopardy in the 1900s for multiple reasons, but particularly habitat loss, and by the mid-1900s, bears could only be found in the most remote coastal swamps and mountains, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, which manages the species.

Since the commission stepped in 50 years ago, the population has been restored to nearly its historic range, Game Mammals and Surveys Supervisor Colleen Olfenbuttel recently explained to Coastal Review.

“The successful recovery of North Carolina’s black bear population was primarily due to conservation and research efforts implemented by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission from the 1970s to present,” she said.

The only kind of bear in the state — and in eastern U.S. — these omnivores are mostly found in the mountains and on the coast. In eastern North Carolina, bears usually prefer uninhabited lowland hardwoods, swamps and pocosins.

Where bears outnumber people

After an early dinner at the Mexican grill in Columbia and chat with the locals about bear sightings, Coastal Review met with Chase Luker, a hunter safety specialist with the commission, at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge visitor center.

The goal was to cruise around the refuge, which has one of the largest concentrations of black bears found in the United States, according to its website, and some farmland, with permission, with the hope to see bears in their coastal habitat.

Luker, as he steered his king cab truck out of the parking lot and toward the refuge, said “this is Tyrrell County, where bears outnumber people two to one, but there’s only about 3,500 people in the county,” and it’s the same story for Hyde County. The bears probably outnumber people there two to one, as well.

Dusk is the best time of day to see a bear because, “Bears are smart,” Luker said. They have an aversion to humans because humans “mean trouble,” and “just try to avoid confrontation. But late in the day, you’ll see bears starting to come into these fields. They’ll stay in them as long as they possibly can, and will make their way out around daybreak.”

Luker is originally from Alabama, but has been in eastern North Carolina for decades. He has managed youth programs in the region and is currently specialist for the hunter safety program’s 13-county District 1, which covers the northeastern quarter of the state, from Currituck County south to Carteret County and Greene County being the farthest west. The program provides free firearm safety courses while it emphasizes ethics and responsibility, conservation and wildlife management, wildlife identification, survival and first aid, specialty hunting and tree stand safety, the website states.

Luker cruised down a narrow country road before turning onto a wide gravel lane that seemed to stretch for miles. As dusk crept over the refuge, he expertly maneuvered his truck along the network of bumpy dirt paths, taking turns only a local would know. His familiarity with the area also is in part because he’s led hunting tours on nearby private land for an outdoor experience business.

He stopped every 15 to 20 minutes to check out the different paw prints on the dirt tracks, or slow down with hopes to catch a bear as it pops out of the woods or skitters down a tree.

During one of these stops, he nodded toward a stretch of land the size of a few football fields and explained that the breeding season for black bears is in May and June. During that window, bears are everywhere. He added that when people spot a bear limping, it’s usually not because the bear has been run over or been caught in a trap. That bear has most likely been defeated in a fight.

“When they fight, they fight with their front feet, and they bite and chew,” and it takes them a few months to heal, he said.

After breeding, the sows, or female bears, have delayed implantation, which means the egg is fertilized but doesn’t begin to develop until late fall. The bears give birth in January or February, according to the agency.

Species management

The Wildlife Resources Commission manages all aspects of the species, including conservation measures, hunting regulations and seasons, as well as research, which has focused on bear habitat use and home ranges, procedures for estimating bear populations and reducing vehicle collisions.

Olfenbuttel helped write the agency’s current bear management plan that outlines how regulated hunting is key to achieving and maintaining black bear population objectives.

The current stated goal for the agency is to “use science-based decision making and biologically-sound management principles to manage black bear populations in balance with available habitats and human expectations to assure long-term existence and hunting opportunities.”

Olfenbuttel has been in the wildlife profession for nearly 30 years. Before taking on her current supervisor role earlier this year, she had been the black bear and furbearer biologist since 2007. She earned her bachelor’s in wildlife biology from Ohio University and master’s in wildlife management from Virginia Tech, and has been in the wildlife profession for nearly 30 years.

The commission has several rules the hunter must follow, which are listed on the commission’s website. Among those is a prohibition on taking sows with cubs or bears weighing less than 75 pounds.

Hunters must have a bear e-stamp, in addition to a hunting license and big game hunting privileges. “Bag limit is one bear, you must report your bear, and you must submit the premolar (tooth) from your harvested bear to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, in addition to other requirements and restrictions,” Olfenbuttel said, adding that there are further restrictions on game lands for hunting bears.

The commission determines rules and dates for hunting season, which is this time of year but exact dates vary by county. The commission allowed hunting for a few weeks earlier this month in Camden, Chowan, Pasquotank, Currituck, Gates, Perquimans, Beaufort, Bertie, Craven, Hertford, Jones, Martin, Washington, Dare, Hyde and Tyrrell counties and will reopen the season Dec. 14-29.

For Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico Pender, Robeson and Sampson counties, season is Nov. 11 to Jan. 1.

“Unlike other causes of bear mortality, such as vehicle collisions or disease, we can regulate levels of hunting mortality,” Olfenbuttel said, adding that regulated hunting is the primary cause of bear mortality, “and that is good, as we can control harvest levels based on our bear population objectives, plus the bear can be utilized by the hunter, hunting is a quick and humane death, unlike disease or starvation, and a bear dying from vehicle collision may also result in a person being injured or killed.”

When the commission began managing the bear population in the 1970s, there was “direct cooperation and help from bear hunters,” Olfenbuttel said.

Hunters help fund conservation and research efforts through hunting license sales and the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, which imposes an excise tax on firearms and ammunition, as well as contributed data needed to make science-based management decisions.

Bear hunters also advocated for increased regulations on bear hunting, such as establishing bag limits, season lengths, minimum weight limits and license requirements, to assure the sustainable harvest of the bear population for generations to come.

Most recently, bear hunters joined the commission in calling for the state law that now requires hunters to submit the premolar tooth from their harvested bear, so that agency can use the data to determine its age at harvest and monitor bear population growth trends, Olfenbuttel said.

Luker said that “Hunting is the most reasonable conservation tool. Hunters are citizen-scientists on the ground, they know what’s going on out here. When they harvest a bear, they’re more than happy to send any hair samples, teeth samples, whatever’s needed.”

While bear hunting helps conserve the population, it also helps farmers.

Black bears in eastern North Carolina can cause tremendous agricultural crop damage and financial losses to a farmer, Olfenbuttel said. Regulated hunting allows farmers to offset their financial losses and address crop damage by having licensed hunters pay to access their land and harvest some of these bears.

“The regulated hunting season and the hunting leases that bear hunters are willing to pay landowners and farmers, helps maintain tolerance for bear populations on the agricultural landscape,” she explained.

Visible damage

As Luker guided his truck along the well-worn paths, he pointed out several times during that evening just how much destruction a bear can cause to crops.

“That was corn right there,” he said while pointing out the window to where bears had obliterated several rows of the crop. The closer the land was to the bear sanctuary, the more corn the bears ate.

“Bears typically don’t eat beans but they love corn, and as that corn grows, bears will move into the fields and not leave until the corn is picked,” he said. “It’s shaded. There are no bugs in there because of the pesticides and when they eat the corn, they get all the moisture they need, all the water they need.”

It’s a point of contention.

“Farmers can’t stand it, and I can understand why. Sometimes you can expect up to 20% loss.” For example, if a farmer plants 100 acres of corn, and expects to yield 200 bushels an acre at $5 a bushel, a 20% loss is substantial.

“The margins aren’t super high in farming, and bears literally eat into it,” Luker said.

He said many of the regional outfitters have working relationships with landowners who allow guided hunts on their property.

Next in the series: Bear hunting as heritage, conservation

Note: Coastal Review will not publish Thursday and Friday this week in recognition of the Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day holidays, respectively.

Featured Image

A belted kingfisher, or Megaceryle alcyon, surveys its autumnal surroundings from a perch, Nov. 14 at North River Preserve in Carteret County. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service describes the species as busy birds that burrow into the earth, patrol stream and river banks, and are “always ready to dive down and snag a meal.” Photo: Nick Green

WANCHESE — The National Park Service’s historic architect overseeing structural rehabilitation at the Ocracoke Light Station is the featured speaker this week for the “Science on the Sound” lecture series at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus.

Historical Architect George Jaramillo of the park service’s Outer Banks Group will present “Elevating Stations: Preserving the Ocracoke Light Station Double Keepers Quarters.” The free lecture is set for 6 p.m. Thursday.

With more than 20 years of architecture, heritage and design experience within the private and public sectors, Jaramillo explores the history, architectural significance and key adaptation strategies for preservation.

The monthly, in-person lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina.

“For two centuries the Ocracoke Light Station has maintained watch over the waters of Silver Lake,” organizers said in a statement. “Today, its continued threat from stronger storms has brought the need for climate-forward adaptation preservation strategies. We explore the entanglement of history and adaptation within the site and the current strategies implemented at the Ocracoke Light Station Double Keepers Quarters. Old and new techniques are promoted for the rehabilitation of the structure providing ‘tangible interventions’ (Anderson et al, 2018) to adapt our unique maritime legacy for our changing futures.”

The program will also be livestreamed on the CSI YouTube channel for those unable to attend.

Dave Hallac called it.

Within 48 hours, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent’s prediction came true. Another unoccupied, imperiled home on Rodanthe’s ocean shore toppled into the Atlantic Ocean.

“I would not be the least bit surprised with this weekend’s king tide and elevated seas from the north winds if they collapse by Sunday,” Hallac said last week to the state’s Coastal Resources Commission. “I hope that doesn’t happen, but that’s possible.”

The house that is no more at 23241 Surf Side Drive crumbled some time during the night between Thursday and Friday. Its tattered remnants littered Rodanthe’s shore, forcing the Cape Hatteras National Seashore to temporarily close the beach.

The low-pressure system that descended on the North Carolina coast Thursday evening, whipping up strong wind gusts, elevated tides and heavy rain and the closure of N.C. Highway 12 between the Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe hindered cleanup operations.

All the while, national seashore officials kept an eye on two other threatened structures Hallac said were at imminent risk of collapse.

“This is going to be one of the most significant problems that Cape Hatteras National Seashore faces and, of course, many areas of the coast,” he said last week.

Two years had passed since Hallac last met with the coastal commission to update its members on a situation that is becoming increasingly common along the national seashore on the Outer Banks.

Hallac made the five-hour drive to Ocean Isle Beach last week to talk about what he anticipates to be a looming increase in threatened oceanfront structures as seas rise and possible solutions to address the problem.

It’s a topic, he said, that is important not only to the national seashore, “but what we’re seeing is really the tip of the iceberg,” as problems associated with coastal erosion along, not only areas of the East Coast, but also the rest of the country’s ocean shores.

Although Rodanthe’s beachfront is not the only erosion hot spot along the North Carolina coast, it has gained notoriety in recent years as house after house after house has succumbed to powerful ocean waves that are increasingly unattenuated because of the vanishing shore.

In the two years since Hallac last spoke to the commission, 10 houses have collapsed on the national seashore. Six of those, counting the house that fell last week, have broken apart and tumbled to the ocean since May.

This is occurring in spite of decades-long efforts to keep erosion at bay in, what by all accounts, is a story of how the government tried, and failed, to hold a barrier island in place.

‘The Great Wall of Carolina’

The story goes back more than 80 years, when Congress authorized the creation of the park — the first national seashore — in August 1937.

During that time, single men aged 18 to 25 could enlist in the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of a series of programs created under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, a government work program aimed at lifting the nation out of the Great Depression.

Roosevelt established the conservation corps in 1933 to improve America’s parks, public lands and forests.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore was officially established in 1953. The park includes 75 miles of ocean-facing beaches spanning portions of Dare and Hyde counties.

Within its boundaries are three lighthouses, two fishing piers, two marinas, two boat ramps and three airports.

More than 150,000 people stayed overnight last year in its four beach campgrounds. During that same time, the national seashore had more than 3 million visits, ones Hallac described as long-duration, high-density visits where people rent beach homes and stay for a week.

Nine villages are either adjacent to or within the national seashore, one with a dune system that was largely built by the conservation corps.

Workers in the program erected more than 600 miles of sand fencing – called The Great Wall of Carolina – during a dune-building effort, which Hallac said was “really the beginning of the fight-the-ocean stage.”

The black and white photographs Hallac displayed on a projection screen for the Coastal Resources Commission last week showed park service employees in the 1950s planting American beach grass to try and stabilize the dunes that had been partially created by the fencing.

In all, more than 13 million square feet of grasses and millions of trees and shrubs were planted to try to hold in place the barrier island, Hallac said, adding, “which is really nothing more than a pile of sand.”

The park service had a helicopter for arial fertilizer spraying on the dunes to help make the grasses grow as quickly as possible. As erosion and storms kept sweeping away the ocean shore, workers kept pushing sand up from the sea, back onto the beach.

Significant erosion in Buxton was easily tracked at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The nearly 200-foot-tall beacon was built 1,500 feet from shore in 1870.

By 1919, only 300 feet of sand separated the lighthouse from the Atlantic Ocean.

“So, it just goes to show you how fast the erosion is in some areas of the Outer Banks,” Hallac said.

After 37 years and more than $20 million, virtually the entire federal investment in the park’s beaches and dunes, the “erosion control program had been lost to erosion control,” Hallac said.

“We decided we were now going to follow most of the National Park Service processes, the same policies that we have in places like Shenandoah National Park, Yellowstone National Park, which is to allow natural processes to occur, including erosion,” he said. “Even after investing a lot to try to control this, we just determined we were not successful. We could not keep up with it and so here we are.”

Today, nearly 7,000 feet of sandbags have been placed within the park facing N.C. Highway 12 to try and protect the vital roadway from the ocean.

Debris ‘becomes part of the beach ecosystem’

The breathtakingly tragic scene of an oceanfront littered for miles by debris from a collapsed house doesn’t fully capture the full impact fallen houses have on the shore.

Tens if not hundreds of thousands of remnants of tar paper, the layer of material typically installed beneath roofing shingles, ends up buried in the sand, Hallac said.

“You never get rid of all of this,” he said. “The debris associated with these home collapses becomes part of the beach ecosystem.”

Hallac hires biological technicians in the summers to oversee sea turtle nests and shorebirds. The technicians spend several hours every week picking up septic drain-field cells, diverter boxes and other pieces of septic systems that wash down the beach and come to rest on areas of the national seashore.

The park keeps handy a stack of signs supplied by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Recreational Water Quality Program to post in the event of a wastewater spill caused every time a septic tank is compromised by the encroaching sea.

There were 23 septic spills on the national seashore between Aug. 12 and Oct. 1.

“This problem is going to get much worse with sea level rise,” Hallac warned.

A gauge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keeps at Oregon Inlet is tracking sea level rise at 5.56 millimeters per year, he said.

“When I started giving presentations like this it was in the 2 millimeters per year range, and this is expected to increase. But I can tell you right now, if it doesn’t increase at all, we will have a major problem based on the presence of threatened oceanfront structures,” Hallac said.

A recent study measuring erosion rates on the national seashore show that the beach is eroding and the shoreline is moving westward.

“What you’re seeing is an endpoint erosion rate of 4 meters per year and a linear regression rate of 3 meters per year,” Hallac said. “It doesn’t matter which one you pick. They’re both very rapid erosion rates.”

At these rates, he said, it’s time to start thinking about houses that are now across the street from oceanfront homes.

There are places like Avon, where dozens of houses will become threatened unless the beachfront is perpetually renourished or they are moved, Hallac said.

Those are some of the options in what he refers to as “the four Bs: build out, build back, build up, or, ultimately, build a boat.”

Beach nourishment has been successful along many areas of the North Carolina’s coast, he said, but it is not a silver bullet solution.

Renourishments are causing “an inadvertent loss of the barrier island area,” Hallac said.

“Normal barrier islands overwash. They deposit sand in the middle of the island. They build elevation and sometimes the sand gets washed over to the sound side. The marsh colonizes. You can maintain the width of the barrier island as it migrates slowly to the west. We have completely halted all of those processes. We have drowning at the interior of our barrier islands, and we now are having significant erosion of the sound side of our barrier islands,” he said.

Hallac said there had been several public meetings and expert panels where discussions centered on financial assistance, the role of public and private insurance, and legal and regulatory hurdles associated with threatened oceanfront structures.

“And I think what we’ve done is, we’ve put forward a series of ideas for further discussion that can help advocate this issue,” he said as he wrapped up his presentation. “There is no silver bullet, as I said before, but we really do need to work on this and come together to find solutions because this is a problem that is going to get worse over time.”

Commission Chair Renee Cahoon said threatened oceanfront structures are a never-ending problem up and down the North Carolina coast.

“We’re going to have to start looking at other solutions to help mitigate the damages because what we’re not covering, we’re cover the cleanup, but we’re not covering the damage of the water as well as to our sea turtles and other wildlife that’s out there,” she said. “It’s going to continue to grow I’m afraid as sea level rise keeps happening and erosion keeps getting worse.”

Featured Image

The 1859 Cape Lookout Lighthouse reaches 163 feet skyward beyond shorebirds hunkered down recently on a jetty across the bay at the Cape Lookout National Seashore visitor center at Shell Point on Harkers Island. Photo: Dylan Ray

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is celebrating 40 years of protecting the rare pocosin wetlands and wildlife on the Albemarle Peninsula.

The celebration is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the refuge, 13518 Milltail Road in East Lake, and not at the visitor center on Roanoke Island. There will be refuge tours, educational activities, family fun, food, equipment on display and a chance to meet refuge staff.

The 160,000-acre protected area that was established in 1984 “to protect wetlands and wildlife, including migratory birds and endangered species,” according to the refuge.

The land is home to one of the highest densities of American black bear ever recorded, where the endangered red wolf, which was formerly extinct in the wild, was reintroduced, and home to more than 250 species of birds.

KILL DEVIL HILLS — On Nov. 19, 1932, the striking, art deco-inspired granite monument overlooking the exact spot where the Wright brothers’ first flight lifted off 29 years earlier was dedicated at a 1,000-attendee gala that included notable military and political figures, with Orville Wright as the guest of honor.

Less than a month later, a government construction official noted that a “considerable” amount of water was leaking through the brand-new monument’s mortar joints into the Memorial Room during windy rainstorms, and condensation was evident in the damp interior.

More than nine decades later, the 60-foot-tall Wright Monument still stands tall above what is now Wright Brothers National Memorial. And the mortar joints are still leaking and the interior is still plagued by condensation. But now the National Park Service is armed with a new analysis of the structure done with cutting-edge technology that can provide insight into maintaining a monument that’s both high and dry.

As detailed in the recently released “Wright Brothers Monument and Powerhouse Historic Structure Report,” the monument’s excessive moisture problem has never been conquered and at best been temporarily alleviated, despite numerous repairs, anti-humidity mitigation and technical enhancements, as well as multiple restoration projects.

“It could be the way that is was designed,” said Jami Lanier, deputy chief of cultural resources at Wright Brothers National Memorial, in a recent interview with Coastal Review. “Maybe it was never intended to be watertight, but it has had persistent issues with leaking, and we think that the primary culprit are the mortar joints, between the granite veneer panels for the monument.”

But as detailed in the structural report, the monument pylon’s rapid deterioration from water infiltration evident in 1945 may have been created by being designed to be waterproof.

“Discoloration of the granite and mortar damage resulted from both rain and condensation on the pylon,” the report said, “and since the Monument was designed to be watertight and airtight, there was no ventilation.”

The walls were damp. Water accumulated on the floor. Rain came in from several locations, seeping through the walls, moving between the stone veneer and the concrete floor, and coming up through the floor.

At barely 13 years of age, the monument already had deterioration in the pointing of the stone work and discoloration inside the little rotunda and on the exterior of the monument, the report said. Different versions of the problem have been a challenge ever since, with salty air and constant condensation playing havoc on interior wiring, paint, concrete and metal infrastructure.

But now, with more advanced tools to work with, the Park Service is hopeful that recommendations in the report will help solve the dilemma.

“That’s what we’re working on right now,” Lanier said. “We’ll have a design for repair, and hopefully we can finally resolve this issue.”

Repointing the mortar joints will be a priority, she said. The sky-facing joints are especially vulnerable to water coming in, as well as areas of the roof and the beacon.

In addition to standard engineering and laboratory testing, a moisture-intrusion investigation in 2017 referenced by the historic structures report included scanning by surface-penetrating radar, pachometer testing to measure thickness, infrared thermography that creates images of surface heat variations, and videoscope investigations.

According the report, moisture appeared to be entering through delaminated mortar joints on the veneer, damaged areas of the roof and spaces behind the stone and electrical conduits.

More recent investigations have involved drone surveys and borescope inspections, which employs optical devices capable of remote visual examinations.

The rotating beacon on top, extinguished since World War II, was restored and turned back on in 1998. Lanier said the beacon is still operating well, but it needs some maintenance.

After a national competition with 36 entries, the eye-catching design for the Wright Monument was awarded in 1930 to New York architects Robert P. Rodgers and Alfred E. Poor, whose submission was unanimously selected by a jury chosen by the American Institute of Architects. In making its recommendation to U.S. Secretary of War Patrick Hurley, the jury applauded the architects’ vision.

“The design finally selected is one which stood out from all the rest by the reason of its extreme simplicity,” the jury said, as quoted in an article The New York Times published Feb. 19, 1930.

“The power of imagination manifested … strikes one at first sight and increases on acquaintance. It is not only most original and impressive as seen from land, but would also be extremely effective as seen from the air. It strongly manifests the dominant motive suggested in the program, namely, a memorial to the birth of human flight.”

According to the historic structures report, the winning design was described as “a masonry shaft and base of approximately sixty feet set on a star-shaped foundation,” which formed a terrace around the base. The shaft was triangular and “embellished with relief carvings” of wings on two sides.

“The design implied ancient Egyptian motifs, an important source for Art Deco designs,” the report said.

The report, done by Quinn Evans Architects, also includes an analysis of the powerhouse, a small building at the base of the monument that housed a generator to power the beacon atop the tower.

The National Park Service intends preservation work for the monument, and more comprehensive rehabilitation for the powerhouse, the report said.

The genesis for a memorial honoring the Wrights as the inventors of the first heavier-than-air powered airplane went back to 1926, when North Carolina Rep. Lindsay Warren cosponsored legislation that was passed the following year. It was decided that the commemorative site would be built on top of Big Kill Devil Hill, which was one of three sand dunes from which the brothers tested their gliders before building the Flyer.

Success was achieved on Dec. 17, 1903, at the base of hill, when their plane flew for 12 seconds and 120 feet, the first time in history that a controlled flight was achieved by a human onboard a powered aircraft.

Originally, the monument, which resembles pylons used as course markers in early airplane races, was going to be concrete, but Warren insisted that it be constructed of North Carolina granite. The 4,500-ton structure, set 35 feet deep, has a concrete core with a veneer ranging from 1 to 4 feet of Mount Airy granite.

On the 25th anniversary of the first flight in 1928, the monument cornerstone was laid atop Big Kill Devil Hill, kicking off the $213,000 construction project. Stabilization of the hill, which had moved 450 feet to the southwest, began in 1929, with plantings of grasses and native vegetation.

In August 1933, what was then known as the Kill Devil Hill Monument was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service. During World War II, the name was changed to the Kill Devil Hill National Monument Memorial. In December 1953, in time for the 50th anniversary of the first flight, the park officially became Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Today, the monument towers 151 feet over the park’s 428 acres, a significant expansion from its earlier 314 acres. From the top of the 90-foot-tall hill, visitors are treated to a panoramic view of the site and the ocean and the surrounding town. But the interior has rarely been accessible for long to the public.

Inside, a four-story, windowless staircase winds up the midsection, narrowing as it climbs to a small observation platform at top. For those used to climbing the interiors of lighthouses, for instance, the experience inside the Wright Monument is comparably claustrophobic.

In recent decades, the agency has occasionally opened the interior to the public for a limited time, but the persistent challenge with water seepage and leaking has generally made climbing untenable.

A discussion in the report about a proposed monument restoration in the mid-2000s referenced a 1995 safety inspection discussion about the stairs.

“Elements noted in the safety inspection that wouldn’t be corrected in the restoration included the steep narrow steps, a lack of guard rails at the top to prevent visitors from falling over the edge, and the extreme difficulty in emergency personnel reaching and removing an injured visitor” in an emergency,” it said.

Despite the continual challenge from “moisture intrusion” inside the monument, the structure overall is in good condition. From the outside, the monument and its terrace are gleaming and well-maintained.

The rotating beacon, extinguished since World War II, was restored and turned back on in 1998.

Lanier said that Quinn Evans Architects firm, which wrote the report, is also contracted to do the design for the restoration work. The requested amount for the project is $2.7 million for the design and construction, which included $100,000 for the historic structure report. Costs for that report, which the park requested in 2019, have already been allocated.

“The historic structure report was part of the compliance for the project, so we wanted a historic structure report written first, so it would help guide the repair of the monument,” Lanier said.

Funding for the remaining costs is expected to be provided in the fiscal year 2025 budget, she said.

One of North Carolina’s most famous mysteries, the “Lost Colony,” is among the more than 30 tales, tragedies and legends from the barrier islands to get lost in — virtually — while using Dare County’s new interactive map, “OBX Folklore: Your gateway to Outer Banks Legends, Ghosts, and Folklore.”

The map allows users to “delve deeper into the many eerie and mysterious occurrences that have taken place over the years and have ultimately become legends that are passed down from generation to generation,” the county said in an announcement earlier this week.

Dare County GIS Specialist Kristen Stilson and county librarians Meaghan Leenaarts Beasley and Theresa Cozart spent the last year collaborating on the website that celebrates Geographic Information Systems Day 2024 on Nov. 20.

“The Outer Banks has a long history full of lore to choose from, from Native American tales to modern day frights. This made for a really diverse set of stories to educate and entertain both the readers and us,” Stilson said in the announcement.

Stilson explained to Coastal Review Tuesday that the county had been creating special maps to celebrate GIS Day since 2019. Past projects include the 2019 Look Back Map, the 2020 Shipwreck Map, the 2021 Trivia Map, the 2022 OBX Days Gone By Map, and the 2023 Pop Culture Map, all available on the Dare County website.

The idea for this year’s map on Outer Banks folklore came about through a conversation they had about a year ago.

Cozart said that when she was hired last November, she and Stilson began talking about the 2023 Pop Culture Map, which had just been released for GIS Day, and of the interesting places in Dare County. 

“Kristen was telling me about all the fun maps she had created and how I should check them out to help me get a feel for the Outer Banks. Kristen’s excitement about these maps was infectious,” Cozart explained.

Coming from Wilmington, Cozart continued, “I started talking about all the ‘haunted’ locations down there and fun ghost tours. Kristen and Meaghan then started telling me about folklore associated with the Outer Banks and I said that sounded like a fun map that everyone would enjoy.”

Stilson said that since she tries to make a fun map for each GIS Day, she drew inspiration from Cozart’s idea and they decided to collaborate on the folklore map.

“It took us a few months to make, with all of us working on it in our spare time and adding a few things here and there,” Stilson said.

The map is best viewed on a desktop for all the effects but will work on all devices. “You can read the stories in any order you like thanks to the dropdown menu but I ordered the stories from North to South,” Stilson added.

The earliest stories date back to the “Lost Colony of Roanoke” and the “Legend of the White Doe,” both late 1500s, Beasley told Coastal Review.

The story of the “Lost Colony” begins in the summer of 1587, when men, women and children attempt to establish Roanoke Colony, the first permanent English outpost in North America. About 115 English settlers arrived at Roanoke Island, welcoming a month later Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World. Later that year, Roanoke Colony’s governor, John White, returned to England for supplies, leaving the colonists behind.

White’s return to North America was delayed by three years because of war with Spain. When he made his way back in 1590, he found the colonists had disappeared and the only clues were “CRO” and “CROATOAN” carved on trees. “Though there are many theories about their fate, the colonists were never found and what happened to them remains a mystery to this day.”

One version of the “Legend of the White Doe” suggests that Virginia Dare was raised among the Croatoan. As she matured, she became a great beauty, drawing the unwanted attention of a young chieftain who, angry at her rejection, tricks her into drinking a potion that turns her into a white doe.

Stilson said in the press release that they chose stories for the map based on ones “we knew growing up or ones that we hadn’t heard that spoke to us.”

Stilson explained in a follow-up interview Tuesday that one of the legends from her youth is about the “goat man,” the most recent tale featured on the map.

The goat man legend began circulating in the 1970s, gaining momentum in the decades that followed. The story goes that a man lived in a yellow shack in Nags Head Woods with just his goats to keep him company. One night, teens vandalized his house while he was away, killing all of his goats. It is rumored that he kidnaps or chases teenagers, the map states.

Stilson continued that when she was growing up, she had always heard the story of the goat man. “Friends and I looked for him in Nags Head Woods.”

One legend Stilson had not heard before is the story of the magic lute, she said, “but for some reason I was really drawn to that one and wanted to write it up.”

The magic lute is a tale from the 1600s about two sisters in Currituck vying for the same man’s affection, and the musician who used strands of the chosen sister’s hair, who was drowned by the rejected sister, to replace the broken strings of his lute.

Cozart moved to Dare County in November 2023 from Wilmington. She said in an interview that she “really enjoyed learning about the local legends” since she’s new to the Outer Banks and “I love a good ghost story.”

She said she is partial to their very own poltergeist in the Kill Devil Hills Library. The branch where she is based opened 34 years ago.  

“I usually get here first thing in the morning and I’ve heard stuff. Usually it’s in the back areas — meeting room and kitchen. I’ve raced back there to see what was making noise and there was nothing there. It’s happened several times,” Cozart said. “Others here say they’ve had books found on the floor that were on the shelves when we closed up the night before. I haven’t experienced that yet, but I’m keeping on the poltergeist’s good side.”

Cozart said her favorite story that she came across is about the Whalehead Club. Built in 1922, the 21,000-square-foot house in Corolla was a winter home until 1933 when the original owners made their last visit. The couple died in 1936. Uneasy feelings are reported at the building and it has been investigated by paranormal researchers.

“So creepy that the original owners just abandoned that huge house,” Cozart added.

For Beasley, the Queen of the Sounds is “a perfect Halloween tale with witches, explosions and ghosts.”

The Queen of the Sounds was a riverboat commissioned after the Civil War that toured through the Currituck and Albemarle sounds. The owner supposedly fell in love with a witch, and their relationship ended when the riverboat exploded on a Sunday, after a ceremony to summon the devil.

Beasley said in a press release that it was a “natural fit” for library staff to work with Stilson on the interactive map.

“Not only do we have physical collections of celebrated folklorists, most notably Charles Harry Whedbee, but we also have little-known Outer Banks authors and locally written pamphlets of eerie tales and legends that often go overlooked,” Beasley continued. “While some of these items reside in our reference collections due to their age or rarity and can only be viewed in our libraries, many are available for checkout by the public.” 

Beasley told Coastal Review that they used about 20 resources, including books and digitized newspapers from the Dare County Library holdings, as well as outside sources such as a photo from the archives of the Outer Banks History Center to build the map. 

“It was a pleasant surprise to find a diversity of sources for these legends in our collections – we’re not a large place geographically but we’ve had some legendary events here,” Beasley said.

In each of the county’s three branches, the resources are on display along with a 24-inch by 36-inch framed poster of the OBX Folklore Map. Patrons can enter the raffle at the branches located in Hatteras, Kill Devil Hills and Manteo between Thursday and Nov. 19. A winner will be selected from each branch Nov. 20, on GIS day.

A contractor out of New York has been selected to begin next month a five-month-long paving project at Oregon Inlet Marina.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which owns the marina, announced Wednesday that Yorkshire Industries was awarded the contract to remove the top layer of asphalt, regrade and apply a new layer of asphalt in the approximately 195,650 square foot parking lot.

The project is expected to be completed by March 31, 2025.

The resurfaced parking lot will be elevated to address flooding issues, and the parking lot striping and drainage system will also be repaired, according to seashore officials.

The road-based fueling station will be closed for about 45 days, starting Nov. 4. Access to the public kayak launch and to the Oregon Inlet Campground’s RV dump station will be closed starting Dec. 9 for about 60 days.

“Campers should make other arrangements during this time,” officials said.

Access to water-based marina charters, the future air station, the public boat ramps and Oregon Inlet Fishing Center’s replacement facility, restaurant and tackle shop, are not expected to be impacted by the paving project.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The local advisory committees that help guide how the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve program manages its 10 sites are scheduled to meet in November.

The advisory committees made up of volunteers and representatives of community and government groups provide the Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve staff with guidance and feedback regarding program activities and management of the reserve sites. The reserve program created in 1989 has preserved more than 44,000 acres of unique coastal environments at 10 sites along the coast.

Schedule

• Zeke’s Island Reserve 10 a.m. Nov. 8, Fort Fisher Recreation Area, Kure Beach.    
• Bald Head Woods Reserve 10 a.m. Nov. 12, Bald Head Island Conservancy.
• Permuda Island Reserve 10 a.m. Nov. 12 town of North Topsail Beach meeting room, 2008 Loggerhead Court.
• Buxton Woods Reserve 11 a.m. Nov. 12, Fessenden Center, Buxton.
• Rachel Carson Reserve 3 p.m. Nov. 12, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Beaufort Laboratory.
• Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve 1 p.m. Nov. 13, Kitty Hawk town hall, 101 Veterans Memorial Drive.
• Bird Island Reserve 10 a.m. Nov. 18, Sunset Beach town hall conference room.
• Currituck Banks Reserve 1 p.m. Nov. 18, Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, Corolla.
• Emily & Richardson Preyer Buckridge Reserve 10 a.m. Nov. 19, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Main Office, 205 S. Ludington Drive, Columbia.
• Masonboro Island Reserve 1 p.m. Nov. 20, University of North Carolina Wilmington Center for Marine Science, 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane, Wilmington.

The Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve Program is under the state Division of Coastal Management, which works to protect, conserve and manage North Carolina’s coastal resources in the 20 coastal counties, and is part of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Featured Image

Aurora borealis, the result of an intense solar geomagnetic storm reaching Earth, lights up the skies over Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head late Thursday evening. Photo: Catherine Kozak

ROANOKE ISLAND — While immigration is a hot election-year topic, it’s perhaps notable that speculation continues unabated about the fate of America’s first English immigrants who vanished into the mists of history 437 years ago, with yet another twist in the saga of the real people who became known as the “Lost Colony.”

Could at least a group from the colony that briefly settled on the shores of today’s Roanoke Island, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, have moved, not only 50 miles south or west, as many believe, but simply to the other side of the sound?

According to records, when the colony’s governor John White returned three years after he left for supplies in 1587, the only evidence of the colony’s whereabouts was the word “Croatoan” – once the home of the Croatan Indians on Hatteras Island – carved on a fort palisade, and the letters “CRO” carved in an oak tree. That has been widely interpreted as a signal from the colonists that they moved to Croatoan – that is, Hatteras.

Alternately, there were signs that could have meant they went 50 miles into the mainland, as White said was discussed with the colonists before he departed.

But in a recent research report, “Croatan: The Untold Story,” veteran archaeologist Eric Klingelhofer, vice president of research with the nonprofit First Colony Foundation, says that a review of historic maps indicates that the Croatan tribe who had befriended the Roanoke colonists did not actually live on Hatteras Island; they lived on land across from Roanoke Island at what is now mainland Dare County. So if at least some colonists went to live with the Croatan Indians, they may have had to merely cross the sound.

“Cartographic study therefore suggests that a broad territory was attributed in the historical period to the remnant Croatoans, and that the likely location for their core habitation and Dasemunkepeuc itself lay northwest of Roanoke in the vicinity of modern Mashoes,” Klingelhofer asserts in the report, published on the foundation’s website.

Dasemunkepeuc, an Algonquian village, was located at present-day Mann’s Harbor, near Mashoes. The Croatan and Roanoke were branches of Algonquian Indians.

What his research shows is that the Croatan had left Buxton on Hatteras Island at some point after the arrival of the English in the mid-1580s, and relocated to the mainland where they could grow crops, Klingelhofer, a retired professor of history at Mercer University, told Coastal Review in a recent interview.

“It looks like, from these maps, which were most of the official governmental maps, that the Mashoes area and south of that Manns Harbor area was the land of the Croatoans,” he said, using an alternate name for the Croatan. “The Roanokes, who probably had more problems with disease because they had greater contacts, they may have been there for a while. But then they moved south, maybe because of better resources, or there were more friendly natives that they had relations with, or something like that. And then they don’t know what happened to them beyond the fact that they were no longer in this area.”

Long catnip for charlatans, fabulists and conspiracy dabblers, the disappearance of Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony on Roanoke Island – England’s first attempted settlement in the New World – has been dubbed the “nation’s oldest mystery” for a reason: Only bits of evidence have been found that point to what may have happened to most of the 117 men, women and children who had sailed to Roanoke Island more than four centuries ago.

Perhaps because of its ephemeral intrigue, the Lost Colony, a precursor to Jamestown in 1607, the first permanent English settlement, has been the focus of numerous archaeological surveys and digs – both professional and amateur – for decades. It has sparked a beloved long-running local summer theater production. It has spawned magical fables of a White Doe and of large stones carved with cryptic writing, both linked to Virginia Dare, a colonist’s baby born in 1587. And it has inspired many books, some more authoritative than others, including Klingelhofer’s, “Excavating The Lost Colony Mystery, The Map, the Search the Discovery,” published in 2023 in association with the foundation, which features a collection he edited of research by historians, archaeologists and others.

The foundation has worked closely with pre-colonial experts who have conducted research at Williamsburg and Jamestown in Virginia, as well as at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island, which has yielded artifacts but no hints of the colonists’ settlement. In a recent archaeological exploration, the foundation had found evidence of first contact between the English explorers and Native Americans at Fort Raleigh, and also has unearthed artifacts that indicate some Lost Colonists may have lived for a time at riverfront sites in Bertie County, dubbed Site X and Site Y.

Despite the growing volume of information that has been collected over the years, and numerous Indian and English artifacts that have been unearthed, to date no pre-colonial smoking gun has been found that fills in the big blanks about the elusive Lost Colony.

“We don’t know where they started out from,” Charles Ewen, distinguished professor of anthropology at East Carolina University’s Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, told Coastal Review. “We don’t know where they went. We have sort of the general vicinity and it’s become this wonderful mystery that people are trying to figure out.”

Ewen, more cohort than rival of Klingelhofer, has also recently written a book, with co-author E. Thomson Shields Jr.: “Becoming the Lost Colony, The History, Lore and Popular Culture of the Roanoke Mystery,” published in 2024.

Whatever detritus the colonists left behind may have been lost to erosion along the shores of the Croatan Sound or to decay in the swamps. But there are also unanswered questions about 16^th century people’s choice of living conditions, and Ewen agreed that the mainland could have provided better shelter and more food.

“In fact, I think most archeologists think that the Outer Banks were just seasonally occupied,” Ewen said. “So when they said they were prepared to move 50 miles into the main, I think the Outer Banks during the winter would not have been a terribly hospitable place.”

Deciphering the clues of the Lost Colony, like a 400-year-old board game, is why the mystery of their fate continues to fascinate.

Klingelhofer, a founding member of the First Colony Foundation, a volunteer group of professional archaeologists established in 2003, has explained that their overall mission is finding evidence to fill in the gaps about the 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages, which ultimately led to early American English colonization. Still, it’s always the Lost Colony story from the 1587 Roanoke Voyage that most ignites the public imagination and spurs continued investigations and research, such as Klingelhofer’s work.

Both Klingelhofer and the foundation, and Ewen and East Carolina University, have a close association with the late archaeologist David Phelps, professor emeritus of anthropology at ECU who died in 2009 at age 79.

An expert on prehistoric and Algonquian archaeology, Phelps was renowned for his work studying Tuscarora Indian sites at Neoheroka in Greene County and Jordan’s Landing in Bertie County. When Hurricane Emily in 1993 exposed vast amounts of pottery sherds and shell midden in Buxton, it was Phelps’ numerous excavations that determined the site had been the Croatan capital that stretched a half-mile from Cape Creek to Buxton village.

Phelps had dated what he called “the Hatteras site” from 1650 to 1720.

Manteo, who had befriended the colonists, had lived in Croatan, and his mother was the tribe’s leader. For that reason, some historians hypothesized that the colonists may have fled there, although most say the Croatan had inadequate food and space to accommodate more than a small number.

An archaeologist who had worked alongside Phelps as a young man, Clay Swindell, is now working with the foundation, Klingelhofer said.

Even though centuries separate our contemporary population from historic colonial explorers, human nature was likely as prone to boasting and deception then as it is now.

Hence, Klingelhofer said it’s worth noting that everyone is presuming what White, the governor who reported the “CRO” letters at the Lost Colony’s fort, actually knew and didn’t know.

“John White wasn’t always trustworthy,” he said. “He assumes a lot of things. He claims a lot of things that are not necessarily fully the truth. A lot of it is his interpretation of particular people and their motives behind the people that he has gotten angry with.”

In other words, White’s account may not be the only version of Lost Colony history to consider.

“But any good historian knows better than to trust a person who’s even an eyewitness to things,” Klingelhofer said. “You need corroboration. And sadly, there isn’t any except for in these maps.”

As Ewen sees the Lost Colony, all of the foundation’s hypotheses could be legitimate, but as he and Klingelhofer agree, it’s all pieces of a puzzle yet to be solved.

“I think it’s very difficult to say with any degree of certainty, until we find some more physical evidence, that we have an idea of what happened,” he said. “We need to find Christian burials from the 16th century, and I think that will really start putting us in the vicinity.”

English burials, he added, would be east-west, with the head at the west end. The clothing items would date to the 16th century, and skeletal analysis would indicate they were European. But archaeologists and historians are by no means ready to throw in the towel in pursuit of the Lost Colony.

“Honestly, I think it’s going to be an accidental discovery,” Ewen said. “Somebody will come across something while they’re developing … (and) stumble upon some of this stuff. And the archeologists will get involved, and then it will be, ‘Oh, OK!’”

North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation officials have closed all state parks west of the interstate that connects Mount Airy to Charlotte, and canceled all programs through the end of the month, aside from a few on the coast.

Dismal Day is still scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Dismal Swamp State Park, as well as Fear at the Fort the last two weekends of this month at Fort Macon State Park, and a Schools in Parks training Oct. 26 at Carolina Beach State Park.

The division said it is scaling back operations across the state that will allow staff to continue assisting with the statewide emergency and rescue efforts in Western North Carolina, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. About 30 staff have been deployed on law enforcement assignments requested through the North Carolina Emergency Operations Center.

The state parks west of Interstate 77 closed through at least Oct. 31 are Chimney Rock, Crowders Mountain, Elk Knob, Gorges, Grandfather Mountain, Lake James, Lake Norman, Mount Mitchell, New River, South Mountains, and Stone Mountains state parks, as well as Mount Jefferson State Natural Area and Rendezvous Mountain.

All reservations for campsites and other facilities such as picnic shelters at western state parks through Oct. 31 have been canceled and refunded in full.

“The devastation brought by Helene in many communities across western North Carolina has been profound,” State Parks Director Brian Strong said. “The entire division wants to provide whatever assistance we can to our neighbors and to these areas that were hit hardest. We want to prioritize our resources, both staff and equipment, towards immediate and lifesaving needs.”

Additionally, closing these parks can help limit travel in the area while roads and other infrastructure are repaired and replaced.

State park rangers are sworn law enforcement officers, and many park field staff such as rangers and maintenance technicians are certified as emergency medical responders, trained to operate chainsaws and large equipment, and possess a commercial driver’s license.

“In the last few days alone, we have seen the entire state come together to support each other during this difficult time,” Strong said. “We know our parks are beloved by North Carolinians, but we also know our visitors are eager to help those who are grieving and those who have lost so much because of this storm.”

Once the vital needs of post-storm recovery efforts have been met, staff will focus on recreational facilities at parks, including trails, visitor centers, and campsites. Staff will assess conditions, clear downed trees, and address any remaining safety hazards before reopening to the public.