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 The 6,000-acre North River Farms in eastern Carteret County is the largest wetland restoration project in North Carolina and is among the largest project of its kind in the nation. The primary goal of the project is to return farmland back to its original state – forested, freshwater and tidal wetlands. The re-created wetlands will retain, filter and provide natural treatment of agricultural runoff from remaining upstream farms. The restored wetlands will effectively trap sediment, convert nutrients and prevent other agricultural pollutants from reaching adjacent North River. About 775 acres of farmland have so far been restored.
History
Through grants from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the federation bought 1,991 acres (Tract 1) of the farm in 1999 and 2,168 acres (Tract 2) in 2002. Restoration Systems LLC, an environmental restoration and mitigation company, bought 385 of the remaining acres in 2002. The 1804 Wildlife Partners LLC, a private hunting club, bought 1,435 acres that year. The other partners are also restoring wetlands on their property.
 Restoration
Phases The federation is undertaking the restoration of its property at North River in various phases.
North River Phase I (NRI)
- Acres restored: 250 acres of forested wetlands and 1.25 acres of brackish marsh at two locations.
- Restoration design: N.C. State University Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department
- Restoration techniques: Different types of restoration techniques were tested. The ditches in some farm fields were simply plugged and filled. In other fields, the crowns were removed and the fields leveled and in others bulldozers created contours in the flat fields. Five structures were built to control water and wetland vegetation planted.
- Funding: N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund and N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program
- Completion: February 2003
 
Volunteers, left, plant grasses during the first phase of the restoration, and students cover newly planted bald cypress with biodegradable plastic to protect them from foraging deer.
 
The diagram shows the various methods of wetland restoration, from merely plugging drainage ditches to creating artificial contours. The photo shows the results.
North River Phase II (NRII)
- Acres restored: 111 acres, including 53 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, 35 acres of tidal salt marsh, 23 acres of riparian freshwater wetlands, 1,900 linear feet of freshwater stream, 6,695 linear feet of tidal saltwater stream and two tidal fingers
- Restoration design: N.C. State University Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department
- Restoration techniques: Shallow water depressions, planted more than 200,000 wetland plants
- Funding: N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program, national partnership among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Community-Based Restoration Program and Restore America’s Estuaries, North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Fish America Foundation, N.C. Attorney General’s Office Environmental Enhancement Grant
- Completion: November 2009 (projected)
Mimicking the natural drainage is key to successfully restoring the hydrology of the tract. A plan, below left, was drawn to turn more than 200 acres of flat cropland into a forested wetland bisected by a creek and tidal marsh. The rudimentary creek takes shape, above, and looks more natural later when the marsh grasses mature.
 
North River Phase III (NRIII)
- Acres restored: 206 acres were restored to forested wetlands and shallow water waterfowl and shorebird habitat
- Restoration techniques: Eight plugged field ditches connected by sloughs, two low earthen berms, four water control structures, 30,000 hardwood trees and wetland shrubs planted
- Funding: N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Completion: Spring 2005
 
The map shows the restoration that our partners in the project will undertake. And students, right, plant a tree.
Ward Creek Phase I (WC I)
- Acres restored: 116 acres of forested wetlands and three acres of tidal marsh
- Restoration techniques: Excavation of 17 wetland depressions, ditch plugging and filling, construction of nine berms or linear hummocks, grading and planted 41,300 wetland trees and 14,600 marsh plants
- Funding: N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North American Wetlands Conservation Act and national partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Community-Based Restoration Program and Restore America’s Estuaries.
- Completion: December 2007
 
The map, right, shows the 116 acres along Ward Creek that was restored into forested wetlands and tidal marsh. Saltwater grasses were planted along the creek to create the marsh.
Jarrett Bay Phase I (JB I)
- Acres restored: 89 acres of first order streams and former headwater wetlands above the Outstanding Resource Waters of Jarrett Bay
- Restoration techniques: Ditch plugs, two water control structures, excavated depressions
- Funding: N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
- Completion: December 2003.
Construction of these restoration phases was performed by Backwater Environmental. With the exception of Jarrett Bay Watershed Phase I, all phases of the North River Farms Wetland Restoration Project were monitored and researched by Duke University Marine Laboratory, N.C. State University’s Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department and by the N.C. Shellfish Sanitation Section.
Other project partners include: 1804 Partners LLC, Restoration Systems LLC, N.C. Coastal Land Trust, N.C. Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy and Open Grounds Farm.
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