State of the Coast Reports

1996 STATE OF THE COAST COASTAL FEATURE

     Governor Jim Hunt declared 1994 the Year of the Coast and publicly endorsed a long list of reforms to safeguard our coastal resources. Along with the State, NCCF coordinated and promoted the statewide Year of the Coast event. The Governor's Coastal Futures Committee grew out of NCCF's Seeking a Coastal Water Quality Commitment: An Agenda for Action campaign. The yearlong event focused on the value of our coastal environment and the fundamental causes of a deteriorating coast.
     In partnership with the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources (DENR), NCCF developed the Save our Coast campaign to implement the committee's recommendations. These recommendations were enthusiastically endorsed by Gov. Jim Hunt and were called the Hunt Coastal Agenda.
     NCCF worked to convince the legislature to provide funds to implement the Hunt Coastal Agenda, and as a result, land-use guidelines were revised through efforts to incorporate the following recommendations:

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Protect and Improve Water Quality: Strengthen Basinwide Planning

Agency Action required
by Division of Water Quality:

• Improve information management systems
• Establish regionwide councils in coastal river basins
• Develop pollution reduction targets and action plans

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Protect and Improve Water Quality: Reduce Non-point Source Pollution

Agency Action required
by Division of Soil and Water:

• Technical assistance to animal operators to reduce waste
• Improve targeting of agriculture cost-share money

Agency Action required
by Division of Forest Resources:

• Expand education and technical assistance to forestry community

Agency Action required
by Division of Water Quality:

• Strengthen enforcement of non-point source pollution rules

Agency Action required
by Division of Coastal Management:

• Re-evaluate areas of environmental concern along sounds and estuaries
• Restore degraded waters

Agency Action required
by Environmental Management Commission, Division of Water Quality:

• Adopt supplemental classification for restoration of degraded waters
  

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Protect and Restore Natural Areas and Vital Habitats:
Protect and Acquire Critical Natural Areas

Agency Action required
by Division of Coastal Management:

• Expand the Coastal Estuarine Reserve

Agency Action required
by Division of Parks and Recreation:

• State Parks Fund

Agency Action required
by Natural Heritage Program:

• Prepare a regional conservation plan for each river basin

Agency Action required
by Coastal Resources Commission:

• Accelerate biological inventories and mapping in coastal area

Agency Action required
by Governor's Initiative:

• Amend the Conservation Tax Credit Program to provide greater incentives for land donations

Agency Action required
by Division of Natural Resources:

• Develop policies to facilitate state acquisition of land donations
  

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Protect and Restore Natural Areas and Vital Habitats:
Protect, Restore and Create Wetlands

Agency Action required
by Division of Water Quality:

• Create a Wetlands Task Force to determine best role for the state
• Establish a Wetlands Restoration and Enhancement Program
  

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Strengthen State and Local Partnerships to Improve
Coastal Management: Improve CAMA Land Use Planning

Agency Action required
by Division of Coastal Management:

• Increase state financial support for land use planning and implementation
• Increase technical assistance to local governments in land use planning

Agency Action required
by Division of Coastal Resources Commission:

• Assure state acts consistently with goals of local governments
  

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Strengthen State and Local Partnerships to Improve
Coastal Management: Improve CAMA Permitting Process

Agency Action required
by Department of Natural Resources:

• Begin independent and objective review of CAMA Permit Application and Review process
  

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Protect and Restore Marine Fisheries:
Enhance Fisheries Management

Agency Action required
by Marine Fisheries Commission, Division of Marine Fisheries:

• Use Commercial Fishing License moratorium to develop a comprehensive fisheries management program.

Agency Action required
by Division of Marine Fisheries:

• Expand research, monitoring and planning to restore depleted stocks

Agency Action required
by Blue Ribbon Panel:

• Increase oyster cultivation and aquaculture
  

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION
Protect and Restore Marine Fisheries: Strengthen Enforcement

Agency Action required
by Division of Marine Fisheries:

• Expand the State Marine Patrol
  
  
  
  RELATED LINK
  From Democracy North Carolina
  The Pollution Lobby: Shoreline for Sale
  Whatever happened to the Year of the Coast?