Save the Date and Help Us Celebrate
Join us on Saturday, August 1, for the 23rd Annual Pelican Awards as we recognize and celebrate the extraordinary individuals, organizations, and partners whose dedication and achievements have made a lasting impact on our coast.
The awards ceremony will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Joslyn Hall, Carteret Community College in Morehead City, followed by a celebratory reception.
Tide Together: Join Us in Coastal Protection Efforts
Are you a Coastal Federation member yet? If not, now is the perfect time to join us in our efforts to protect and restore the coast. Become a member today and you’ll be entered to win the perfect Ocracoke trip:
- Two-night stay for two at Crews Inn
- Gift certificate to Ocracoke Coffee
- Expert local advice from friends of the Coastal Federation
If you’re already a member, you can still throw your name in the raffle by sharing this ecard with a friend!
Don’t wait, our summer membership drive ends on September 26.
Are You Ready to Weather the Storm?
The 2026 hurricane season is officially underway, and now is the time to prepare your home and property for the severe weather this season can bring. We encourage you to take a moment to review our Tie It Down! A Coastal Property Owner’s Guide to Preventing Marine Debris.
This guide provides a list of all of the items in your yard that could become harmful debris if not properly secured and simple ways to make sure everything stays put during strong winds and rising waters. Securing what’s yours protects more than your property. Every item that stays put is one less piece of debris in our creeks, sounds and marshes.
Hurricane Florence destroyed an estimated 70%+ of the docks and piers along the coast. Using proper building materials, contractors, and maintenance plans is a critical way to do your part to keep debris out of coastal waters. That’s why the Coastal Federation created a resilient docks and piers toolkit, a one-stop spot for information on better building practices, questions to ask your contractor, and materials that have been proven to stand strong against severe weather.
Welcome to the Federation
Rebecca Garrett recently joined our Wrightsville Beach office as part of the development team.
Rebecca comes to us from The Nature Conservancy in Arizona, where she spent more than ten years connecting leadership supporters with the projects and programs they care about most.
Originally from Virginia, she spent many vacations on the North Carolina coast and looks forward to connecting with the Coastal Federation community in the coming months.
A Spectacular Coast and Its Guardians
The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s story has been captured in two compelling books by historian Glenn Blackburn, professor emeritus of history at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who helped shape North Carolina’s coast, Blackburn’s first book, Saving Great Places (2018), documents the grassroots beginnings of the Federation and the citizens who fought to protect the coast.
Blackburn’s newest book, A Spectacular Coast and Its Guardians, expands that story, tracing more than 40 years of coastal conservation. Drawing on more than 150 interviews with staff, volunteers, fishermen, scientists, and community leaders, the book chronicles the Federation’s growth from a small grassroots effort to a coastwide nonprofit working to protect and restore the coast, highlighting the challenges of rapid coastal development and weather extremes.
Next month, Glenn will be at our Southeast office for a book signing on July 14, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., and we hope to see you there. Be sure to grab your copies of his books here.
Meet Our Interns
Please join us in welcoming our newest summer interns. In our central region, we’re thrilled to have Seneca RiceWoolf as a Stanback Restoration and Outreach Fellow. Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, Seneca attended the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she participated in community ecology research focused on seagrass meadows and further developed her love for natural systems.
Seneca is currently a candidate for a Master of Environmental Management at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, focusing on Economics and Policy as well as Coastal and Marine Systems. Her academic interests include coastal community economic resilience, fisheries management, and aquaculture. At the Coastal Federation, Seneca assists with restoration project installation and monitoring, land use management mapping, and outreach coordination efforts. Outside of work, Seneca enjoys running, tennis, backpacking, and fishing and has recently taken up a new hobby: keeping aquarium shrimp.
We are also excited to welcome Meaira Alston, a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a proud native of Navassa, North Carolina. She is pursuing a degree in Communication Studies with a concentration in Media and Technology, along with minors in Journalism and Film. Growing up in a coastal community sparked her interest in storytelling, community engagement, and the people and places that shape southeastern North Carolina.
As a Coastal Education & Outreach Intern with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, Meaira is excited to combine her interests in communications and community service while helping share stories of coastal conservation and stewardship. In her free time, she enjoys thrift shopping, trying new foods, arts and crafts, and exploring the outdoors along the North Carolina coast.
We’re Moving
The Coastal Federation is moving into the new Center for Coastal Protection and Restoration this summer! We’ll soon begin hosting new programs drawing on the various amenities on the grounds, the Education Classroom, and the Event Center.
Before we can dive in, we need to finish outfitting the Center, and we need your help!
While we are moving many functional items from our existing office over to the new Center, some of our current furnishings are on their last legs. Please explore our online “Wish List” of items needed to get this new Center up and running. It’s a gift registry for the coast! Your gift toward any of these items would be a great help! In some cases, we might end up purchasing a slightly different item based on availability.
In the News
- Crews set out to pull more abandoned boats from area waters – Coastal Review
- NC towns want to protect their beaches. They may do it the wrong way | Opinion – The News & Observer
- Boat removal project underway in Sneads Ferry – WITN
- N.C. Coastal Federation takes ownership of Scenic Byway Conservation Property – Carteret News Times
- Proposed bill could lift North Carolina’s decades-old ban on coastal jetties and groins – WWAY