Two of the main goals of the North Carolina Coastal Federation are to reduce the amount of marine debris on our coast and construct more living shorelines as an alternative to bulkheads and hard structures. When building living shorelines, the federation uses plastic mesh bags filled with oyster shells to build oyster reefs that buffer…
Manteo Middle School and First Flight Middle School were able to learn a great deal about rain gardens this past week thanks to Sara Hallas, coastal education coordinator at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office, Reilly Kelly, AmeriCorps member, and a grant from the Community Foundation. Six classes of seventh-grade Manteo Middle School students monitored…
All three regional offices took field trips to special coastal places in May, helping North Carolina students more fully experience the state’s beautiful coast. Many of these students had only seen the ocean and/or a salt marsh a few times, and some had never seen these environments before. Part of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s…
The North Carolina Coastal Federation and partners unveiled the Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint on Tuesday at the UNC-Wilmington Center for Marine Science. Approximately 120 people attended the Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint Open House, where they learned more about the goals of the blueprint, current research and programs focused on the Lower Cape Fear…
Over the course of four days, staff at the federation’s Wanchese office educated approximately 600 students on living shorelines, marine debris, water quality and much more. The week full of education events kicked off at Manteo Middle School on April 24 and 25, when Sara Hallas, coastal education coordinator, and Reilly Kelly, AmeriCorps member, visited…
This story has been updated with additional numbers from the April 19 bagging event in Wilmington. A total of 87 volunteers worked with the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach staff for two oyster bagging events in April. The bags of recycled oyster shells and gravel granite will be used on a future living shoreline…
In summer 2017, the North Carolina Coastal Federation began the construction of a 300-linear foot living shoreline at Camp Albemarle on Bogue Sound. The project is now only a few workdays from being completed. Camp Albemarle is one of the public living shoreline locations chosen for funding through the federation’s three-year National Oceanic and Atmospheric…
Fourteen local waterfront property owners gathered on March 29 at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Ocean office to learn how living shorelines, an environmentally friendly alternative to bulkheads and seawalls, could help them control shoreline erosion. The workshop — led by Dr. Lexia Weaver, coastal scientist, and Rachel Bisesi, coastal education coordinator — was designed…
This fall, volunteers joined the North Carolina Coastal Federation at Oak Island Waterway Park, Carolina Beach State Park and Morris Landing for living shoreline monitoring events, where they measured marsh coverage and looked for new oyster growth. Living shorelines, or erosion control techniques that reduce the impact of waves through the use of more natural…
Throughout 2017, staff members have been focused on designing, permitting and building more than 1,700 linear feet of living shorelines on private properties. These private shorelines are being installed through the federation’s cost share program, which is funded by the half a million dollar Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.…