College students spend spring break volunteering at the coast

We had such a great time with the students from East Carolina University, Ohio State University and Ithaca College who spent their spring breaks with us! A big thanks goes out to these students who spent their spring break working on coastal restoration and education here in North Carolina. [View the story “College students spend…

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Watershed workshop draws in wide variety of stakeholders

The North Carolina Coastal Federation hosted a workshop on March 8 that trained local water quality professionals, planners and managers on coastal watershed restoration planning. The workshop, titled “Watershed Planning: Strategies and Tools to Protect and Restore Coastal Water Quality,” was organized in partnership with the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) and the North Carolina…

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BRC students pretend to be engineers during stormwater lesson

Students with the Blue Ribbon Commission for the Prevention of Youth Violence (BRC) pretended to be engineers and raindrops during a stormwater lesson with staff from the North Carolina Coastal Federation last Friday. Staff resumed programs with BRC on March 3 after working with them late last year. BRC provides after-school and summer opportunities for students in the…

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Gov. Cooper’s proposed budget includes oyster, crab pot investments

The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s efforts to expand investment in the state’s oyster industry are picking up speed in Raleigh. Recently, Gov. Roy Cooper released his proposed budget for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 bienniums. Cooper’s budget includes all of the federation’s priority oyster investments. Those include $1.35 million to rebuild sanctuary oyster beds in the…

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Award-winning wetland to treat runoff, prevent flooding

The City of Wilmington received an award from the Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Coalition on Feb. 24 for its collaborative efforts to reduce the volume of polluted stormwater runoff entering Masonboro Sound. The city won the award for a constructed wetland in the Raintree neighborhood of Wilmington. The wetland was built over a stormwater…

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Federation, aquarium partner on oyster bagging workday

Last week, on an unseasonably warm February morning, staff and volunteers with the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and with the North Carolina Coastal Federation were hard at work bagging and loading oyster shells at the federation’s headquarters office in Ocean. That Friday morning oyster shell bagging event was the fifth group of…

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First phase of oyster sanctuary construction to begin in spring

CARTERET COUNTY — The normally quiet community of South River is about to get busier when construction starts on a new oyster reef in the nearby Neuse River. This spring, the North Carolina Coastal Federation and its partners will break ground on a 15-acre oyster restoration project, part of an ambitious goal to restore 50 million oysters…

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Lake Forest Academy students have love of seafood “brought full circle” with lesson on oysters

Last week, North Carolina Coastal Federation staff visited Lake Forest Academy in Wilmington to lead some educational activities on the area’s coastal environment with a focus on oysters and their role in estuarine habitats. Nina Quaratella, AmeriCorps member at the Wrightsville Beach office, led the activities for the day. Jessica Gray, coastal outreach associate, and…

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Hatteras Island Oyster Roast draws about 400 attendees and volunteers

At this year’s Hatteras Island Oyster Roast, the cold temperatures and steady northeast wind at Oden’s Dock didn’t deter anyone from attending, as approximately 400 people showed up to eat oysters, volunteer and enjoy live music — all while giving back to the coast and Hatteras residents affected by this fall’s hurricanes, particularly by Hurricane…

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