The Coastal Federation teamed up with Swansboro to develop a watershed restoration plan for the town which lays out a framework for reducing stormwater runoff that flows into Foster, Halls, Hammocks, Historic, and Ward/Hawkins Creeks ultimately reaching the White Oak.
A two-day summit held in Raleigh in March 2017 brought together appointed and elected officials, business leaders, scientists, academics, economic developers, tourism leaders and shellfish growers from North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland to discuss and plan for North Carolina’s opportunities for economic development through oyster aquaculture and coastal environmental restoration.
Visit us in Wrightsville Beach for a 1-mile walking tour of our stormwater reduction projects and check out the ways we help to keep your local waterways clean.
Our Strategy: 2016 Goals and Approaches Download
2015 State of the Oyster ReportDownload
To better document how habitat enhancement projects in North Carolina improve the coastal economy and environment, the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership contracted with RTI International to assess the benefits and costs of the three oyster programs under the NCDMF habitat enhancement programs.
On July 31, 2015 the North Carolina Coastal Federation held a daylong forum to address the issues of offshore drilling in our state. Issues such as economic impact, environmental conditions and social aspects were discussed.
The Coastal Federation is working with federal, state, and local leaders, economic developers, private businesses, and coastal residents to create and implement an economic development strategy for the coast that also protects and restores coastal resources. Investment in coastal restoration creates short-term and long-term jobs, boosts fisheries, and ensures a clean environment that benefits the tourism industry. This draft comprehensive strategic blueprint explains how programs and projects that protect coastal resources also strengthen economic growth along the coast.
North Carolina’s estuarine system consists of approximately 23 inlets, 12,000 miles of estuarine shoreline, and more than 3,000 square miles of brackish water estuaries. Some of these areas are rapidly developing and lack coastal management strategies. Those communities are experiencing the issues such as habitat degradation, water quality changes, erosion and land loss, aging infrastructure, and conflicts over access are a few examples. Local governments are considering solutions to protect infrastructure from flooding and coastal change. Developing and implementing solutions require careful examination of the science and the legal and policy obstacles that are in place. The study below adds to the coastal management strategies discussions already taking place at the state and local levels and in the homes and businesses of those living on the coast.
A Blueprint for Action 2015-2020Download
The Water Summit addressed the challenges and solutions for maintaining our water supplies over the next few decades. It identified what prudent management is necessary to prepare an adequate supply of clean water for our communities.
More than 150 state legislators, commercial fishermen, mariculturists, government, academic, private and non-profit professionals met in Raleigh to explore the economic and environmental returns on investing in North Carolina’s oyster restoration, enhancement and production.
To better document how coastal restoration in North Carolina also affects community and economic development, the North Carolina Coastal Federation contracted with RTI International to assess the link between coastal restoration and economic development, perform an economic impact analysis of related projects, review how other states benefit from coastal restoration, and identify how coastal restoration fits within the state’s larger economic development strategies.
With the help of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, the N.C. Coastal Federation has a new documents archive. The effort representing the work of the federation from its beginning in 1982 until 2004 have been put into an electronic format and stored in the UNCW’s library database.
If your property is experiencing erosion, use this guide as a tool to learn about the choices you have in controlling your shoreline erosion and help you decide which approach is right for you situation.
The Mattamuskeet Drainage Association is working with the N.C. Coastal Federation, researchers from N.C. State University and other stakeholders to carry out a watershed restoration plan that was developed with a grant from the N.C. Division of Water Quality. These partners recognize the need to reduce the volume of drainage water that is pumped into shellfish waters. The networks of canals and ditches throughout the drainage association and the nearby gamelands transport naturally occurring bacteria to the Pamlico Sound. This voluntary plan identifies specific projects that reduce the amount of water pumped into coastal waters, and at the same time provides for improved water-management for agriculture, forestry, and wildlife.
This fact sheet details the importance of the Carteret County Community College Living Shoreline as well as the Bogue Sound area in general. It provides information on how the Federation and the community college are working together to protect and create habitat, prevent erosion, and improve water quality.
This fact sheet details the definition, purpose, and implementation of living shorelines as a shoreline stabilization tool.
This Fact Sheet provides information on the NC Coastal Federation's joint efforts with Airlie Gardens, NOAA's Community-based Restoration Program, and Restore America's Estuaries. This project's goal is to link coastal habitat restoration with environmental education efforts in NC's southeastern coastal region.
The Patsy Pond Nature Trail is managed by the North Carolina Coastal Federation in cooperation with the Croatan National Forest. It winds through an area called the “Longleaf Pine Flat Woods,” which is an open woodland of longleaf pines with low-growing herbs and shrubs.
Step back in time when you visit the Coastal Federation’s Hoop Pole Creek preserve in the middle of Atlantic Beach. Known as the “central park” of this resort town, this preserved 31-acre maritime forest is about one percent of the town and about all that’s left of its natural environment outside the borders of a state park.
The 2011 State of the Coast Report explores the different ways we can create renewable energy and lower our environmental impact along the coast.
This fact sheet details the NC Coastal Federation's living shoreline project at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching's Ocracoke Campus. The living shoreline was built to protect the property from erosion and is no used as an educational tool in the NCCAT program.
This fact sheet details the 600-acre pilot project that was completed in 2010 by the NC Coastal Federation on Mattamuskeet Ventures Farm. This project was developed to reduce agricultural runoff into various water ways while also offsetting salt water infiltration issues faced by farmers in the region.
