WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — Construction is now complete on a stormwater retrofit project at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort in Wrightsville Beach that is designed to redirect polluted runoff from the nearby recreational waters. The resort partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation on the project as part of implementation of the Bradley and Hewletts Creeks…
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A marine debris egg hunt, a recycling relay race and marine debris trivia were a few of the many events on the agenda for Marine Debris Awareness Day last week on April 12. People of all ages and campers from the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island stopped by the event that was held from 10…
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A small group of Dare County residents joined the North Carolina Coastal Federation on March 25 to learn about rain harvesting and to exchange ideas about how they can get creative with reusing stormwater in their yards. Those who participated in the rain harvesting workshop learned about how stormwater runoff impacts our water quality and…
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Thirteen local realtors joined the North Carolina Coastal Federation at Carolina Beach State Park for living shoreline maintenance and a shoreline cleanup on April 4 for Realtor Action Day, a large volunteer event organized by Cape Fear Realtors. They helped straighten oyster bags on a reef that was displaced by Hurricane Matthew last fall. They also…
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OCEAN — The North Carolina Coastal Federation launched the new “Adopt an Oyster” program this month to support its 2017 oyster restoration projects. Participants can adopt oysters for $5 each or $40 for a dozen. They may opt to receive updates about their adopted oyster by text or email. Throughout the federation’s restoration season, the donor…
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Twenty-four people helped raise money for the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s oyster projects while participating in a morning yoga class on Sunday, April 2. Jenna Livernois led the class, called “Ohms for Oysters,” at Outer Banks Yoga Studio as part of her yoga instructor certification. Each week, the studio offers a Sunday Karma class and chooses a…
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We had an informative and productive time at the Sound Economic Development: Creating a Rising Economic Tide for the North Carolina Coast summit in March. It was a great opportunity to educate legislators and policymakers on the importance of oysters to the coast and the economy. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan spoke to attendees…
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A two-day summit held in Raleigh last week 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. The summit, titled Sound Economic Development:…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation has once again received the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, demonstrating our strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. We are proud to have received this highest possible rating for the third year in a row, indicating that we continue to exceed industry standards with our efficiency…
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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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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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On March 6, after two years of debates and some necessary compromises, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted several text amendments to the Special Use Permit process for industry. The adopted amendments are a compromise of what the federation proposed in its Model Industrial SUP and the amendments that had been suggested…
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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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Update: Wrightsville Beach Brewery donated more than $1,000 to the federation’s 50 Million Oyster Initiative. Many thanks to the brewery and to all who purchased an Oysterman Stout during the month of March! WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — Wrightsville Beach Brewery will be donating 11 percent of the proceeds from its March “give back” beer to the…
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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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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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On Feb. 17, the North Carolina Coastal Federation broke ground on a salt marsh restoration project in Williston Creek, located at the 6,000-acre North River Wetlands Preserve in Otway. The project will restore and create approximately 8.8 acres of salt marsh and 3,500 linear feet of tidal creek. “This new salt marsh at the headwaters…
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Nineteen birding enthusiasts ventured to the restored habitats of North River Wetlands Preserve in Otway on the cool and sunny morning of Feb. 26 to get up-close looks at the birds that flock to the peaceful preserve. The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Birding at the Preserve program gives participants the unique experience of checking out…
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The Town of Swansboro Board of Commissioners took proactive steps Tuesday to address stormwater runoff by unanimously voting to adopt a watershed restoration plan developed in partnership with the North Carolina Coastal Federation. This collaborative effort has been in the works since 2016. The federation has met with town representatives, Hammocks Beach State Park, the…
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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 the…
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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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UPDATE: This article has been edited to reflect updated crab pot numbers. A fleet of boats crewed by 72 commercial watermen spread out along the North Carolina coast in January and collected 4,304 lost crab pots as part of the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, which is a statewide effort to remove lost crab pots from…
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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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Since 1982 the Coastal Federation has grown into an extremely influential organization. Thirty-five years ago, its office was a back bedroom in Todd Miller’s house on Bogue Sound. Todd and in his words “… and my dog Kwawk” were the only employees. Membership cost $5. The headquarters is now a comfortable old building in the…
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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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