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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Investment in coastal restoration is critical to improve and protect the long-term success of North Carolina’s coastal economy. On March 22-23 in Raleigh, the North Carolina Coastal Federation will host a summit titled Sound Economic Development: Creating a Rising Tide for the North Carolina Coast. The summit will convene elected and appointed officials, academia, businesses,…
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The 2017 Annual Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Awards Luncheon is Feb. 24 this year, honoring regional projects that implemented design and construction techniques that help protect natural resources. The luncheon and awards program at The Terraces on Sir Tyler in Wilmington follow an optional educational tour of the Live Oak Bank campus, winner of…
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Swansboro’s local watersheds are experiencing a decline in the quality of local shellfishing and swimming waters, mainly due to stormwater pollution. To reverse this trend, the North Carolina Coastal Federation is working with the town, stakeholders and partners to develop a watershed restoration plan that sets a framework for restoring water quality in Foster, Halls,…
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Some of the most important decisions a new governor and legislative leaders make concern who they select to run state agencies and legislative committees. That is especially true when it comes to the governor and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR). Both play critical roles in protecting and…
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Stakeholders reached a compromise to improve the New Hanover County Special Use Permit process for industry On Feb. 2, the New Hanover County Planning Board voted 6-1 to adopt the New Hanover County Department of Planning and Zoning staff recommendations to the industrial use sections of the New Hanover County Special Use Permit zoning ordinance text…
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The Leadership Carteret class of 2017 stopped by the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s central office on Feb. 1 for a presentation and barbecue with staff. Leadership Carteret is an annual program that brings together some of Carteret County’s top decision-makers and business leaders. During the 10-week program, members attend Wednesday presentations at organizations throughout the…
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Beach toys — overall, they seem pretty harmless. But when left behind, these plastic toys can harm or even kill marine life. This summer, the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach office partnered with the Plastic Ocean Project, Inc. and the Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project to collect discarded beach toys. Visitors to the office…
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We had such a great time at our coastal cleanups on the North Carolina coast! Many thanks to the volunteers who helped us remove thousands of pounds of debris and trash from three sites along the coast. Check out this Storify to see photos, videos and articles about all of our cleanups last week, as well…
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Gov. Roy Cooper announced Thursday that he was appointing Rep. Susi Hamilton of Wilmington as secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. He also appointed Reid Wilson, executive director of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC), as chief deputy secretary. Todd Miller, executive director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, released a…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation has a big goal for oyster restoration — one that almost measures up to the innumerable ways oysters benefit the North Carolina coast. At the end of December, the federation announced its 50 Million Oyster Initiative, a three-year campaign to restore 50 million oysters in North Carolina waters. The initiative launched in Pamlico…
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In a new, monthly email update, we are offering a way to hear about the federation’s policy work and get the inside scoop on the North Carolina General Assembly. The federation’s policy priorities for legislators this year include increased investment in oyster restoration, support for removing lost fishing gear from coastal waters and efficient and effective…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation holds two conservation easement sites in Tyrrell County. Federation staff monitored the easements by air on Dec. 21, and results from the flyover indicated that they are successfully protecting habitats and water quality of the Scuppernong River, as intended. Federation member and volunteer Charles Hardy piloted the monitoring trip conducted by Erin…
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On Dec. 15, the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance released its living shoreline needs assessment that was developed by experts to identify what gaps exist in living shoreline research and practice in the Southeast U.S. The GSAA is a formal collaborative between the governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The alliance received funding from…
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At the New Hanover County Planning Board’s final work session on the Special Use Permit last week, the board indicated it is still moving forward to weaken the current SUP, despite the many people and organizations that have come forward in support of making the SUP stronger. The past few days, the North Carolina Coastal…
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The North Carolina Supreme Court dismissed the court case Nies vs. Emerald Isle on Wednesday, safeguarding public trust rights to the state’s beaches. The case sparked concern along the coast, as a ruling in favor of the Nieses had widespread implications for the future of public beach access in North Carolina. Many towns, counties and…
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The North Carolina General Assembly is scheduled to hold a special session beginning Dec. 13 to supplement federal disaster aid aimed at helping the state recover from Hurricane Matthew. Matthew and the subsequent flooding were responsible for 28 deaths and more than $2 billion in damage in North Carolina, mostly in eastern North Carolina. Legislators…
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In December we celebrated our volunteers, who are some of the most wonderful people we get to work with. They make our work possible and brighten our days in the process. Thank you to all of those who have come out to shovel oyster shells, plant marsh grass, carry oyster bags and more. Our Wanchese…
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OCEAN — Storm surge caused by Hurricane Matthew in October caused widespread destruction of bulkheads and other supposedly stabilized shorelines along coastal creeks, river and sounds throughout coastal North Carolina. “Matthew proved that building seawalls and other hard erosion control structures to protect waterfront property provides a false sense of security for waterfront property owners,”…
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