For years, Shallowbag Bay has been deemed impaired by the U.S. EPA’s 303(d) water quality list and has been closed to shellfish harvest due to high bacterial levels. This was both a wake-up call and an opportunity for the Town of Manteo and other North Carolina organizations to do something about the problem. The town’s…
Details
Bland Simpson, author and Coastal Federation board member, stopped by our Holiday Appreciation Party with his wife, Ann, to read from and sign copies of their most recent book, Little Rivers and Waterway Tales. The book includes tales of coastal North Carolina’s water-loving land, revealing how its creeks, streams, and rivers shape the region’s geography…
Details
Tell us about yourself. I recently graduated from Oregon State University with a Master’s in Environmental Science and currently work in the Coastal Federation’s central office. I traded in the N.Y. beaches of my childhood for those of North Carolina in my early 20s and lived on the N.C. coast for almost 10 years before…
Details
Last spring in the northeast office, a Duke student showed up on our doorstep. Her name was Dia Hitt and she wanted to know if she could do a project with us for her Community Based Management class. The goal of the class was to pick an organization that the student was interested in learning…
Details
December 2015 Update Over the last 12 months, the Project Team convened at the New Hanover County Executive Development Center for sessions on Jan. 16, March 31, June 26, and Sept. 18, 2015. The directive for this committee was to find common ground and solutions by evaluating New Hanover County’s existing SUP procedures, identifying regulatory…
Details
This fall, the federation has been working with students in schools throughout the coast to maintain school rain gardens. The gardens are used as living classrooms and provide a number of hands-on learning opportunities for educating students on water quality, reducing stormwater runoff, and native plants and habitats. What is a Rain Garden? Rain gardens…
Details
In October 2015, the federation along with Climate Communication, Climate Central and the Southeast Climate Science Center hosted a two day workshop that offered field and classroom experiences for media professionals and other interested participants.
Details
The North Carolina coast has lots of beautiful places where you can opt outside with your family and friends this Thanksgiving season. Here are a few of our favorites: Get to Know Your Local Trails Wherever you are on the coast, you are not far from a nature trail, each one unique and beautiful. Central…
Details
The Federation is still accepting applications for its annual Derelict Fishing Gear Recovery Project. For the third year in a row, this project is open to commercial fishermen in northeastern North Carolina. Watermen are accepted to this program annually to help N.C. Marine Patrol on select days during the “no-potting” period, typically from Jan. 15…
Details
The federation along with the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors and the UNCW Masters of Public Administration Program teamed up to host the first regional Water Summit, “Insights & Actions for SE North Carolina” in Wilmington Wednesday, Oct. 28 which was attended by more than 155 people. The three partners formed the “Three Star Alliance”…
Details
Oysters were once plentiful in the lower Cape Fear River. They formed extensive reefs and lined the marshy shoreline of this dynamic river. Major alterations to the Cape Fear River in the last century resulted in a severe decline in the oyster population. The federation has partnered with Carolina Beach State Park, Military Ocean Terminal…
Details
Recently, several volunteers got their hands dirty in an effort to improve water quality and restore habitat at the North River Wetland Preserve. The volunteers, many who had never met before, joined together as a team and planted 2,850 marsh grasses near the muddy shores of Ward Creek. Ward Creek, which starts within the preserve,…
Details
Positions available in Manteo Office and Wrightsville Beach Office (one position at each site) The Conservation Trust for North Carolina is the host organization for AmeriCorps Project GEOS, a ten-month national service program in environmental education and outreach. Project GEOS stands for Growing Environmental Opportunities through Service. Project GEOS has four goals: 1. Make environmental education more accessible…
DetailsRegister Here The North Carolina Coastal Federation will host its second annual Seafood Shellebration Oct. 24, 2015 from 5-8 p.m. in Raleigh at “The Green” behind Seaboard Station. Guests can join the federation in “shellebrating” the opening of the oyster season and our bountiful coast with live music, beer from Natty Greene’s Brewing and delicious…
Details
Environmental organizations around the country recently celebrated National Estuaries Week. The North Carolina Coastal Federation hosted several events from Manteo to Wrightsville Beach to celebrate our spectacular coastal waters and wetlands. In the wake of a Nor’easter and with hurricane Joaquin looming, staff and steadfast volunteers from each region braved the elements to showcase the…
Details
Federation intern, Mariko Polk, recently won first place in the student category of the Battle of the GeoMaps at the North Carolina ArcGIS User Group 2015 Conference. The Battle of the GeoMaps is a mapping poster competition that recognizes achievement in solving problems faced by the user community or public at large. Judged by peers…
Details
The North Carolina Coastal Federation, in cooperation with the Town of Oak Island and the Oak Island Citizens’ Environmental Advisory Committee, is undertaking a community project to reduce the flow of polluted stormwater into the creeks and sounds around Oak Island. The project involves the construction of low-cost, relatively simple swales and vegetated landscapes, such…
DetailsThe N.C. Coastal Federation, in partnership with the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, area business leaders and local government officials, is working to create a model for the county’s approval process for industrial development to help ensure better compatibility of new land uses with existing neighbors. The effort to improve New Hanover County’s special-use permit, or…
Details
ATTEND THE PUBLIC HEARING September 24th, at 6:00 p.m. at: Holden Beach Town Hall 110 Rothschild Street, Holden Beach, NC 28462 SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: Mrs. Emily Hughes Wilmington Regulatory Field Office 69 Darlington Avenue Wilmington, N.C. 28403 (910) 251-4635 Or by email at: Emily.b.hughes@usace.army.mil by 5 PM October 13, 2015 The U.S. Army Corps…
Details
Building New Oyster Reefs on Roanoke Island- a Novel Technique The federation and volunteers have been busy building oyster reefs this summer out of recycled crab pots and bags of oyster shell. Volunteers from Youth Build in Elizabeth City, Jennette’s Pier Service in Science Campers, and other local volunteers have lent a hand to the…
Details
Inspiring stewardship with the Latino Community The North Carolina Coastal Federation teamed up with Mano al Hermano, a community-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower Latino families through education and positive integration programs. With grant funding support from the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, the federation supported Mano al Hermano’s summer literacy program this year.…
DetailsI met Joe Kilpatrick in 1983 during my first visit with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem. He provided a warm, friendly greeting, and gave me strong encouragement as the fledgling North Carolina Coastal Federation was just getting its footing. Thus began a friendship that lasted more than three decades. Joe helped the federation…
Details
Fowler Awarded Lifetime Achievement Honors Ocean— The winners of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s annual Pelican Awards have been announced. The awards recognize exemplary work of people, organizations and groups to protect and enhance the N.C. coast. The awards were presented today at the North Carolina History Center in New Bern. “These awards recognize the…
Details
By Zach Lee 8/3/15 The North Carolina Coastal Federation recently collaborated with DREAMs of Wilmington, Inc. to install a work of art at the Fred and Alice Stanback Coastal Education Center in Wrightsville Beach. Zach Lee, AmeriCorps member at the federation’s southeast office, visited DREAMs to discuss with a group of middle school students our…
Details
coastalreview.org Staff Report WILMINGTON – The Corps of Engineers announced Friday it has decided to hold a public hearing and extend the public comment period on its environmental report related to a proposed terminal groin and beach-renourishment project at Rich Inlet on Figure Eight Island. The Corps’ Wilmington District said the public hearing will be…
Details