OCEAN – In the spring of 2019, the North Carolina Coastal Federation launched its first scholarship opportunity for students making a difference along our coast. The Coastal Stewardship Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship for graduating high school seniors with outstanding dedication to our coastal environment. High school seniors from the 20 North Carolina coastal counties…
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Real estate professionals, homeowner associations and property owners recently convened to learn the economic and environmental benefits of applying low impact development (LID) techniques when developing coastal property. The two-day workshop, hosted by the North Carolina Coastal Reserve Coastal Training Program, was held at the Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese. The Coastal Training Program, North…
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On Friday, May 17, Audra Krieg, also known as the Outer Banks Mom, organized the first annual Trashion Show with Mandy Harlow from Heart of Harlow. This unique event was planned to highlight the issue of marine debris in northeast North Carolina in a fun way, with raffle ticket proceeds and sponsorships benefiting the North…
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On Saturday, May 18, the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office helped the Town of Manteo with their Spring Litter Pickup. These biannual cleanup efforts are led by community volunteer Sarah Benson and are sponsored by the Town of Manteo. “We’re so grateful for all these volunteers that help keep our waterfront clean and healthy…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s northeast office has been busy leading outdoor educational experiences with sixth grade students from First Flight Middle School. With support from the Outer Banks Community Foundation, nearly 250 students and their teachers embarked on a full day field trip to Jockey’s Ridge State Park earlier this month. The federation’s staff…
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The month of May typically marks the home stretch of the North Carolina General Assembly’s long session, so it’s a good time to take stock of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s 2019 legislative agenda. Here’s a quick rundown: Oysters Earlier this year, the UNC Collaboratory released a strategic plan that included regulatory reforms and new…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation teamed up with fourth grade students from Bogue Sound Elementary School to create living shoreline models demonstrating their value to the coastal environment. Rachel Bisesi, federation coastal education coordinator, worked with students and art teacher Emily Wikoff to kick off the project and teach the eager students about the importance…
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On Monday, May 6, 44 dedicated volunteers from Cox Automotive helped the North Carolina Coastal Federation spruce up the grounds of Bradley Creek Elementary School. “We had our sales organization here to help and support the federation,” said David Herwood from Cox Automotive. “We are volunteering as part of our company wide initiative to volunteer…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation hosted a number of Earth Day activities last week in each region. Although the federation celebrates our planet and our coast every day, a little extra celebration occurred during the weeks leading up to and following Earth Day. Northeast Region The Wanchese office celebrated Earth Day by participating in the…
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On April 27, the North Carolina Coastal Federation participated in Work on Wilmington by hosting a volunteer event at Bradley Creek Elementary School. About 25 volunteers helped to remove nuisance species such as cattails, willows and red maples along with dead debris and trash from the stormwater wetland. The group worked to spruce up stormwater…
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On March 30, staff at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s northeast office educated visiting groups on the importance of oysters in North Carolina’s ecosystem, oyster biology, the federation’s oyster sanctuary work, mariculture advances in the state and more. After the informational session, groups were led to the office’s dock where they were introduced to live…
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For the past several months, the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Duke University Marine Lab have been working with the Boys and Girls Club of the Coastal Plain – Beaufort Teen Unit to educate them on the importance of keeping our coast clean. Each week, a representative from the federation or the Duke Marine…
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The release of the 2019-2024 Proposed National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program has been postponed indefinitely according to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Bernhardt explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published on Apr. 25, 2019, that the agency will await the outcome of the appeals process against the decision from…
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The release of the 2019-2024 Proposed National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program has been anticipated since January, and the pages of the monthly calendar have turned over four times since the new year. Nonetheless, the federation and Don’t Drill NC coalition partners have remained vigilant and monitored related activity as well as…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation hosted 100 volunteers at Carolina Beach State Park on Friday, March 15, 2019. The volunteers were comprised of a group of 40 Marines, a group from SML, a global business and branding solutions providers, and members of the community. The groups spent several hours at Carolina Beach State Park assisting…
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In March 2019, the North Carolina Coastal Federation along with partners, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), North Carolina Sea Grant and commercial shellfish operations, wrapped up a two year-long project that removed almost 600,000 pounds of decades old mariculture operation debris from Carteret County waters. Volunteer groups with the federation, NOAA partners, and…
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On March 29, Judge Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska overturned President Trump’s push to open up 128 million acres in Arctic and Atlantic waters to oil and gas drilling. These federal waters were withdrawn from lease sales in 2015 and 2016, making them off-limits to oil and gas exploration…
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On Friday, March 29 a group of 28 first and second graders from Cape Fear Academy went to the Fred and Alice Stanback Education Center in Wrightsville Beach for a special educational program filled with engaging activities about stormwater runoff and oyster biology. The students learned about stormwater runoff through a demonstration using EnviroScape which…
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Every year, the North Carolina Coastal Federation hosts groups of college students during their spring break in our three offices. This March, groups from East Carolina University (ECU), Roanoke College, Ithaca College, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Meredith College spent their spring break making a difference on our coast. Wanchese Our Wanchese office hosted 17…
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The North Carolina General Assembly is in session for its 2019 term and the North Carolina Coastal Federation has an ambitious policy agenda for preservation and restoration of the coast. At the top of the federation’s to-do list is full funding for the recommendations of a recent strategic plan for the state’s shellfish industry. Released…
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A total of 78 commercial watermen and women worked in January 2019 to remove 3,112 crab pots from the North Carolina coast. The Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, is part of a statewide marine debris removal effort led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation with $100,000 from the North Carolina General Assembly. Lost pots are…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Sea Grant, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) hosted the 2019 North Carolina Oyster Summit on Tuesday, March 12 in Raleigh, N.C. The summit took place at the North Carolina Museum of Natural…
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The League of Women Voters of Dare County hosted a public meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 27 to discuss the current activity associated with seismic surveys and the development of the 2019-2024 National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Craig Merrill, the Natural Resources Committee Chair, welcomed the attendees and introduced Bob Woodard, Dare County Commissioner…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation and partner organizations filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2019 to block seismic surveys from beginning in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf until a separate lawsuit is resolved. The initial lawsuit filed on Dec. 11, 2018 outlines that the decision to issue incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) violates…
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BEAUFORT — The North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Sea Grant, Onslow Country Solid Waste Department and North Carolina Coastal Reserve hosted the N.C. Marine Debris Action Planning Workshop, on Thursday, Feb. 28. The workshop was held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort. The workshop was a collaborative…
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