The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Ocean office currently has about 100 seaside little bluestem plants available for pickup on a first-come, first-served basis. If you own beachfront property on Bogue Banks, please consider planting some of these to provide habitat for the crystal skipper, a small brown butterfly found only on the Crystal Coast. What…
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Last week, 47 middle school students from the Brad Sneeden Marine Science Academy received a lesson on estuaries and quadrant studies from the North Carolina Coastal Federation. The students went to Bogue Sound where they learned a bit more about how marine scientists evaluate living shorelines and marine life. The Brad Sneeden Marine Science Academy…
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Six volunteers from RBC Wealth Management helped in the rain gardens at the Fred and Alice Stanback Coastal Education Center and on Town of Wrightsville Beach property for this year’s RBC Blue Water Day on June 7. The RBC Wealth Management volunteers and the coastal federation staff worked to maintain the rain gardens on the…
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To mark the one-year anniversary of the public announcement of GenX, the Cape Fear Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation organized its first Clean Water Week from June 1-7. The week of events included free family-friendly programs that were put together by several local organizations — Cape Fear Surfrider, Plastic Ocean Project, Cape Fear River Watch,…
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Two of the main goals of the North Carolina Coastal Federation are to reduce the amount of marine debris on our coast and construct more living shorelines as an alternative to bulkheads and hard structures. When building living shorelines, the federation uses plastic mesh bags filled with oyster shells to build oyster reefs that buffer…
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The month of June kicks off Touch Tank Tuesday at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach office. The first two programs have already educated over 300 people, a record number for Touch Tank Tuesday. At Touch Tank Tuesday visitors of all ages can drop in and interact with different plants and animals that are…
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Sunset Park Elementary School students got up close with area marine creatures, as the North Carolina Coastal Federation brought touch tanks into the classroom for a recent program to wrap up a year of lessons with the school. Support from the Landfall Foundation and Holiday Inn made the program possible. Throughout the course of the…
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Manteo Middle School and First Flight Middle School were able to learn a great deal about rain gardens this past week thanks to Sara Hallas, coastal education coordinator at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office, Reilly Kelly, AmeriCorps member, and a grant from the Community Foundation. Six classes of seventh-grade Manteo Middle School students monitored…
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All three regional offices took field trips to special coastal places in May, helping North Carolina students more fully experience the state’s beautiful coast. Many of these students had only seen the ocean and/or a salt marsh a few times, and some had never seen these environments before. Part of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation and partners unveiled the Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint on Tuesday at the UNC-Wilmington Center for Marine Science. Approximately 120 people attended the Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint Open House, where they learned more about the goals of the blueprint, current research and programs focused on the Lower Cape Fear…
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Local Boys & Girls Club groups have learned a lot about the North Carolina coast this year thanks to a multi-week education program developed and run by AmeriCorps Member Kristin Gibson. Gibson, who is the AmeriCorps member at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Ocean office, visited the Boys & Girls Clubs of Coastal Carolina in…
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More than 30 people attended a behind-the-scenes tour of the Swan Island Oyster Sanctuary project Monday, getting to see up-close how materials are prepared for construction of the site. The day started with a visit to the North Carolina Port of Morehead City, where chunks of granite are delivered by truck and then loaded onto…
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Native plants are again available for purchase at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s headquarters office in Ocean. Stop by any time between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to purchase coastal native plants that will brighten up homes and yards while also providing habitat for birds, butterflies and other animals. Native plants make for beautiful…
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May 8 marked the fourth public meeting for the Lake Mattamuskeet Watershed Restoration Plan. The lake is considered unhealthy and is listed on the state 303(d) list for impaired waters. For the past year, a team of concerned people has joined together to develop a plan that will restore the lake’s health and improve conditions…
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CARTERET COUNTY — Construction on the second phase of the Swan Island Oyster Sanctuary began this month as crews started moving granite from the port in Morehead City to the project site. Construction on the 10-acre sanctuary — which is located in Pamlico Sound near the mouth of the Neuse River — started May 11. It is…
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On April 30 the North Carolina Coastal Federation hosted 37 volunteers at the Bradley Creek Elementary School rain garden for Work on Wilmington, a communitywide event to promote partnerships and community service. During the event, volunteers worked in the rain garden mulching, weeding and performing overall maintenance. One group put on waders and removed cattails,…
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Staff in the North Carolina Coastal Federation participated in two events recently that were focused on getting girls interested in math, science and technology. The first event, Girls Exploring Science and Technology (GEST), was on April 14 at the Duke University Marine Lab. GEST brings together researchers from a number of STEM institutions to inspire…
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WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — The North Carolina Coastal Federation is working with the Town of Wrightsville Beach, the City of Wilmington and community partners to implement projects that will reduce the volume of polluted stormwater runoff affecting these neighboring coastal communities. These projects are funded by the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) and…
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The North Carolina Coastal Federation staff spent a busy weekend celebrating Earth Day last month, with multiple events going on in all three coastal regions and in the Triangle. Earth Day is always full of events that get people outside and experiencing the coast, and federation staff are always excited to participate in the many…
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Veronica Carter, a long-time North Carolina Coastal Federation board member, has been appointed to the Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board, which will advise the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Secretary Michael Regan created this panel to help DEQ involve and engage disadvantaged and minority populations in its decision-making processes. Carter has been involved in promoting…
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Over the course of four days, staff at the federation’s Wanchese office educated approximately 600 students on living shorelines, marine debris, water quality and much more. The week full of education events kicked off at Manteo Middle School on April 24 and 25, when Sara Hallas, coastal education coordinator, and Reilly Kelly, AmeriCorps member, visited…
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SWAN QUARTER — The fourth public meeting about the Lake Mattamuskeet Watershed Restoration Plan is on May 8 and will cover strategies that are being explored by the planning team. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Hyde County Government Complex in Swan Quarter. The agenda is available here. The goal of the watershed restoration plan is to provide…
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This story has been updated with additional numbers from the April 19 bagging event in Wilmington. A total of 87 volunteers worked with the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wrightsville Beach staff for two oyster bagging events in April. The bags of recycled oyster shells and gravel granite will be used on a future living shoreline…
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With funding from Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, the North Carolina Coastal Federation teamed up with River City YouthBuild to install several stormwater retrofits at the Shoppes at Renaissance Square in Elizabeth City on April 18. River City YouthBuild, run by River City Community Development Corporation, provides education and employment skills for economically disadvantaged young adults aged…
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