From left to right: Duke students, supported by the Stanback Internship Program, B Stevens, Max Issokson and Devri Adams and ECU student, supported by the SECU Public Fellows Internship Program, Madeline Tripp. Over the past few months, four Coastal Policy and Restoration Interns spent their summer working for the federation on various projects that work…
Details
Video by Mark Hibbs North Carolina becomes the first state in the Southeast and sixth in the nation to launch a state Shellfish Initiative as state officials made the announcement on Aug. 2 at a public event at N.C. State University’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology. Approximately 75 people attended, including scientists, state…
Details
Photo by Sam Bland On Saturday, July 28, the 2018 Pelican Award recipients were honored at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City for their outstanding contributions to protecting the North Carolina coast. 2018 marked the 10th year the annual awards have been presented by the North Carolina Coastal Federation. Joe Ramus, president of…
Details
WANCHESE — The North Carolina Coastal Federation worked with a local contractor to deploy 25 oyster reef balls along the shoreline at their office in the Wanchese Marine Industrial Park last week. These oyster reef balls are made from concrete and designed with lots of surface area for baby oysters to attach to and grow…
Details
The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Wanchese office has been busy this summer working with local community groups. Recently, staff helped to lead activities for a Kitty Hawk Cub Scout Troop. The troop and their parents visited a living shoreline at Jockey’s Ridge State Park. The group of 21 Cub Scouts, rising second through fifth graders,…
Details
Last week, the Wanchese office joined Jennette’s Pier for a week-long summer camp for teenagers called Green Teens. The week was filled with coastal explorations and allowed the teens to focus on service and volunteering. The seven campers helped the North Carolina Coastal Federation make 150 oyster bags that they then placed on the shoreline at…
Details
CARTERET COUNTY – Last week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Community-based Restoration Program announced it recommended $950,000 for the North Carolina Coastal Federation and partners to continue work on the Swan Island Oyster Sanctuary. With the funding, the federation and its partners plan to expand the 25-acre project to an almost 40-acre project in…
Details
For folks interested in conserving and protecting North Carolina’s open spaces, the state’s recently approved budget brought some good news. The new budget includes important increases in open space conservation funding. The Clean Water Management Trust Fund – perhaps the state’s most important funding source for open space protection – received an additional $4 million…
Details
SWANSBORO— While most parking lots are designed to get the rain off site as quickly as possible, the Town of Swansboro and the North Carolina Coastal Federation have partnered to install a parking lot at Town Hall that will actually let stormwater soak into the ground. The new public parking lot, located between Town Hall…
Details
On Thursday, June 28, the North Carolina Coastal Federation gave a group of North Carolina Association of County Agricultural Agents (NCACAA) a tour of the living shoreline at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. NCACAA helps communities learn about research and resources that help benefit their livelihoods. These agents were interested in agriculture…
Details
On Thursday, July 5, 25 volunteers enjoyed a beautiful day at Stump Sound in Holly Ridge to help the North Carolina Coastal Federation install plants along the shoreline. The volunteers helped to plant 1,000 spartina alterniflora plugs on Stump Sound. These plants help to stabilize the shoreline and restore estuarine habitat. They also contribute to…
Details
Even though school’s out for the summer, environmental education continues at the North Carolina Coastal Federation. The Wanchese office educated several student groups toward the end of June, spending time on the grounds of the office and at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Jr. Aquatic Adventures, a summer camp at the aquarium, visited…
Details
The North Carolina Coastal Federation held a community open house at its Wanchese office on June 26. The open house was held in celebration of the office’s new dock on Broad Creek. Nearly one hundred fifty attendees enjoyed time on the new dock and grounds. “I am so pleased with the community’s support of this…
Details
The Wanchese office has been busy, with the help of many others, maintaining and establishing regional living shoreline projects. In early June, North Carolina Coastal Federation staff, oyster shell recycling volunteers and volunteers from the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island teamed up to build an oyster reef right outside of the Wanchese office. This…
Details
Kate Conery, Wrightsville Beach office What was your favorite part about working for the North Carolina Coastal Federation? Of being an AmeriCorps member? All of my favorite experiences with the federation were times spent working on the coast. Whether it was an education program, Coastal Ambassador training, volunteer event or organism collection, it was always…
Details
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…
Details
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…
Details
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…
Details
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,…
Details
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…
Details
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…
Details
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…
Details
Meet the Growers These growers will provide a taste of their delectable oysters at the 2018 Pelican Awards and Taste of the Coast on July 28. Oyster mariculture is a growing industry in North Carolina, and the state’s oysters are gaining recognition as some of the best around. Get to know the growers as you gear…
Details
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…
Details
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…
Details