Since 1982, the North Carolina Coastal Federation has worked with people to safeguard the coastal rivers, creeks, sounds and beaches of North Carolina. Todd Miller, the federation’s current executive director, formed the nonprofit organization in 1982 to enforce and expand local coastal management authorized by the Coastal Area Management Act of 1974. Soon after it formed in 1982, the federation rallied fishermen, environmentalists and scientists to oppose a proposed mining of peat bogs on 120,000 acres of wetlands between the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. Peatlands contain five times more carbon than forests and mining peat for agriculture or harvesting it for compost releases copious amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere, accelerating climate change. The project gained national attention, including coverage on the CBS Evening News and PBS’s MacNeil-Lehrer Report. The proposal was defeated in 1984, and the federation then worked for the passage of state rules that have effectively prohibited large-scale peat mining. Most of the areas that were formerly targeted for peat mining are now permanently preserved in national wildlife refuges.
Since it first cut its teeth on the peat mining issue, the federation has been an extremely active participant in coastal management issues throughout the entire North Carolina coast and elsewhere in the nation. Some highlights include: restoring thousands of acres of wetlands, reducing millions of gallons of polluted runoff, installing miles of living shorelines in Carteret County as well as hundreds of private, residential waterfront properties. Lastly, the Federation has removed hundreds of tons of marine debris from coastal estuaries in the past year, alone. To visualize this tonnage, it would be equivalent to lining up two-liter soda bottles end-to-end and having them extend from Beaufort all the way to Dallas, Texas. Additionally, the federation lobbied the N.C. General Assembly to enact new legislation that sets the stage for the removal of hundreds of abandoned and derelict boats in 2021.
The federation has also supported the coastal economy with its water quality and habitat restoration projects. These projects directly invest millions of dollars in our coastal communities through the contractors and businesses they hire. In Carteret County, the Federation has acquired thousands of acres of land to restore and protect wetlands to improve downstream water quality, and now are one of the county’s major landowners. The North Carolina coast is both a vacation destination and a permanent home because of its air and water qualities. Maintaining air and water qualities is a major challenge, a challenge made more daunting by the increased frequency of extreme weather events and rising sea levels that impact shoreline erosion, flooding and wildfires. Anticipating these changes as the coast develops is critical if the goal we’re to maintain healthy and productive estuaries and waters that remain clean enough for swimming.
The Federation not only wants to keep the Carteret County and North Carolina coast healthy, but also it wants to make it productive. In this context, degradation has occurred over the past four decades, but North Carolina still has one of the most pristine and naturally productive coasts that you can find anywhere in the world and the Federation aims to keep it that way. This is why the Coastal Federation also established the Oyster Blueprint. Following this blueprint, the Coastal Federation has built numerous oyster reefs and oyster sanctuaries. The Swan Island Oyster Sanctuary they helped to build now hosts an estimated 136 million oysters. These oysters now help to seed new natural oyster reefs in Pamlico Sound. The federation also continues to promote and expand an oyster shell recycling program along the coast, support the shellfish mariculture industry of Carteret County through numerous projects, and works with N.C. Sea Grant and the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources to launch the N.C. Oyster Trail. The NC Oyster Trail is a unique tourism experience centered around our state’s tasty oysters and run by people who love them!The North Carolina Oyster Trail offers unique and tasty adventures including tours of working oyster farms where you will hop on a boat and learn how we grow oysters. You will taste our homegrown oysters and discover local oyster lore.
What you can do. Give Your gift of $25 can provide supplies for rain gardens, which protect water quality by filtering polluted stormwater. $50 can help support one of our many coastal cleanups. $100 can supply wetland plants to restore 100 square feet of wetlands along our coast. $250 can restore 25 bushels of oysters in a reef or a living shoreline. Volunteer. Jointhe manythousands of people who have helped with projects to restore coastal habitat, push for stronger environmental rules and standards and have promote widespread stewardship of our coastal resources. As environmental pressures increase, so does the need for protection of coastal resources and thus the need for continued volunteer support. Show Your Support. Hit the road with the federation’s “Protect Our Coast” specialty license plate. To learn more about the NC Coastal Federationand its goal to keep waters clean enough for swimming, go to my website, www.EmeraldIsleHomesforSaleNC.com and sign up for my blog. Ready to buy or sell? Call me at 919-308-2292. Explore the video tab for my weekly uploads to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and receive free donuts at my Flip Flops Donut shop. Text your email address to 919-308-2292 and subscribe to my newsletter. My book, "Live Where You Vacation" is available on Amazon.com.
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