Posted on November 20, 2024
The North Carolina Land and Water Fund has awarded $4.5 million in grants to the town of Nags Head for conservation and shoreline restoration.
The grants include $4 million for conservation easements on over 250 acres of maritime forest in Nags Head Woods and $500,000 to restore 550 feet of public shoreline along Roanoke Sound, the town said in a news release.
The $4 million grant will secure easements on three town-owned tracts of mature maritime forest, totaling approximately 261 acres within the Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy.
Legally binding agreements, the easements will permanently prevent development on the properties, helping to protect one of North Carolina’s last intact maritime forests.
A second grant of $500,000 will support the installation of a living shoreline along the Roanoke Sound, aimed at mitigating erosion and restoring vital environments at the town’s Harvey soundside access and the Soundside Event Site, co-owned with the Dare County Tourism Board. This funding will stabilize 550 feet of shoreline. A brackish marsh will also be reestablished, creating critical nurseries for fish, crustaceans and birds.
