Posted on March 30, 2021
HARKERS ISLAND — Local environmentalists are partnering with a Conservation Legacy program to restore the coastal environment in Carteret County and elsewhere.
The N.C. Coastal Federation, a nonprofit headquartered in Ocean and dedicated to preserving and restoring the coastal environment in North Carolina, has partnered with the Conservation Corps North Carolina, a Conservation Legacy program dedicated to motivating young adults to engage in conservation projects.
The two nonprofits are engaging in a series of restoration projects this spring, according to a federation announcement March 23. The first project began that day with large-scale marine debris removal at Cape Lookout National Seashore.
NCCF coastal restoration specialist Sarah Bodin said in an email Thursday to the News-Times the cleanup crew is focusing on a 6-mile stretch that covers the area of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and along the cape, “including the beach front, dunes, maritime forest and marsh areas.”
“The crew has been collecting hurricane related debris,” Ms. Bodin said, “such as pressure treated woods from docks, pilings, tires, construction material, metal pieces from old cars, foam and consumer debris.”
The crew is finding most of these items along the beachfront, according to Ms. Bodin. In addition to the Conservation Corps, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Community Base Restoration Program, is helping the project with funding.
It is the first of several planned in the county this spring. Additional projects are scheduled in April in Onslow and New Hannover counties, after which more projects are scheduled in Carteret County from Monday, May 3 through Tuesday, May 11. Duke Energy is funding several of them.
“The Conservation Corps crew will focus on living shoreline work,” Ms. Bodin said, “such as bagging oyster shells, building oyster reefs and marsh plantings at several living shorelines, including Carteret Community College.”
CCNC and the coastal federation will also work on new nature trails. Ms. Bodin said they’ll be working at the site of the federation’s new, future headquarters on a 76.25-acre lot between Morada Bay subdivision and Red Barn Road in Ocean.
“They will also work on stormwater projects, such as rain garden maintenance (in Carteret County),” Ms. Bodin said.
The NCCF often conducts projects such as these with volunteers. However, Ms. Bodin said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the federation is limiting its volunteer program, so these are being conducted with contractors, such as Americorps and Restoration Systems.
