North Carolina Reserve Estuaries

We are exploring our local treasures for National Estuaries Day this Saturday. This is amazing!

Miles of ocean beaches in North Carolina: 320
Miles of estuarine shoreline in the state: more than 8,000

This estuarine system is the third largest in the country, with great economic importance to the coastal area. Ninety percent of commercial seafood species live at some time in an estuary. This is where freshwater, carrying silt and organic matter, mixes with mineral-rich saltwater. Much of the fish and shellfish harvested each year depend on these areas, as do many birds and other animals.

The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve helps to preserve these fragile natural areas and the variety of life they support. The North Carolina Reserve covers two biogeographic regions, located north and south of Cape Hatteras. This reserve is made from four sites: Currituck Banks, Rachel Carson, Masonboro Island, and Zeke’s Island. It's about 10,000 acres! Let's investigate one of these places.

The Rachel Carson site, accessible only by boat, is a center of marine research and education. There, they study everything from fiddler crabs to feral horses (see photos). It's named in honor of the scientist and author who conducted research there during the 1940's. It is in a tidal river and sound, where the Newport and North rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. The chain of islands are made of salt marshes, tidal mud and sand flats, eelgrass beds and upland islands.

The marine laboratories of Duke University, University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University are located there. A regional office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is at the site as well. The Web-based reserve tour, Estuary Live, originated from the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort in September 2001. More than 20,000 people in 31 states and four foreign countries logged on for the broadcast.

In addition to the four national areas, the North Carolina Coastal Reserve Program also protects six state reserves: Kitty Hawk Woods, Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge, Buxton Woods, Permuda Island, Bald Head Woods, and Bird Island. The ten Reserves are more than 41,000 acres conserved to operate as living laboratories for long-term research, education, and stewardship.

If you are interested in supporting the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, you can also join the non-profit group, the Carolina Estaurine Reserve Foundation (CERF). Keep on exploring!

Estuaries Day this Saturday!

"Where freshwater systems and rivers meet, and mix with a salty ocean."

Be a part of the National Estuaries Day this Saturday, September 27th. The nationwide event offers a multitude of activities for the entire family. Check out the Research Reserves: some will offer guided walks, boat tours, live animal presentations, touch tanks, and kayak tours. Look for nature crafts for kids of all ages, estuary games and activities, live music, fish printing and more!

The web site is a wonderful resource. This interesting guide includes the EstuaryLive, presenting videos, live broadcasts, virtual field-trips, dynamic presentations, and other exciting events in estuarine reserves across the country.

Many people do not realize how much we depend on estuaries, and how our actions can have an effect on those places that might seem far from home. What each of us does can affect an estuary's health and even people’s health. The flow of water through rivers, lakes, and wetlands eventually meets the sea. The air we breathe and water we drink come back to us from there, in oxygen produced by ocean plants and moisture evaporated from the sea.

The estuary reserves are protected for long-term research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship of the 1.3 million acres of coastal land and waters, from Alaska to Puerto Rico. The reserve sites make up the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), a partnership program between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) and the coastal states.

They are doing an impressive job. Thirty years ago, the Rookery Bay Reserve near Naples, Florida was established as a 3,700-acre national sanctuary. Its boundary has now been expanded to 110,000 acres, and it is one of the nation’s last relatively untouched mangrove-forested estuaries.

The Carolinas are home to three of the twenty-seven reserves in the United States. One is the third largest in the country. Do you know them? In the next posts, we will take a closer look at these natural treasures, exploring the places where rivers meet the sea. Join us and plan your own event, visit a Research Reserve, or plan on taking a kid outdoors!

Healthy Kids and a Healthy Planet

Beginning this Friday, a three-day workshop will explore how to raise healthy children in a toxic world, while helping our environment. The conference, Saving Our Kids, Healing Our Planet, will be held from September 26th to 28th in the Charlotte Convention Center.

Highlights include renowned pediatricians, authors and environmentalists discussing children’s health and treatment for their ills, from asthma to autism. They say that the wellbeing of children may depend on reducing the pollution in our world. Presenters and vendors feature safe and effective household products, alternative vaccines, organic clothing, whole foods, and many other topics. And the Planet Kids area is the place where kids can have fun with activities such as puppet shows, story-telling, Environmental Hip Hop, recycled craft projects and games, along with healthy snacks.

The registration fee for adults is $12.00 per day at the door, discounted if you register in advance online. Children under 18 are free. To register, see http://registration.sokhop.com/

A Just, Green Economy for North Carolina

We need workers who have good jobs, helping improve our air and water and protecting the environment for all of us. You are invited to learn how North Carolina can have this, at the day-long conference, "Growing a Just, Green Economy." It will be held on Saturday, September 20th, on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. NCCU and over 20 other organizations are sponsoring this event.

Majora Carter, the founder of Sustainable South Bronx, will be a keynote speaker. In the CNN photo at left, she discusses a green roof project. TED calls her an inspiring speaker, a "visionary voice in city planning." Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who has a distinguished record of community development in North Carolina, is also a keynote speaker.

Attendees will be able to discuss steps toward a green economy that can produce affordable energy and increase prosperity in our local communities. The registration fee, including lunch, is $30, $10 for students. A limited number of community member or student work scholarships may be available. To learn more or to register, please see the Conference site. Questions? Contact Alice Loyd at BBGAlliance@gmail.com or at 919-828-6501.

Catawba River Events

The Catawba River flows from the Blue Ridge Mountains and continues west of Charlotte into South Carolina, where it becomes the Wateree River. This weekend, we can learn how to help protect the river and its watershed. The Central Piedmont Group of the NC Sierra Club and Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), are sponsoring a meeting Saturday, September 13th to learn, "What Local Citizens can do to Preserve and Protect the Catawba.” The gathering will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the main campus of CPCC, in Room 131 of the Criminal Justice Building.

Speakers will give us specific information on what volunteers can do to help the Catawba watershed. Rick Roti of American Forests will be there, along with David Kroening of Mecklenburg’s Land Use and Environmental Services Department, and Cassie Moore, from CPCC’s Service Learning Department. The Muddy Water Watch coordinator of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation will also attend. Around noon, the meeting will conclude with a guided tour of the campus rain gardens and a tree planting.

Everyone is invited to join in other cool events coming up. Mountain Island Lake, in NC Sierra Club's photo at left, is part of the Catawba River system. On Saturday, October 4th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., groups will be cleaning up the lake's shoreline as part of the annual Big Sweep event. The Central Piedmont Group and CPCC students will work on the McDowell Creek watershed portion.

On Saturday, November 22, we can meet the groups and help plant a large number of trees from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The trees help filter groundwater and protect the watershed. There will be an after-work picnic lunch.

For more information, contact Kara Craig, Conservation Coordinator of the NC Sierra Club, at (919) 833-8467 or Kara.craig@sierraclub.org

Counting Spots

Volunteers are needed to help count salamanders. The marbled and spotted salamanders give clues about the health of their environment and the impact of nearby development. This research project of the Catawba Lands Conservancy studies the salamanders (photo at left) by catching them in buckets. Each day volunteers need to check the buckets, record the number and species of salamanders caught, and release them. The salamanders must be released daily or they will die. Each volunteer can help the project for one day a week.

They collect the data in an upland swamp in the Whitehall Nature Preserve, a permanently protected area located off I-485 at the South Tryon/Hwy 49 exit. Volunteers can participate beginning in mid-September and continuing through early April. For more information, please contact Sharon Wilson at 704-342-3330, ext. 209, or sharon@catawbalands.org for more information.

Cleaner Air

Union County and Rowan-Salisbury Schools are reducing harmful tailpipe emissions from their school buses. Thanks to NC State University's Clean Fuel Advanced Technology (CFAT) project!

The CFAT grant is used for reducing vehicle emissions in North Carolina counties that do not meet federal air quality standards. Now in its third and final year, the program is funding a variety of projects, such as the purchase of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs). They have zero tailpipe emissions, can be operated on city streets at speeds up to 35 mph, and are recharged through household-type electrical outlets. The Town of Stallings bought an NEV for its parks and downtown area, and Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation purchased three NEVs to replace their gas-powered vehicles in nature preserves.

A cool new installation at Big Boys Truck Stop on I-95 will provide 24 electric power pedestals for truckers. They will be able to plug in and shut off their engines during overnight stays, reducing toxic air pollution and fuel costs. The truck stop electrification (TSE) project, to be installed by Shorepower Technologies, will be the first of its kind in the southeast.

And the City of Monroe is purchasing two Segways for its police department, to replace the use of patrol cars. Collectively, the 2008 projects will reduce over 1 million kg of pollutants annually, according to Steve Kalland, Director of the NC Solar Center. More information can be found at Clean Transportation.