Staff from the Division of Marine Fisheries spent part of their Thanksgiving week cleaning up Carrot Island, part of the Rachel Carson component of the N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve. Using three boats, the group of 13 DMF employees collected about 1,200 pounds of debris from the site. See more pictures at the Marine Fisheries website.

Since 2007, staff and volunteers have removed more than 11,000 pounds of marine debris from the Rachel Carson Reserve site

Undergraduate students looking for a summer internship for 2012 – check out the NC State Government Internship Program.  The Coastal Reserve and National Research Reserve program has five internship opportunities available (see #46-50 in the information booklet) — two in Beaufort, one in Kitty Hawk, and one in Wilmington.

Applications for the program are due by December 5th.

Braxton Davis of South Carolina has been named the new director for the N.C. Division of Coastal Management.

Davis, the current director of the Policy and Planning Division of the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, will begin his new role in DCM’s Morehead City headquarters Dec. 1.

“Braxton’s knowledge of national coastal issues and his experience directing coastal policy are just a few of the assets he will bring to the Division of Coastal Management,” said Dee Freeman, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. “His extensive background in coastal science and management will complement the division’s strong permitting, planning and policy programs.”

Davis succeeds Jim Gregson, who left the division in August for a position with the N.C. Division of Water Quality.

Davis has worked for the South Carolina coastal agency since 2006. He also serves as chairman of the Coastal States Organization. The national organization represents the governors of the nation’s 35 coastal states, commonwealths and territories on legislative and policy issues relating to the sound management of coastal, Great Lakes and ocean resources.

Davis, a Virginia native, holds a doctorate in marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island, a master’s degree in biological sciences from Florida International University, and a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Allison and Cole.

The location for the Oct. 6 meeting of the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel on Coastal Hazards has been changed. The panel will meet in the seminar room of the UNC Insititute of Marine Science, 3431 Arendell St., Morehead City, N.C.  The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management will hold two sea level rise policy meetings in October to receive comments from local government officials on the Coastal Resources Commission’s draft sea level rise policy.

The meetings will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the following locations:

•  Oct. 11 – DCM Wilmington Regional Office, 127 Cardinal Drive Ext., Wilmington, N.C.
•  Oct. 13 – Center for the Sounds, 205 S. Ludington Drive, Columbia, N.C.

To view a copy of the CRC’s draft sea level rise policy, please visit DCM’s website.

For more information, or to schedule a meeting in your area, please contact Tancred Miller at 252-808-2808, ext. 224.

The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel on Coastal Hazards will meet Oct. 6 in Morehead City. The panel will meet from 10 a.m. -3 p.m. at N.C. Division of Coastal Management Office at 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City. The meeting is open to the public.

The panel provides scientific advice to the Coastal Resources Commission, or CRC, North Carolina’s board responsible for making rules and policies regarding coastal development.

The science panel’s Oct. 6 agenda includes:

• A discussion of the CAMA permitting process for terminal groins, and the issues associated with monitoring these structures for adverse impacts.
• A discussion of public comments received regarding the CRC’s draft sea level rise policy and the Science Panel’s 2010 report on sea level rise in North Carolina.

Created by the CRC in 1997, the 13-member science panel is composed of coastal engineers and geologists.

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve Program and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will hold a hunter workshop Sept. 29 for two of the reserve’s northern sites. 

The workshop will include a review of reserve rules and changes since the last hunting season, opportunities for participation in wildlife research, an overview of state and local hunting regulations, and a presentation by a biologist with the state Wildlife Resources Commission. The workshop will serve reserve sites at Kitty Hawk Woods and Currituck Banks. 

The workshop is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at Kitty Hawk Town Hall, 101 Veterans Memorial Drive, Kitty Hawk.

For more information, contact northern sites manager Claudia Jones at (252) 261-8891.

DCM invites you to celebrate National Estuaries Day and National Public Lands Day Sept. 24 at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. 

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Coastal Reserve, the National Estuarine Research Reserve Program and the North Carolina Maritime Museum will host the celebration at the Maritime Museum, 315 Front Street, Beaufort. The event is free.

National Estuaries Day is an annual celebration of estuaries, the vibrant coastal areas where rivers meet the sea.  It is a great opportunity to learn more about these magical ecosystems and how people can help to protect them.  North Carolina’s estuarine system is the third largest in the country, encompassing more than 2 million acres.

National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance public lands.  The celebration is part of the museum’s weekend of “Culture, History, and the Environment.”

The event includes an education tent at the museum, and a marine debris cleanup on the Rachel Carson component of the N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Registration is required for the Rachel Carson reserve cleanup.

Contact Rachel Carson site manager Paula Gillikin at (252) 838-0886 or paula.gillikin@ncdenr.gov to register, or visit www.nccoastalreserve.net.

Three North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve sites have been reopened to visitors following an assessment of damage from Hurricane Irene.

Visitors should use caution when visiting the sites due to downed trees on some hiking trails.

The reopened sites are: 

• Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve near Corolla
• Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve in Kitty Hawk
• Rachel Carson National Estuarine Research Reserve in Beaufort

The Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve on Hatteras Island and the Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge Coastal Reserve in Columbia will remain closed until damage assessments are complete, and, in the case of Buxton Woods, until access to Hatteras Island is restored.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has scheduled a Sept. 14 meeting to gather public comments as part of its federal performance evaluation of the North Carolina Coastal Management Program.

The 6:30 p.m. meeting will be in the auditorium of the NOAA/NCNERR Administration Building, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort.

Written comments are encouraged, and participation at the public meeting is not required for submission.  Written comments should be sent to: Carrie Hall, NOAA/NOS/OCRM, 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM7, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or via email to Carrie.Hall@noaa.gov no later than Sept. 30.