rated the soil within 18 inches of the 

 ground's surface for at least seven 

 days a year. Under 1991 federal 

 manual revisions, wetlands must be 

 saturated at the surface for at least 21 

 days in a row. 



As the pot boils in Washington 

 over wetland reforms, North Carolina 

 feels the heat, too, over additional 

 wetland-related issues. 



Rader expects peat mining contro- 

 versies to resurface soon as technol- 

 ogy improves methods to dig the rich, 

 organic soil found in many coastal 

 counties. 



The state also must tackle the 

 question of wetland management in 

 urban areas, he adds. As the federal 

 government insists on more stringent 

 stormwater controls in urban areas, 

 local officials are grappling with 

 whether to keep a wetland intact or to 

 build retention ponds there for 

 stormwater. 



One of the biggest wetland protec- 



Cypress tree, Southern Lake Phelps 



tion issues facing North Carolina now, 

 however, is mitigation. 



Should the state allow someone to 

 destroy a natural wetland and create 

 an artificial wetland? Is it possible to 

 trade resources adequately and 

 evenly? 



The questions resounded loudly in 

 a case that pointed to the gaps in state 

 mitigation policies. 



In early 1990, developers planned 

 to fill about 18 acres of wetlands along 

 U.S. 158 in Kitty Hawk to build 

 Shoreside Shopping Center. In 

 exchange for the wetlands, the 

 developers — Kitty Hawk Woods 

 Partnership — offered to donate 455 

 acres of woods to Kitty Hawk Woods 

 maritime forest and to restore a 30- 

 acre wetland area in Tyrrell County. 



Opponents said the project did not 

 fit federal guidelines and that issuing a 

 corps permit based on the donation of 

 the forest would be illegal. It would 

 also be a green light for other develop- 

 ers to negotiate similar plans. 



But state coastal management 

 officials supported the proposal, 

 saying it would preserve acres of 

 valuable maritime forest. 



"We made a very precedent-setting 

 decision and said 'yeah, this is a good 

 deal,' " says Rich Shaw of the N.C. 

 Division of Coastal Management. 



The idea of trading resource for 

 resource appeals to economists, land- 

 owners and developers. Mitigation 

 allows developers to obtain wetland 

 permits with greater certainty and in a 

 shorter time. The option may also 

 encourage new or restored wetlands. 



But wetlands have specific pur- 

 poses in specific locations, such as 

 water purification, says Rader. For 

 mitigation projects to be successful 

 they must be in-kind and in the same 

 watershed, he adds. They must 

 become self-sustaining systems that 

 replace the lost functions of the natural 

 wetlands. 



Two Sea Grant research projects 

 are testing the viability of building and 

 rebuilding wetlands. 



Scientists have known for years 

 that transplanted marsh grass can help 

 produce new marshes. But no one has 

 learned how long it takes the new 

 marsh to develop and if it can be as 

 productive. In one project, researchers 

 with Sea Grant, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service and other cooperat- 

 ing national universities are using 

 marsh grasses and submerged aquatic 

 vegetation to see how well a new 



One off the biggest 

 wetland protection 

 issues facing North 



Carolina now, 



/ 



however, 

 is mitigation. 



ecology can be created in new 

 marshland, in marshes that may have 

 been destroyed or on lands acquired 

 through mitigation. 



Other research by Sea Grant and 

 the Coastal Ocean Program of the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Association looks for new ways to 

 propagate these wetland plants. 

 Through biotechnology, scientists are 

 finding ways to create new plants 

 solely from plant cells. 



"It's working like gangbusters for 

 marsh grass," says UNC Sea Grant 

 Director B.J. Copeland. "When it's 

 effective is when you can create new 

 marshes without having to borrow 

 from or impact the old marshes. 

 You're just using the genetics." 



Science can also help determine 

 the criteria that make wetlands 

 important and where sacrifices can be 

 made, says Sea Grant's Clark. "It is 

 possible to make policies that protect 

 coastal and freshwater wetlands but 

 don't hurt the economy." 



COASTWATCH 9 



