salt marsh and tea-colored water create a 

 checkered pattern. Nearby, a laughing gull poses 

 on the post of a boat dock. 



The wide expanse of marsh makes up the 

 southern end of the Cedar Island National 

 Wildlife Refuge that stretches across 1 1 ,000 

 acres of irregularly flooded brackish marsh and 

 3,480 acres of pocosin and woodland habitat. 



"Cedar Island is a world-class marsh," says 

 East Carolina University geologist Stan Riggs, 

 author of the Soundfront Series: Shoreline 

 Erosion in North Carolina 's Estuaries. "It goes 

 on forever and ever. It is a unique type of 

 platform marsh. It is pretty awesome." 



Riggs says that brackish marshes like 

 Cedar Island "are among the most productive 

 habitats in the world." 



"Wind- and storm-tide flooding carry 

 nutrients into the marsh and sweep dead plant 

 material out into the estuaries and adjacent 

 ocean-shelf waters," wrote Riggs in Exploring 

 North Carolina's Natural Areas, edited by Dick 

 Frankenberg. "This organic detritus forms the 

 basis for many food chains for marine organ- 

 isms. Brackish marshes are essential for 

 maintaining many different populations of 

 estuarine and marine fish and shellfish." 



Before touring the refuge, manager Don 

 Temple points out the stretch called "John Day's 

 Ditch" that runs through the marsh. On this day, 

 a lone man is fishing in a ditch as a kingfisher 

 flies over. 



Legend says that John Day dug the ditch to 

 protect his cows from crossing into another 

 landowner's property, says Temple. 



"The ditching changes the hydrology of the 

 marsh," says Temple. "The road's ditches 

 introduce changes in the marsh and vegetation 

 near the ditch." 



To see the refuge. Temple gives a driving 

 tour in a Ford Expedition along an open patch of 

 low grass. A thick forest of red cedar, pines and 

 underbrush line the side of the path that is 

 mowed only a couple of times each year. 



"This area is a low wetland with a stream 

 going through it," says Temple. 



Farther back, live oaks drape the bumpy 

 road. Wild huckleberry and blueberry bushes 

 and a deer stand fill in the landscape. 



"If we were on a barrier island, it would be 

 called a 'maritime forest,' " says Temple. 



The path stretches 2.5 miles to a tidal 



FAR LEFT, TOP: 

 Cedar Island National Wildlife 

 Refuge has vast marshland. 

 FAR LEFT, BOTTOM: 

 The waters in the refuge are 

 abundant marine habitats. 



LEFT TO RIGHT: 



Don Temple leads the Cedar Island 

 refuge. Henry "Farmer" Styron and 

 Marshall Daniels cook shrimp at 

 Farmer's garage. Jerry Gaskill and 

 Bradley Styron await a box of shad 

 at Quality Seafood. 

 Troy Goodwin mends a net. 



creek. There, mosquitoes create an almost black 

 coat on the side of the car in the fall and 

 summer. The emerald green creek is covered 

 with black needlerush and other flora. 



Temple says the best time to visit is in 

 December or January when the mosquitoes are 

 not buzzing as much. 



DIVERSE ANIMALS, BIRDS 



A variety of wildlife calls the refuge home, 

 including black bear, deer, otter and marsh 

 rabbits, says Temple. More than 270 species of 

 birds, including marsh wrens, seaside sparrows, 

 northern harriers and ospreys, have been 

 observed on the refuge. 



One of the most unusual birds is the black 

 rail. "Black rails are a secretive bird and 

 meander through the marsh floor," says Temple. 



"I have been here for 14 years and have never 

 seen one. You only see them if they are flushed 

 out by a fire or predator. During floods, the rails 

 get up on higher vegetation." 



To see the rest of the marsh, turn on Lola 

 Road, where there is a thicket of longleaf pines. 



"Longleaf pines are being considered by the 

 Nature Conservancy to be globally threatened," 

 says Temple. "There used to be 10 million acres 

 of longleaf pine in the Southern Coastal Plain. 

 Now there is only a small percent. Longleaf pines 

 need fire to regenerate." 



The wildlife refuge has a prescribed bum 

 program that promotes new growth and plant 

 diversity. 



"We bum parts of the refuge almost every 

 year," says Temple. "We average burning 3,000 

 to 5,000 acres of marsh and upland a year. Many 

 of our plants are fire dependent." 



During fall and winter, thousands of 

 migratory waterfowl use Core Sound and other 

 estuarine waters. 



"The best way to see this part of the refuge 

 is by boat or kayak," says Temple. "In some 

 years, this creek will get 4,000 to 5,000 redhead 

 ducks in January or February." 



At the end of Lola Road, the refuge stretches 

 to Core Sound, where there are two boat docks. 



Head back down Lola Road, and you notice 

 an old Navy radar station used during the Cuban 

 Missile Crisis of the 1960s. 



Farther down, large cedars shade the island's 

 oldest church — the white-framed Pilgrim Rest 

 Free Will Baptist Church, where they hold the 

 Day family reunion each year. 



"My son, Robert Day, always sings 'Oysters 

 in Heaven' and gets a standing ovation." says 

 Jean Day. "There is always a rush for the seafood 

 platters. Those men and women on Cedar Island 

 are some of the best cooks in the world." 



Turn onto N.C. 1 2 to get to the main part of 

 the Cedar Island community that brings memories 

 of a slower, kinder time when folks got together 

 more often. The area is unincorporated and has no 

 gas stations. 



SPECIAL RETREAT 



One of the community's favorite gathering 

 spots is Jerry Gaskill' s "Little House," a tiny 

 cream-colored wooden building next to his main 

 home. C o n t i n u e d 



COASTWATCH 9 



