Tools 



,for planning 



Local governments in coastal North Carolina are in the midst of 

 drawing up plans for how their lands will be used in the future. Sea 

 Grant research projects aimed at bringing together information 

 useful in managing coastal lands should be helpful to planners, 

 citizens and local officials. 



UNC law professor Tom Schoenbaum is taking a legal look at how 

 counties and municipalities put plans for land use outside of "areas 

 of environmental concern" into effect. Development within those 

 specially-designated environmentally sensitive areas will be regu- 

 lated by a permit system, administered by the counties and state. 

 But it will be up to the counties to implement land use plans outside 

 of "areas of environmental concern." From his study Schoenbaum 

 will make recommendations on the legal tools governments can use 

 to implement planning. Schoenbaum will also look at how govern- 

 ment red tape can be reduced and other problems relating to the 

 legalities of planning. 



A study that got underway in August and will continue through 

 June promises to provide a handy tool for formulating development 

 policy that reflects the ecological characteristics of different types of 

 coastal environments. A handbook for the non-scientist, a major 

 product of the study, will describe and provide scientific information 

 on ecological processes at work in various types of shore environ- 

 ments. It will also describe alternative development policies that are 

 compatible with specific environments. Policies to be described in 

 the book will take ecological processes into consideration. Led by 

 David Brower of UNC-Chapel Hill's Center for Urban and Regional 

 Studies, the project brings together expertise from marine science, 

 law and planning. 



In their ongoing research, ECU scientists Mike O'Connor, Vince 

 Bellis and Stan Riggs will map shoreline erosion along the estuarine 

 shores of counties in the eastern Albemarle and southeastern 

 Pamlico regions. From their maps, small property owners will be 

 able to determine the approximate rate of shoreline erosion on their 

 land, geologic and biologic processes influencing erosion and alter- 

 native methods for coping with shoreline erosion. 



Research that is already providing data useful in managing the 

 state's coastal waterbirds will be further developed by biologists 

 Jim Parnell and Bob Soots of UNC-Wilmington and Campbell Col- 

 lege. Census techniques developed by the researchers in 1975 will 

 be used. A count of the number of birds today will be useful for future 

 comparisons to determine the changing status of bird populations. 



Ernie Seneca and Steve Broome, NCSU botanist and soil scientist, 

 are developing further know-how for creating new marsh with plant- 

 ings of marsh grasses on dredge spoil. During the year, they'll also 

 keep an eye on the growth of mixed beach grasses they planted in 

 earlier years to stabilize dunes. 



^News.etterispub.ished 



The University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program News 

 monthly by the University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program, 1235 Burling- 

 ton Laboratories, Yarbrough Drive, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 

 N.C. 27607. Vol. 2, No. 11. November, 1975. Dr. B. J. Copeland, director. 

 Berg, editor. Second-class postage paid at Raleigh, N.C. 27611. 



r. Dixie 



A network 

 operating 

 between you 

 and the lab 



A lot of research findings 

 never get beyond the laboratory 

 door. But through a network of 

 advisory services agents, most 

 of whom live and work on the 

 coast, findings from Sea Grant 

 and other marine research pro- 

 grams are taken from the lab to 

 people who can use and benefit 

 from them. In turn, advisory 

 agents help keep Sea Grant in 

 tune with the real needs of 

 coastal citizens by relating prob- 

 lems they see and hear to pro- 

 gram organizers. 



During 1976, UNC Sea Grant 

 will continue its wide-ranging 

 advisory work and will add a 

 specialist to assist coastal recre- 

 ation industries. Jim McGee, 

 Sumner Midgett and Hughes 

 Tillett will keep working with 

 commercial fishermen, updating 

 them on equipment and methods, 

 business management and new 

 kinds of fishing. 



Ted Miller, Dave Hill, Frank 

 Thomas and Skipper Crow will 

 maintain close contact with fin- 

 fish and crab processors seeking 

 to upgrade product quality and 

 meet government standards. 



Walt Jones, John Foster and 

 Bill Rickards will develop and 

 disseminate information on how 

 to farm eels in enclosed ponds at 

 their New Bern eel demonstra- 

 tion unit. 



Land-use advisory agent 

 Simon Baker will be available to 

 assist local and state govern- 

 ments in developing land-use 

 plans and to provide information 

 to make their planning more 

 complete. A directory of aerial 

 photography for 44 eastern 

 North Carolina counties which 

 Baker is compiling should prove 

 a useful tool for counties and 

 municipalities engaged in land- 

 use planning. 



