Winter is planting time at the coast. 

 If you're a coastal property owner, 

 now is the time to protect your invest- 

 ment with beachgrasses, shrubs and 

 ground cover. 



And Sea Grant has a publication that 

 will help you. Seacoast Plants of the 

 Carolinas for Conservation and Beaut- 

 ification is a general guide on the use of 

 plants for landscaping and stabilizing 

 sandy coastal soils. The 206-page 

 paperback book contains illustrated 

 descriptions of more than 100 plants 

 that are native to the North Carolina 

 coast. 



For your copy, write Sea Grant. Ask 

 for UNC-SG-73-06. The cost is $4.50. 



Ten years ago, the dunes in front of 

 the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area 

 looked more like mole hills than moun- 

 tains. So Sea Grant's coastal engineer 

 Spencer Rogers developed a low-cost 

 method to begin repair of the dam- 

 aged dunes. 



For nine years now, the Christmas 

 Tree Recycling Project has thrived. 

 Each year after New Year's Day, peo- 

 ple bring their Christmas trees and 



place them on the dunes. After several 

 days of high winds, the trees can trap 

 one to two feet of sand. Vegetation 

 spreads onto the new sand and per- 

 manent repair of the damaged dune 

 takes place. 



Although volunteers save a tree to 

 save a dune, their efforts also help save 

 the state thousands of dollars. Ry plac- 

 ing 8,000 trees in the dunes instead of 

 expensive sand fencing, Rogers esti- 

 mates the project saved $55,000. 



The Christmas tree project, run in 

 conjunction with the Fort Fisher State 

 Recreation area and the N.C. Aqua- 

 rium, has been so successful that it 

 doesn't need to continue, Rogers says. 

 The dunes have built back up to a safe, 

 protective height. 



Two North Carolina students have 

 been chosen for National Sea Grant 

 Program internships in Washington, 

 D.C. 



Josh Kardon, a law student at the 

 University of North Carolina at 

 Chapel Hill, will intern in the office of 

 Barbara Boxer, a congresswoman 

 from California. 



John Baker, a student at the School 

 of Natural Resources at Duke Univer- 

 sity, will intern with the U.S. House of 

 Representatives Natural Resources 

 Committee. 



Kardon and Baker were among 10 

 legislative interns selected this year. 



Sea Grant Director B.J. Copeland 

 says the internships offer students a 

 chance to extend their education be- 

 yond the classroom. 



"It's a great experience for them to 

 see how the system works, and it 

 allows them to expand their educa- 

 tion," Copeland says. 



Coastwatch is published monthly ex- 

 cept July and December by the Univer- 

 sity of North Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program, 105 1911 Building, Box 8605, 

 North Carolina State University, Ra- 

 leigh, N.C. 27695-8605. Vol. 16, No. 2, 

 February 1989. Dr. B.J. Copeland, di- 

 rector. Kathy Hart, editor. Nancy Davis 

 and Sarah Friday Peters, staff writers. 



COASTWATCH 



105 1911 Building 

 Box 8605 



North Carolina State University 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605 



Nonprofit Organization 

 U. S. Postage 

 PAID 



Raleigh, N.C. 

 Permit No. 896 



Address correction requested 



