vulnerable to forest fragmentation 

 or clearing for development, roads, 

 power lines, water and sewer lines. 

 The continuity and habitat of the for- 

 est is lost, isolating populations and 

 preventing gene flow. 



Protecting maritime forests as 

 disconnected patches of woods 

 won't be enough for North Carolina, 

 says Alan Weakley, a botanist and 

 assistant coordinator for the N.C. 

 Natural Heritage Program in the Di- 

 vision of Parks and Recreation. Only 

 as functioning ecosystems — with 

 canopy, understory and wetlands in- 

 tact — will the biodiversity and habi- 

 tat for rare species be preserved, he 

 says. That calls for preserving tracts 

 of undisturbed maritime forest. 



But saving these woods is more 

 than an esoteric exercise in conserva- 

 tion. 



Maritime forests are valuable for 

 recreation, educational programs, 

 green space and tourism. Tens of 

 thousands of people visit each year 

 and take nature walks in the 

 Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area, 

 Hammocks Beach State Park, Nags 

 Head Woods and Buxton Woods. 



They also protect the water sup- 

 ply on barrier islands by collecting 

 rainwater in their sandy soils. Aqui- 

 fers below maritime forests in Nags 

 Head and Hatteras Island supply lo- 

 cal water taps. 



And these forests have a fasci- 

 nating history. Since Native Ameri- 

 cans inhabited North Carolina 

 shores, the maritime forests have 

 drawn people to their shaded cover. 

 The early settlers built their homes in 

 the sheltered forests, gardened in hu- 

 mus under the trees and built their 

 boats from the gnarled live oak and 

 Atlantic white cedar. 



For all these valuable qualities, 

 however, the options for preserving 

 maritime forests are limited. 



The Coastal Area Management 



Act of 1974 does not protect mari- 

 time forests from being cleared. It 

 was a missed opportunity, Miller 

 says. As a result — in the absence 

 of local regulations — the maritime 

 forest ecosystem can be destroyed 

 by unmanaged activities that in- 

 clude widespread clearing of forest 

 vegetation, wetland alteration, lev- 

 eling of dune ridges and drawdown 

 of the water table. 



"To a large extent, the issue has 

 already been decided," Miller says. 



A specific maritime forest 



Maritime forests anchor the 

 shifting soiis of barrier islands, 

 preventing erosion, protecting 



against storm damage, 

 preserving groundwater 



and providing habitat. 

 But these bulwarks of nature, 

 disfigured by the elements, 



appear to crawi away 



from the ocean spray 



Lundie Spence 



would come under the protective 

 jurisdiction of DCM only if it was 

 granted status as an Area of Envi- 

 ronmental Concern (AEC), a 

 unique natural area of statewide sig- 

 nificance, says Lopazanski. AEC 



status requires that development 

 meet standards to protect a specific 

 coastal resource. 



The Coastal Resources Com- 

 mission (CRC) alone has the power 

 to designate AECs, but it grants 

 them sparingly. It has consistently 

 declined to grant special protection 

 for any maritime forest, starting with 

 its Buxton Woods decision in 1989. 

 That decision, however, hinged on 

 Dare County's agreement to protect 

 the state's largest maritime forest 

 with a strict local ordinance. 



And though Buxton Woods was 

 not the precedent-setting case that 

 conservationists had hoped for, it did 

 invite a closer look at the condition 

 of maritime forests. DCM con- 

 tracted with Duke University re- 

 searchers to inventory all of the 

 state's barrier island woodlands. The 

 unsettling findings of the 1988 re- 

 port were taken up by a working 

 group, named by the CRC, to sug- 

 gest ways to protect them. 



Weakley, a member of the 

 working group, says he doubted the 

 ability of AEC status to preserve the 

 integrity of maritime forests. It can 

 only limit the impact of develop- 

 ment, he says. The working group 

 suggested several other courses of 

 action. 



It directed the state to explain to 

 maritime forest landowners the im- 

 portance of their property and op- 

 tions for protecting it, to help devel- 

 opers and small lot owners prepare 

 site plans to minimize the impacts 

 and to encourage local governments 

 to pass ordinances that protect the 

 maritime forests. 



As a result, some local govern- 

 ments, especially in Dare County, 

 have forged new protection pack- 

 ages for their maritime forests. Nags 

 Head and Kitty Hawk now have 

 strict zoning. In Carteret County, 

 Pine Knoll Shores limited the area 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 7 



