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growing states in the country. The latest U.S. 

 Census Bureau statistics show the state's 

 population has grown 21 percent since 1990 — 

 much of it clustered within the coastal region. 



Land disturbances and loss of habitat that 

 accompany growth have become major threats 

 to the state's natural resources. As coastal 

 development continues, so does the work of 

 grassroots groups looking to protect life-giving 

 ecosystems that are unique to our saltwater 

 marshes, tidal creeks, barrier islands, and sound 

 and ocean waters. 



Some efforts yield big environmental 

 dividends; some, incremental gains. But as far 

 as Paul Foster and Walker Golder are 

 concerned, any win is sweet. 



The pair of New Hanover County natives 

 guide separate organizations with similar 

 missions — providing decision makers with 

 convincing scientific reasons to balance a 

 healthy environment with a healthy economy. 

 Their paths frequently converge as they go 

 about the business of protecting and conserving 

 parcels of ecologically important coastal real 

 estate. 



Foster, a coastal developer, is the founder 

 and president of the Northeast New Hanover 

 Conservancy, which has mapped out a 20- 

 square mile area of responsibility. The 

 conservancy protects more than 1,700 acres of 

 coastal wedands located within three tidal creek 

 watersheds and flooded salt marsh surrounding 

 Figure Fight Island — a primary nursery area 

 for shellfish and finfish. 



"This salt marsh produces more goods 

 than the best wheat field in the midwest," 

 Foster says. Sustaining high water quality is 

 crucial to such a productive environment. 



Based in Wilmington, Golder is deputy 

 director for the North Carolina State Office of 

 the National Audubon Society. The society 

 protects the Coastal Island Sanctuary System 

 — 20 islands from Currituck to Brunswick 

 counties that provide habitat for diverse 

 populations of seabirds, wading birds and 

 migratory birds. 



"Protecting habitat is essential for birds 

 and other wildlife. Audubon accomplishes this 

 through acquisition, active protection and 

 management, education and advocacy," says 

 Golder, a marine biologist. 



Walter Clark, North Carolina Sea Grant 

 coastal law and policy specialist, says, 

 "Acquisition is important because it gives 

 managers the ability to control activities in a 

 specific area. It can be the key to protecting 

 essential habitat." 



Acquistion can be in the form of outright 

 ownership or the purchase of development 

 rights in the form of conservation easements, 

 he explains. 



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Audubon's history reaches back nearly a 

 century in North Carolina. Its first sanctuaries 

 — Royal Shoal and Legged Lump, located 

 near Ocracoke Island — were purchased in 

 1907. The islands were documented as being 

 home to the largest colonies of Least Terns in 

 the eastern U.S. 



Today, Audubon's North Carolina 

 sanctuaries offer protected nesting sites for 

 hosts of other species, including pelicans, 

 herons, egrets, ibises, terns, skimmers and 

 gulls. Its Pine Island Sanctuary — about 6,000 

 acres on the northern Outer Banks and 

 Currituck Sound — includes some of the 

 state's most important habitat for wintering 

 waterfowl and other birds. 



Golder says, "Habitat is the key to 

 wildlife survival. It's critical to protect the 

 remaining unspoiled natural areas — they just 

 aren't making any more." 



That's why he's excited about the Lea 

 Island Conservation Initiative — a project that 

 aims to protect the 200-acre barrier island and 

 its 3,600 acres of tidal creeks and salt marshes. 



Based on stringent scientific criteria, 

 Audubon has identified the island complex as 

 an Important Bird Area, or IBA. These natural 

 areas hold significant numbers — or an 

 exceptional diversity — of birds, and need to 

 be protected to maintain healthy, stable and 

 diverse populations. 



Some 300 nesting pairs of Least Tem 

 depend on the area. That's more than 25 per 

 cent of all that nest in the state. 



The low-profile island complex also is 

 home to black skimmers, American oyster- 

 catchers, piping plovers and scores of 

 shorebirds. Dozens of loggerhead sea turtles 

 make their way to the narrow barrier island 

 each season. And, its surrounding waters are 



nurseries for fish, shrimp and crabs and support 

 thousands of birds throughout the year. 



Last July, the General Assembly and 

 then-Gov. Jim Hunt authorized the state to 

 purchase the Lea Island complex as a State 

 Natural Area, not a State Park. Accessible only 

 by boat, it will provide sanctuary for birds, sea 

 turtles and other wildlife, a living laboratory for 

 scientists — and rare opportunities for nature 

 lovers. While the state will own the island, 

 Audubon will pay for and carry out all of the 

 protection and management activities on the 

 island. 



Sea Grant's Clark notes that the 

 arrangement balances public access and the 

 protection of this unique habitat. 



Golder must work with the state and the 

 N.C. Coastal Land Trust to raise more than $1 

 million to purchase about 40 lots from more 

 than two dozen owners. He's hoping to tap a 

 number of funding sources, including private 

 donations and grants from national and state 

 trust funds. 



Most land owners have indicated 

 approval of the natural area concept one has 

 donated his lots outright others have agreed to 

 sell their land. 



For Scott Burkhead, a businessman from 

 the Triangle, the decision to sell was easy. In 

 the 1980s, he bought several acres on Lea 

 Island, having fallen in love with its natural 

 beauty. 



"At one time I toyed with the idea of 

 building a simple cabin with windmills and 

 solar panels. But the more I visited, the more I 

 thought it would be a shame to put anything at 

 all there," he recalls. 



When he heard of Audubon's initiative, 

 he thought it would be the best possible use of 

 the land — a natural legacy for all North 

 Carolinians to enjoy and a safe haven for 

 wildlife. 



Burkhead plans to continue visiting what 

 he calls 'the only bit of sanity left between 

 Figure Eight and Topsail islands." 



Unlike Burkhead, who has had a 

 continuing love affair with the island, many 

 owners have not visited the island for a number 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 17 



