T 



JLhes 



hese words preface a special report, 

 "Our Coast: A Heritage Seeps Away," written near- 

 ly two decades ago for the Winston-Salem Journal 

 by then environmental journalist Frank Tursi. 



His 1988 series of articles was the result of 

 a month-long journey following watermen, and 

 talking with homeowners, shopkeepers, scientists, 

 and state and county officials from Currituck Banks 

 to Brunswick County. 



In an era of fish kills, algal blooms and 

 burgeoning coastal growth, Tursi set out "to find 

 out what is happening on the coast, what rapid 

 development is doing to fishermen. . .and to the 

 fragile ecosystem." 



Now, with development in some coastal 

 counties approaching critical mass, Tursi continues 

 to pursue answers to many of the same questions as 

 a full-time environmental "guardian." 



loss of wetlands and open space, and increased 

 polluted stormwater runoff from paved surfaces 

 — is degrading water quality, straining limited 

 resources, and nudging out traditional coastal 

 livelihoods. 



In 2000, the federation was approved by the 

 New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance to license 

 three Coastkeepers, explains Todd Miller, execu- 

 tive director of NCCF, an environmental advocacy 

 group with 8,000 members. The federation is the 

 only Alliance-affiliated organization licensed to 

 cover a state's entire coast. 



"We always have maintained that North 

 Carolina is excellent at designing environmental 

 laws," Miller says. "The problem is its inability 

 to fully implement and enforce them because of 

 budget and staffing constraints." 



That's where the Coastkeeper initiative 



word. We're not there yet, but our Coastkeepers are 

 gaining recognition in their geographic regions," 

 Miller says. 



"We are seeing an increase in compliance 

 checks by regulating agencies as a direct result of 

 reporting by keepers," he adds. 



TAILORED AGENDAS 



To be effective, Coastkeepers must be part in- 

 vestigator, legal expert, lobbyist, teacher and public 

 relations specialist, says Miller. 



Above all, they must have outstanding com- 

 munication skills. 



That may explain how Ted Wilgis gets 

 dozens of volunteers to respond to calls for help 

 with a number of projects. The "invitatioas" urge 

 volunteers to bring shovels, work gloves, buckets, 

 old shoes and insect repellent. 



Tursi is one of three Coastkeepers hired by the 

 North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF) to pre- 

 serve and protect coastal water quality and habitat. 



As Cape Lookout Coastkeeper, Tursi's 

 territory encompasses the central coast. Cape Fear 

 Coastkeeper Ted Wilgis oversees the southeastern 

 coast. And, Cape Hatteras Coastkeeper Jan DeBlieu 

 covers the northeast coast 



Their job description is straightforward: 

 Prevent pollution and habitat degradation; enhance 

 the role of federal, state and local agencies — and 

 relevant regulations — responsible for protecting 

 the coast; and organize citizens to be a concerted 

 voice for coastal resources. 



Getting the job done is a bit more dicey. 

 Describing the North Carolina coast is much like 

 the old adage about the blind man describing an 

 elephant — it depends on where you are standing. 



From north to south, the geography is domi- 

 nated by many different water features — ocean, 

 sounds, bays, rivers and creeks; tidal marshes that 

 sustain submerged sea grasses and aquatic life; 

 wetlands that drain significant watersheds; and 

 inlets that open and close at the mercy of severe 

 seasonal storms. 



All are shaped by nature and influenced by 

 human activity. 



Coastal urban sprawl — with its inherent 



comes into play. Coastkeepers interact with 

 university, state and federal scientists, and form 

 partnerships with organizations that share water 

 quality concerns. 



More importantly, they recruit and train 

 volunteers to become "extra eyes" for agencies. 



GLOBAL IN SCOPE 



The addition of the three NCCF Coastkeep- 

 ers raises the number of the Waterkeeper Alliance- 

 sanctioned programs in the state to nine — second 

 only to California. 



The Waterkeeper Alliance was incorporated 

 in 1 999 as a way of unifying a number of grass- 

 roots keeper programs operating independently 

 across the country. The Alliance now is the hub 

 of a global network of 1 17 affiliates, all about one 

 thing — protecting the integrity of waterways. 



Many North Carolinians were introduced 

 to the Waterkeeper program by Rick Dove, who 

 served as Neuse Riverkeeper from 1993 to 2000. 

 Much of his work focused on educating the public 

 about the ailing Neuse River. During his tenure, 

 his Riverkeeper activities were the topics of more 

 than 4,000 news stories. 



It was Dove who urged the NCCF to con- 

 sider funding Coastkeeper positions. 



"Rick Dove made 'Riverkeeper' a household 



Wilgis became the federation's first Coast- 

 keeper in 2001 . Four years earlier, he arrived "on 

 loan" to the federation from the Chesapeake Bay 

 Foundation (CBF). His mission was to expand 

 NCCF's environmental education programs based 

 on CBF's hands-on stewardship model. The job 

 became permanent. 



So, when Wilgis moved into the Coastkeeper 

 post he already was familiar with the coastal 

 landscape. 



Among his current activities, Wilgis oversees 

 the federation's oyster restoration efforts, in coop- 

 eration with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. 

 The projects are funded, in part, by NOAA and the 

 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 



So far, Wilgis and volunteers have shov- 

 eled and transported more than 6,000 bushels of 

 oyster shells to construct six intertidal oyster reefs 

 in licensed shellfish management and research 

 sanctuary sites. In addition, they filled 2,000 mesh 

 bags with oyster shells for setting with oyster larvae. 

 Once the spat or juvenile oysters, attached to the 

 shells, the volunteers helped transfer the bags to 

 "seed" the newly constructed reefs. 



Backbreaking and labor-intensive, the results 

 will be far-reaching, says Wilgis. Bringing back 

 native oyster ecosystems for their habitat water 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 13 



