CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Todd Miller and Sarah King check progress of the North Carolina 

 Coastal Federation's North River Farm restoration project. • The restored wetlands will 

 filter stormwater runoff before it reaches North River, a tributary of the White Oak River. 



• Land movers are restoring 6,000 acres of farmland to natural wetlands. • The Clean 

 Water Management Trust Fund is one of several financial resources tapped for the project. 



• The White Oak River is an important aquatic habitat as well as a recreation destination. 



odd Miller, executive director of the N.C. Coastal Federation, knows 

 that leaving nature intact is less costly — and a lot less complicated — than undoing 

 three decades of environmental harm. That's what the Federation's 6,000-acre 

 North River Farm restoration project is all about 



Since the 1 970s, wetlands have been ditched, drained and filled to enable 

 farming the tract of land in eastern Carteret County. Over the years, Miller explains, 

 the agricultural runoff has polluted many of North River's creeks with sediments, 

 nutrients and bacteria — resulting in the closure of many historically productive 

 shellfish waters. 



Now, earthmovers are remolding and returning the floodplain and wetlands to 

 their natural state. 



The North River Farm Project is cited as the largest restoration project in 

 the state's history and among the largest in the nation.The 1 0-year project will be 

 completed in several phases and with many funding sources to bring the creeks — and the 

 oysters they nourish — back to health. 



The completed project will provide another important environmental function. Its 

 wetlands will become a sponge to absorb and slowly filter runoff from its adjacent neighbor 

 — the 40,000-acre Open Grounds Farm. 



The North River Farm tract also serves as an outdoor scientific lab. Working with 

 scientists from North Carolina State University, Duke University Marine Laboratory and the 

 N.C. Wetland Restoration program, pre- and post-restoration monitoring plans are being 

 designed and implemented. 



"Long-term monitoring of this large-scale restoration project will provide valuable 

 lessons in design and strategies," explains Sarah King, the project site manager. Monitoring will 

 test the effectiveness of various restoration methods meant to restore water quality and allow 

 reopening of closed shellfish waters. 



Conservation efforts take planning, persistence and lots of funding, Miller reflects. The 

 federation's North River Farm effort dates back to 1 999, with the purchase of 1 ,991 acres 

 with a grant from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) for just over $1 

 million. Since then, it has added acreage with additional grants from CWMTF, as well as private 

 investors. In 2002, a group called 1804 Wildlife Partners purchased 1,435 acres to enroll in 

 the federal Wetlands Reserve Program, and a private mitigation bank company purchased an 

 additional 385 acres. 



Numerous other granting agencies have invested in the project. The National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, FishAmerica 

 Foundation, the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, the N.C. Wetlands Restoration 

 Program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are among the partners "banking on" success 

 of the project. 



"Yes, it sounds complicated," Miller muses. "But buying the land was the easy part." 



grassroots involvement, scientific tools, and 

 the availability of resource materials to support 

 ongoing regional efforts. 



Early on, Ross established the Office 

 of Conservation and Community Affairs and 

 tapped Richard Rogers to lead that outreach and 

 educational effort. Beginning in 2002, Rogers 

 facilitated regional meetings across the state 

 both to gather and to provide information about 

 important land-use planning decisions. 



At the same time, Rogers says, by 

 working with local and regional groups to 

 identify and address specific needs, the state 

 can set a course that does not conflict with the 

 groups' goals. 



The regional forums, funded by the 

 Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, resulted in 

 developing the One North Carolina Naturally 

 Consolidated Map that features: 



• areas where population growth may be 

 placing pressure on natural resources and open 

 space; 



• lands, either publicly or privately owned 

 or managed for open space, such as parks, 

 game lands or agriculture research areas; 



• future focus areas with conservation 

 plans based on ecological information; and 



• regional plans developed by regional 

 planning efforts. 



10 Coastwatch I Spring 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



