North Carolina

Cape Fear Resource Conservation and Development
Enhancing Aquatic Connectivity, Resiliency and Flood Capacity in the Black River Watershed (NC)
Complete the engineering, design and replacement of two culverts for the purpose of enhancing up to 2 miles of stream habitat within the lower Black River basin to improve aquatic connectivity, resilience and flood capacity for local coastal communities and fish habitat. Project will improve drainage in these areas and decrease the likelihood of overbank flooding and road overtopping during storm events.
$500,000

Carteret County Shore Protection Office
Building Adaptive Shorelines for Resilient Coastal Communities (NC)
Construct living shorelines to naturally stabilize and protect 3,800 linear feet of eroding estuarine shorelines at two important project sites within Carteret County. Project will enable the communities of Beaufort and Down East to enhance existing resilient infrastructure, and it will protect commercially and recreationally important fish, shellfish, submerged aquatic vegetation habitat and the largest colony of nesting royal terns in North Carolina.
$1,513,500

City of Wilmington, North Carolina
Clear Run Branch Drainage Improvement and Stream Restoration (NC)
Construct a stable stream channel that can safely accommodate high flows from upstream development during storms and alleviate flooding along the channel. Project will improve wildlife habitat and decrease flood risk through stream and floodplain restoration or enhancement of 7.5 acres of floodplain habitat and 5,900 feet of stream channel.
$1,410,345

College of William and Mary
Conserving Whimbrel Across the Western Atlantic Flyway (multiple states, Canada)
Expand on efforts to monitor declining whimbrel populations along the western Atlantic Flyway. Project will update the whimbrel conservation plan with whimbrel working group input, develop an index of reproductive performance and engage partners to establish a monitoring network, expand roost surveys during spring migration to improve protection at key sites, continue building an online shorebird roost registry, and make managers aware of roost locations to facilitate their protection.
$99,374

Conservation Trust for North Carolina
Seeding Resilience Through Restoration and Education in Princeville (NC)
Design and implement nature-based stormwater interventions and related educational features to increase flood resilience and awareness along the Tar River in eastern North Carolina. Project will engage the town’s 1,000 citizens, implement 16,500 square feet of green stormwater best management practices to treat 75,684 square feet of impervious surfaces, create 3,000 feet of new trails and plant thousands of native plants, while providing a visible educational and recreational resource at the hub of the community.
$200,000

Haywood Waterways Association
Cultivating River Stewards of the French Broad Basin (NC)
Conduct riparian buffer improvements and site-specific and media-based education efforts to diverse audiences throughout the five watersheds of the French Broad River basin. Project will engage 130 community members in live-staking workshops, 350 students in educational programming and 150 volunteers in the removal of invasive species on 5 acres and plant native species on riparian habitat.
$35,635

Manomet
Coordinating American Oystercatcher Recovery on the Atlantic Coast (multiple states)
Provide coordination of the American oystercatcher recovery initiative and actionable change based on lessons learned from 2009-2019 and reduce the impact of predators and human disturbance on populations of breeding shorebirds along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Project will contribute substantially to the goals of the Atlantic Flyway Business Plan.
$79,999

N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Restoring Longleaf Pine and Bottomland Hardwood Forest in the Bladen Lakes Region (NC)
Plant 491 acres of longleaf pine and enhance an additional 8,400 acres of existing longleaf forest with prescribed fire and thinnings on public and private lands in the Bladen Lakes region of North Carolina, increasing habitat for red-cockaded woodpecker. Project will train landowners and professionals to conduct prescribed burns on longleaf forests, enroll landowners in the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor Program, and develop management plans to improve bottomland hardwood forest habitat.
$148,000

National Audubon Society
Improving Natural Infrastructure in Currituck Sound (NC)
Complete a comprehensive marsh site assessment in Currituck Sound, North Carolina to determine optimal locations, techniques and design for restoring and fortifying existing marsh. Project will generate a design plan at one to three of the highest priority sites in order to increase community resilience to flooding, sea level rise, storms, and other coastal challenges.
$95,807

National Audubon Society
Restoration and Management of Shorebird Habitats along the Atlantic Coast (NY, NC, SC)
Manage and protect shorebird habitats to reduce threats, and develop plans and permits needed to restore habitat at key sites that support 25 percent of North Carolina’s nesting American oystercatchers. Project will protect and manage shorebird habitat at 40 sites across three states and will secure permitting to restore shorebird habitat at two sites, which will increase habitat quality and flyway connectivity.
$179,999

N.C. Department of Environmental Quality
Overcoming Local Barriers to Implementation and Getting to Shovel Readiness (NC)
Establish an incentive-based state framework which will support comprehensive local community resilience planning and build upon an existing vulnerability assessment and knowledge base that will help strengthen ecosystems at the Rachel Carson Reserve. Project will protect the Town of Beaufort and result in several shovel-ready projects that increase the resilience of natural resources and coastal communities in North Carolina.
$1,141,047

N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Brunswick Town Fort Anderson Shoreline Restoration Project (NC)
Install a living shoreline to protect 1,000 linear feet along the Brunswick Town/Ft. Anderson State Historic Site by attenuating wave action and mitigating erosion. Project will protect and provide salt marsh and oyster habitat, and safeguard the site’s historical resources.
$2,002,500

North Carolina Coastal Federation
Marine Debris Removal for Habitat Improvement in North Carolina
Address marine debris generated by Hurricane Florence in North Carolina coastal waterways. Project will remove 40-44 abandoned and derelict vessels that have been prioritized by state and federal agencies based on their current impact to wildlife and habitats.
$645,557

North Carolina Coastal Federation
Protecting Education Infrastructure, Critical State Roadways and Estuarine Habitats with Living Shorelines (NC)
Install three large-scale living shorelines that will protect important community infrastructure as well as restore and protect vital salt marsh and oyster habitat in Bogue Sound and the White Oak River. Project will result in a total of 3,518 linear feet of saltwater marsh living shorelines, protecting and restoring a total of more than 23 acres of salt marsh, oyster and upland habitat.
$2,719,349

The Nature Conservancy
Onslow Bight Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Restoration — V (NC)
Restore and enhance 35,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat on public and private lands in the Onslow Bight region of eastern North Carolina. Project will increase prescribed burning through a burn crew to assist partners with longleaf management, complete aerial ignition burns to improve safety and effectiveness, remove invasive species, and monitor Bachman’s sparrow response to habitat restoration.
$300,000

The Nature Conservancy
Restoring Longleaf Pine Habitat in the North Carolina Sandhills
Implement prescribed burning and longleaf habitat restoration on 44,000 acres of public and private lands within the Sandhills region of North Carolina, which encompasses Fort Bragg and Uwharrie National Forest. Project will support burn crews to increase burning capacity and assist with mid-story control and other management, improving habitat for Bachman’s sparrow, red-cockaded woodpecker, and northern bobwhite.
$299,999

The Nature Conservancy
Restoring Pocosin Hydrology to Improve Flood Resiliency and Wildlife Habitat (NC)
Restore hydrologic conditions across a prioritized 7,500-acre area of drained headwater pocosin wetlands on the southern portion of Angola Bay Game Land. Project will produce a finalized design and install restoration infrastructure that will enable managers to effectively control drainage levels, providing community flood resilience benefits in the Northeast Cape Fear River floodplain while enhancing pocosin wetland habitat.
$820,644

Town of Duck
North Duck Village Living Shoreline (NC)
Construct 1,100 linear feet of sheetpile sill and restore eroded wetlands along the shoreline of Currituck Sound. Project will create a more resilient coastal edge, improve coastal habitat, and protect the adjacent sidewalk, bike lane, and Duck Road that serve as the primary transportation artery along the Northern Outer Banks.
$384,011

USS North Carolina Battleship Commission
Shoreline Restoration and Tidal Wetland Creation at the Battleship North Carolina (NC)
Restore 800 linear feet of estuarine intertidal shoreline and create approximately 2 acres of intertidal estuarine marsh habitat within a North Carolina Significant Natural Heritage Area. Project will remove and reconnect 2 acres of existing parking lot to the Cape Fear River, resulting in 2 acres of tidal wetland creation to build resilience against future storms and sea level rise.
$1,250,000

Wake Soil and Water Conservation District
Advancing Soil Health through Best Management Practice Adoption and Installation (NC)
Provide technical field assistance to farmers, provide training on the benefits of cover crops and grazing cover and encourage long-term adoption of best management practices (BMPs) that improve soil health in Wake County, North Carolina. Project will improve wildlife and aquatic habitats and benefit both above and below ground ecosystems by implementing BMPs on 500 acres that prevent 2,000 tons of sediment and 5.5 tons of nutrient pollution from entering the system annually.
$95,820

University of Georgia Research Foundation
Development of a Planted Longleaf Pine Growth and Yield Model for the Southeast (AL, FL, GA, NC, SC)
Create a new growth and yield model system for longleaf pine that will allow more accurate growth projections for landowners considering longleaf pine reforestation who may have timber management objectives. Project will establish, document and measure permanent plots in planted unthinned longleaf pine stands on cut-over sites in the southeast United States, and the data will be used to calibrate a growth and yield model for multiple factors for longleaf pine.
$243,999