North Carolina

American Conservation Experience
Longleaf Pine Restoration on the Croatan and Uwharrie National Forests (NC)
Restore 500 acres of longleaf pine and bottomland hardwood habitat on Croatan and Uwharrie national forests in North Carolina. Project will improve and increase longleaf habitat by performing timber stand improvements at the understory and midstory levels and planting wiregrass plugs and longleaf seedlings; and improve bottomland hardwood habitat.
$180,000

Forest Landowners Association
Engaging Large-Scale Landowners for Longleaf Pine Restoration (Multiple States)
Establish 2,500 acres of longleaf pine and improve 5,500 acres of existing longleaf forest with prescribed fire on large-acreage private lands within the historical longleaf pine range. Project will address barriers to restoring longleaf pine on large-acreage private lands by building trust among stakeholders to achieve collaborative conservation for at-risk and listed species.
$250,000

Manomet
Coordinating American Oystercatcher Recovery and Conservation along the Atlantic Coast (multiple states)
Coordinate the American Oystercatcher recovery initiative, conduct a range-wide aerial survey to count all wintering oystercatchers along the Southeast Atlantic and Gulf coasts (United States), and reduce the impact of predators and human disturbance on populations of coastal breeding shorebirds. Project will support the goals of the Atlantic Flyway Business Plan by creating a framework for long-term protection, restoration, and creation of shorebird habitat at key sites.
$205,000

National Audubon Society
Completing Design Plans to Improve Natural Infrastructure in Currituck Sound (NC)
Complete final engineering design and secure permits for four nature-based marsh restoration pilot projects in Currituck Sound, building on a design project to mitigate marsh habitat loss and enhance community resilience to storm surge and flooding. Project will preserve the integrity of two marsh complexes totaling 3,481 acres of bird habitat that also provide protection for at least seven critical infrastructure sites and 1,658 residential properties in Currituck and Dare Counties.
$210,267

National Wildlife Federation
Engaging Underserved Landowners for Longleaf Pine Restoration (Multiple States)
Expand outreach, education, and technical and financial resources for historically underserved landowners to restore and manage longleaf pine habitat across the longleaf pine range. Partners will engage 500 landowners through outreach events, workshops, demonstration sites and hands-on trainings to restore and manage more than 1,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat benefiting Bachman’s sparrow, northern bobwhite and other longleaf-dependent species.
$425,000

New Jersey Audubon Society
Surveying American Horseshoe Crab as a Critical Element of Red Knot Conservation (Multiple States)
Implement surveys and recovery metrics used in Delaware Bay to characterize and track the status of horseshoe crab populations in six Atlantic Coast states. Project will inform natural resource agencies, supporting the recovery of horseshoe crab populations outside of Delaware Bay, with a goal of rebuilding a network of shorebird stopovers, and advancing the recovery of rufa red knot and other Arctic-nesting shorebirds.
$60,000

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Expanding Resilient Coastal Communities Program (NC)
Expand and build local capacity with North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program through risk and vulnerability assessments, community engagement, project identification and prioritization, and the inclusion of 13 more communities within the state’s coastal zone in the program. Project will build a resilience strategy for each community, including a vision, map of critical assets and natural infrastructure, risk and vulnerability assessment, and portfolio of prioritized projects.
$545,860

The Nature Conservancy
Expanding Longleaf Pine Restoration and Management in the North Carolina Sandhills
Plant 735 acres of longleaf pine and manage 60,000 acres of existing longleaf pine habitat within the Sandhills region of North Carolina. Partners will build prescribed burning capacity through fire trainings and utilize seasonal burn crews to complete prescribed burning and mid-story control and other management on lands around Fort Bragg and the Uwharrie National Forest, improving habitat for Bachman’s sparrow, red-cockaded woodpecker, and northern bobwhite.
$392,200

The Nature Conservancy
Pocosin Wetland Hydrology Restoration and Water Management Across North Carolina’s Coastal Plain
Conduct detailed site assessments and develop preliminary hydrologic restoration designs across over 58,000 acres of drained pocosin wetland areas within Holly Shelter Game Land and Hofmann Forest in North Carolina. Project will lay the foundation for implementing the project which will enable managers to effectively control drainage levels that can simultaneously provide community flood resilience benefits while enhancing pocosin wetland habitat.
$220,138

The Nature Conservancy
Restoring Longleaf Pine Habitat in the Onslow Bight Landscape (NC)
Plant more than 1,600 acres of longleaf pine and improve management of more than 65,000 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, provide certified prescribed fire training for fire managers and provide forest management trainings for women landowners through ForestHer program workshops.
$499,988

Town of Navassa
Designing a Rowel Branch Watershed Protection Plan (NC)
Use nature-based solutions to reduce flood-risk and improve resiliency for community residents while restoring, enhancing, and conserving ecologically significant streams and wetlands in the Rowel Branch Watershed. Project will incorporate both traditional stream channel restoration methods for flood-risk reduction and innovative bioretention and stormwater wetland management designs in specific segments obstructed by historical fill and recent storm debris.
$110,480