Guest columnist John Runkle, one of the North Carolina Coastal Federation's founding board members, writes that the nearly 40-year-old nonprofit's mission has been guided by clear messaging, namely, "No wetlands, no seafood."
The North Carolina Coastal Federation hired contractors for a large-scale marine debris cleanup at the Rachel Carson Reserve. Photo: NC Coastal Federation
Because of the significant contributions from many partners and supporters during this difficult year, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review Online, has been able to continue its work to protect and restore the state’s coast.
While the federation had to adapt to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonprofit organization was able to restore thousands of acres of wetlands, reduce millions of gallons of polluted runoff, install more than a mile of living shorelines, build oyster reefs, remove hundreds of tons of marine debris from coastal estuaries, and work to promote management decisions and policies that maintain a healthy coastal economy and environment, according to the federation.