Copy
Carolina Wetlands Association Newsletter.
View this email in your browser
Carolina Wetlands Association logo

Newsletter - December 2022

Greetings Wetland Supporters:

This is an important time of the year for the Association and referring to you as supporters is more important than ever. We all have a lot to be thankful for. For me, upon completing my first year as Executive Director of the Association, I feel that we have not only come a long way, but have a long way to go

For the Association, we now have three other part- time employees: a volunteer coordinator for our EPA-funded Volunteer Wetlands Monitoring Program; a project coordinator with our NC Land and Water-funded Stony Run Walkable Watershed project; and a grant administrator writer. We also made good progress on the implementation of our two funded projects and continued programs by our two volunteer-based committees.
 

While grant funding helps support our staff and projects, much of that funding does not cover our basic operation and the work of the Science and Program Committees. Our work with other organizations who are dealing with the State and Federal wetland protections requires consistent attention from our staff and there is no funding for that. What keeps these very important programs going is YOU, our supporters.

Please consider a generous donation as our work is more important than ever.

Donate Now

For now, Happy Holidays, and decorate that nearby wetland with holiday cheer by making a holiday visit!

Rick

[Click here to read Rick's full message.]

**State of the Wetlands Report**

Earlier this  month, the Carolina Wetlands Association released the State of the Wetlands Report entitled, Carolina Wetlands Past to Present: How wetlands have changed in the Carolinas and their current conditionstressors, and threats.   We hope our readers will come away with an overall better understanding and appreciation of the value and critical importance of wetlands, especially given years of historical decline. 
Click here to view report.
On December 7, Ginny Baker Daniel, lead author and co-chair of the Science Committee, gave a webinar on the findings presented in the report.  The recording on the webinar is available on our YouTube Channel.
View the recording of the December 7 webinar presentation by Ginny Daniel on the Carolina Wetlands Past to Present

Volunteer Wetland Monitoring Program

Thank you, Patty!
Sadly, this month marked Patty Cervenka's last field days as Volunteer Coordinator for this project. She will be greatly missed, but she is moving on to a full time position at NC State, working with Dr. Burchell. Fortunately, it won’t be goodbye forever- she’ll still be involved with the project overall.
  • The December monitoring days for the Volunteer Wetland Monitoring Program (VWMP) may have been wet, but that doesn’t scare away our amazing volunteers! 
  • Both Mickey Jo Sorrell and Paul Jadot, passed 25 hours of volunteer work this weekend and earned their awesome Carolina Wetlands Association hats! 
  • Chase Bergeson was hired as the new Volunteer Coordinator and will be leading the project in 2023.  Contact Chase is you want to get involved in the program. 
[Learn more about the December Monitoring event.]

Volunteer Spotlight: Thomas Reed

Many of you have asked about the amazing experts we have the pleasure of working with on the VWMP so I thought you might appreciate getting to know them better.

Our first interview is with Thomas Reed who is our project amphibian expert. Thomas is an Open Space Assistant Manager for Wake County and Site Representative for Robertson Millpond Preserve.  Learn more about Thomas and why he likes working on the VWMP. Enjoy!
CLICK HERE > 

Wetlands in the News


Audubon North Carolina Restores Vital Bird Nesting Island in the Cape Fear River

Graham writes, "Ferry Slip Island had been eroding away, shrinking from five acres a decade ago down to three. This spring, Audubon partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pump 80,000 cubic yards of dredged sand onto the island, increasing its size to nearly 7 acres."
 
North Carolina Coastal Federation’s massive wetland restoration at North River Farms is complete

The Carteret Times News reports "The primary goal [of this project] was to return the farmland to its original state to improve the water quality of estuaries downstream. This included restoring forested, freshwater and tidal wetland areas. According to the federation, based in the Ocean community off Highway 24 between Morehead City and Newport, the 6,000-acre restoration project is among the largest of its kind in the nation."
 
North Carolina Land Trust secures 32 acres of Pender’s wet marl forest

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has purchased 32.16 acres in Pender County, within the larger Rocky Point Marl Forest Significant Natural Heritage Area.
Climate Change Poses Dire Threat to North Carolina Wetlands

Graff writes, "A new report by the environmental organization Climate Central says North Carolina could lose up to 40% of its wetlands to sea level rise by 2070. That’s a significant loss, considering North Carolina has 220,000 acres of coastal wetlands. And those marshes offer a wide variety of benefits from providing flood protection and erosion control, habitat to endangered birds and commercially harvested species such as fish, water filtration, recreation, and carbon sequestration."
 

Upcoming Events


Wednesdays for Wetlands

Wednesday, January 11, 2023
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Fullsteam Brewery
726 Rigsbee Ave., Durham, NC 
Let us know if you can make it to the Meet & Greet . . . RSVP HERE
 

Carolina Wetlands Association
Board Meeting



Monday, January 23, 2023

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Virtual Meeting and In-Person
Cary Innovation Center Conference Room
201 S. Academy St. 
Cary, NC
Open to the public - contact Rick Savage for details.

Ways to Support Us
The Carolina Wetlands Association is a 501(c)3 organization and we rely solely on your donations to support our mission. Our annual giving campaign in November 15 - December 30.  Based on your feedback, we are having a NO FUSS Giving Campaign. Meaning that you will not receive a calendar or magnet - only our gratitude in helping to fulfill our mission. 

Donate Now
Facebook
LinkedIn
Website
Email
carolina_wetlands_assoc/photos
Thank you to our 2022 Sponsors:

EcoTerra Consulting, LLC
Jennings Environmental
Kris Bass Engineering
NC Native Plant Society
South Carolina Mitigation Association
Restoration Systems, LCC
Wetlands Solutions, LLC
Wildnote, Inc.






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Carolina Wetlands Association · P. O. Box 33592 · Raleigh, NC 27636 · USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp