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Shaped by the Water’s Edge: Life in the Lower Cape Fear The Lower Cape Fear is part of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain, and its waterways have played a key role in shaping the land and peoples’ experiences in the region. The region’s rivers, ocean, and sounds help connect the area’s environment and history. Bodies of water—both fresh, salt, and estuarine—are an important and influential part of the region’s diverse ecosystem. According to the Nature Conservancy g r o u p , North Carolina’s “…numerous rivers, streams and wetlands are the lifeblood of the Coastal Plain, providing rich habitat for plants and animals, soaking up floodwaters and feeding North Carolina’s sounds and bays.” The Cape Fear River is the state’s largest river system. University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Lower Cape Fear River program described the watershed: “The Cape Fear River winds for 200 miles through the heart of the North Carolina piedmont, crossing the coastal plain, and empties into the great Atlantic Ocean near Southport. The river begins near Greensboro and Winston-Salem as two rivers, the Deep River and the Haw River. These two rivers converge near Moncure to form the Cape Fear River. The Black River joins the Cape Fear 15 miles above Wilmington, and the Northeast Cape Fear River enters the system at Wilmington.” The lower part of the river—between Wilmington and the ocean—is P a g e | 2 called the Cape Fear Estuary. Estuaries are affected by tides and are saline because they contain both salt and fresh water. They provide a nursery for ocean fish such as red drum and sea creatures such as shrimp and crabs. Until the invention and spread of land-based steam-powered technologies in the 19th century, waterways—the rivers, creeks, streams, and ocean—were the main arteries for the movement of goods, people, and information. As the Smithsonian’s On the Water exhibit website puts it, “Ships and sailors connected manufacturers and customers, farmers and consumers, immigrants and their new homes—across the oceans, along the coasts, and up inland waterways.” Like rivers around the nation, the Cape Fear River was a focal point for regional trade. It connected the city of Wilmington to parts of the interior of North Carolina. And it connected Wilmington to the ocean and the Atlantic world. P a g e | 2 .

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Environmental Assessment of the Lower Cape Fear River System, 2013
Environmental Assessment of the Lower Cape Fear River System, 2013 By Michael A. Mallin, Matthew R. McIver and James F. Merritt August 2014 CMS Report No. 14-02 Center for Marine Science University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, N.C. 28409 Executive Summary Multiparameter water sampling for the Lower Cape Fear River Program (LCFRP) has been ongoing since June 1995. Scientists from the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s (UNCW) Aquatic Ecology Laboratory perform the sampling effort. The LCFRP currently encompasses 33 water sampling stations throughout the lower Cape Fear, Black, and Northeast Cape Fear River watersheds. The LCFRP sampling program includes physical, chemical, and biological water quality measurements and analyses of the benthic and epibenthic macroinvertebrate communities, and has in the past included assessment of the fish communities. Principal conclusions of the UNCW researchers conducting these analyses are presented below, with emphasis on water quality of the period January - December 2013. The opinions expressed are those of UNCW scientists and do not necessarily reflect viewpoints of individual contributors to the Lower Cape Fear River Program. The mainstem lower Cape Fear River is a 6th order stream characterized by periodically turbid water containing moderate to high levels of inorganic nutrients. It is fed by two large 5th order blackwater rivers (the Black and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers) that have low levels of turbidity, but highly colored water with less inorganic nutrient content than the mainstem. While nutrients are reasonably high in the river channels, major algal blooms have until recently been rare because light is attenuated by water color or turbidity, and flushing is usually high (Ensign et al.
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A Case Study of Carolina Bays and Ditched Streams at Risk Under the Proposed WOTUS Definition
CAPE FEAR RIVER WATERSHED: A Case Study of Carolina Bays and Ditched Streams at Risk under the Proposed WOTUS Definition The Cape Fear River. Photo by Kemp Burdette The Cape Fear River Basin is North Carolina’s largest watershed, with an area of over 9,000 square miles. Major tributaries include the Deep River, the Haw River, the Northeast Cape Fear River, the Black River, and the South River. These rivers converge to form a thirty-mile-long estuary before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Fear.1 The Cape Fear supplies water to some of the fastest growing counties in the United States;2 roughly one in five North Carolinians gets their drinking water from the Cape Fear, including residents of Greensboro, Fayetteville, and Wilmington.3 The Cape Fear Basin is a popular watershed for a variety of recreation activities. State parks along the river include Haw River State Park, Raven Rock State Park, and Carolina Beach State Park. The faster-flowing water of the upper basin is popular with paddlers, as are the slow meandering blackwater rivers and streams of the lower Cape Fear and estuary. Fishing is very popular; the Cape Fear supports a number of freshwater species, saltwater species, and even anadromous (migratory) species like the endangered sturgeon, striped bass, and shad. Cape Fear River Watershed: Case Study Page 2 of 8 The Cape Fear is North Carolina’s most ecologically diverse watershed; the Lower Cape Fear is notable because it is part of a biodiversity “hotspot,” recording the largest degree of biodiversity on the eastern seaboard of the United States.
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Cape Fear River Blueprint
Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint Since 1982, the North Carolina Coastal Federation has worked with residents and visitors of North Carolina to protect and restore the coast, including participating in many issues and projects within the Cape Fear region. The Lower Cape Fear River provides critical coastal and riverine habitat, storm and flood protection and commercial and recreational fishery resources. It is also a popular recreational destination and an economic driver for the state’s southeastern region, and it embodies a rich historic and cultural heritage. The river also serves as an important source of drinking water for many coastal communities, including the City of Wilmington. Today, the lower river needs improved environmental safeguards, a clear vision for compatible and sustainable economic development. Further, effective leadership is needed to address existing issues of pollution and habitat loss and prevent projects that threaten the health of the community and the river. The Lower Cape Fear River is continually affected by both local and upstream actions. The continued degradation of these essential functions threatens the well-being of all within the community. The Coastal Federation continues to address these issues by actively engaging with local governments, state and federal agencies and other entities. Our board of directors recognizes these needs and adopted the following goals as part of a three-year, organizationwide initiative: Advocate for compatible industrial development in the coastal zone; Restore coastal habitats and protect water quality; Improve our economy through coastal restoration. The Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint (The Blueprint) is a collaborative effort to focus on the river’s estuarine and riverine natural resources.
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Environmental Assessment of the Lower Cape Fear River System, 2015
Environmental Assessment of the Lower Cape Fear River System, 2015 By Michael A. Mallin, Matthew R. McIver and James F. Merritt November 2016 CMS Report No. 16-02 Center for Marine Science University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, N.C. 28409 Executive Summary Multiparameter water sampling for the Lower Cape Fear River Program (LCFRP) http://www.uncw.edu/cms/aelab/LCFRP/index.htm, has been ongoing since June 1995. Scientists from the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s (UNCW) Aquatic Ecology Laboratory perform the sampling effort. The LCFRP currently encompasses 33 water sampling stations throughout the lower Cape Fear, Black, and Northeast Cape Fear River watersheds. The LCFRP sampling program includes physical, chemical, and biological water quality measurements and analyses of the benthic and epibenthic macroinvertebrate communities, and has in the past included assessment of the fish communities. Principal conclusions of the UNCW researchers conducting these analyses are presented below, with emphasis on water quality of the period January - December 2015. The opinions expressed are those of UNCW scientists and do not necessarily reflect viewpoints of individual contributors to the Lower Cape Fear River Program. The mainstem lower Cape Fear River is a 6th order stream characterized by periodically turbid water containing moderate to high levels of inorganic nutrients. It is fed by two large 5th order blackwater rivers (the Black and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers) that have low levels of turbidity, but highly colored water with less inorganic nutrient content than the mainstem. While nutrients are reasonably high in the river channels, major algal blooms have until recently been rare because light is attenuated by water color or turbidity, and flushing is usually high (Ensign et al.
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Native Americans in the Cape Fear, by Dr. Jan Davidson
Native Americans in the Cape Fear, By Dr. Jan Davidson Archaeologists believe that Native Americans have lived in what is now the state of North Carolina for more than 13,000 years. These first inhabitants, now called Paleo-Indians by experts, were likely descended from people who came over a then-existing land bridge from Asia.1 Evidence had been found at Town Creek Mound that suggests Indians lived there as early as 11000 B.C.E. Work at another major North Carolinian Paleo-Indian where Indian artifacts have been found in layers of the soil, puts Native Americans on that land before 8000 B.C.E. That site, in North Carolina’s Uwharrie Mountains, near Badin, became an important source of stone that Paleo and Archaic period Indians made into tools such as spears.2 It is harder to know when the first people arrived in the lower Cape Fear. The coastal archaeological record is not as rich as it is in some other regions. In the Paleo-Indian period around 12000 B.C.E., the coast was about 60 miles further out to sea than it is today. So land where Indians might have lived is buried under water. Furthermore, the coastal Cape Fear region’s sandy soils don’t provide a lot of stone for making tools, and stone implements are one of the major ways that archeologists have to trace and track where and when Indians lived before 2000 B.C.E.3 These challenges may help explain why no one has yet found any definitive evidence that Indians were in New Hanover County before 8000 B.C.E.4 We may never know if there were indigenous people here before the Archaic period began in approximately 8000 B.C.E.
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NORTH CAROLINA 2020 DRAFT 303(D) LIST Upper Broad Broad River Basin
NORTH CAROLINA 2020 DRAFT 303(D) LIST Upper Broad Broad River Basin AU Name AU Number Classification AU_LengthArea AU_Units AU ID Description Broad River Basin 03050105 Upper Broad BROAD RIVER 9-(22)a C 1.8 FW Miles 12499 From Carolina Mountain Power Company to US 64/74 Benthos (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 2008 BROAD RIVER 9-(22)b1 C 6.3 FW Miles 13396 From US 64/74 to Cove Creek Benthos (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 2008 Cleghorn Creek 9-26-(0.75) C 1.5 FW Miles 13295 From 90 meters south of Baber Road to the Broad River Benthos (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 2008 Catheys Creek 9-41-13-(6)b C 1.9 FW Miles 12701 From confluence with Hollands Creek to S. Broad R. Fish Community (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 1998 Mill Creek 9-41-13-3 WS-V 4.5 FW Miles 12705 From source to Catheys Creek Benthos (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 2008 Hollands Creek 9-41-13-7-(3) C 2.2 FW Miles 12709 From Case Branch to Catheys Creek Fish Community (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 1998 Sandy Run Creek 9-46-(1) WS-IV 10.4 FW Miles 13221 From source to a point approximately 0.7 mile upstream of SR 1168 Fish Community (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria Fair, Poor or Severe Bioclassification 2018 Hinton Creek 9-50-15 C 13.2 FW Miles 12777 From source to First Broad River Benthos (Nar, AL, FW) 5 Exceeding Criteria
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Coastal Resilience Assessment of the Cape Fear Watershed
PILOT: Coastal Resilience Assessment of the Cape Fear Watershed i IMPORTANT INFORMATION/DISCLAIMER: This report represents a Regional Coastal Resilience Assessment that can be used to identify places on the landscape for resilience-building efforts and conservation actions through understanding coastal flood threats, the exposure of populations and infrastructure have to those threats, and the presence of suitable fish and wildlife habitat. As with all remotely sensed or publicly available data, all features should be verified with a site visit, as the locations of suitable landscapes or areas containing flood hazards and community assets are approximate. The data, maps, and analysis provided should be used only as a screening-level resource to support management decisions. This report should be used strictly as a planning reference tool and not for permitting or other legal purposes. The scientific results and conclusions, as well as any views or opinions expressed herein, are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government, or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s partners. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or its funding sources. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION DISCLAIMER: The scientific results and conclusions, as well as any views or opinions expressed herein, are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of NOAA or the Department of Commerce. U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS DISCLAIMER: NFWF’s assessment methodology focuses on identifying and ranking Resilience Hubs, or undeveloped areas of open space.
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The Influence of Tidal Inlet Migration and Closure on Barrier Planform Changes: Federal Beach, Nc
THE INFLUENCE OF TIDAL INLET MIGRATION AND CLOSURE ON BARRIER PLANFORM CHANGES: FEDERAL BEACH, NC Emerson G. Hasbrouck A Thesis submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Department of Geography and Geology University of North Carolina Wilmington 2007 Approved by Advisory Committee _____________________________ _____________________________ _______________________________ Chair Accepted by _____________________________ Dean, Graduate School This thesis has been prepared in a style and format consistent with The Journal of Coastal Research ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................v DEDICATION.................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 STUDY AREA ....................................................................................................................4 Physical Setting....................................................................................................................4
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Gullah Geechee Trail Presentation
Proposed Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Multi-Use Greenway/Blueway Trail Brunswick County, North Carolina “A pathway to Freedom” Presentation to the Cape Fear RPO RTCC September 2, 2020 Mr. Brayton Willis Chairman, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Multi-Use Greenway/Blueway Trail Project and Life Member, Brunswick County Branch, NAACP Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World. 10.7 million survived the dreaded Middle Passage, disembarking in North America, the Caribbean and South America. Only about 388,000 were shipped directly to North America . Many to be enslaved on the plantations of the south . Including the rice plantations along the lower Cape Fear River area. 2 3 The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor was designated by the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act, passed by Congress on October 12, 2006 (Public Law 109- 338). The Corridor was created to: • Recognize, sustain, and celebrate the important contributions made to American culture and history by African Americans, known as the Gullah Geechee, who settled in the coastal counties of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. • Assist state and local governments and public and private entities in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida in interpreting the story of the Gullah Geechee and preserving Gullah Geechee folklore, arts, crafts, and music. • Assist in identifying and preserving sites, historical data, artifacts, and objects associated with Gullah Geechee people and culture for the benefit and education of the public. 4 5 Proposed Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Multi-Use Greenway/Blueway Trail This is a grassroots effort to: Develop a concept plan that captures, celebrates and begins the process of developing local, regional and national support for the establishment of a 30-50 mile Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor in Brunswick County in the form of a Greenway/Blueway Trail.
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Quick Response Report #112 IMPACT of HURRICANE BONNIE
Quick Response Report #112 IMPACT OF HURRICANE BONNIE (AUGUST 1998): NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ESTUARINE/MAINLAND SHORES AND A NOTE ABOUT HURRICANE GEORGES, ALABAMA David M. Bush Department of Geology State University of West Georgia Carrollton, GA 30118 Tel: 770-836-4597 Fax: 770-836-4373 E-mail: [email protected] Tracy Monegan Rice Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) Division of Earth & Ocean Sciences Nicholas School of the Environment Duke University Durham, NC 27708 Tel: 919-681-8228 Fax: 919-684- 5833 E-mail: [email protected] Matthew Stutz Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) Division of Earth & Ocean Sciences Nicholas School of the Environment Duke University Durham, NC 27708 Tel: 919-681-8228 Fax: 919-684- 5833 E-mail: [email protected] Andrew S. Coburn Coburn & Associates Coastal Planning Consultants PO Box 12582 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709- 2582 Tel: 919-598-8489 Fax: 919-598- 0516 E-mail: [email protected] Robert S. Young Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management Western Carolina University 253 Stillwell Hall Cullowhee, NC 28723 Tel: (704) 227-7503 E-mail: [email protected] 1999 Return to Hazards Center Home Page Return to Quick Response Paper Index This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMS-9632458. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. IMPACT OF HURRICANE BONNIE (AUGUST 1998): NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ESTUARINE/MAINLAND SHORES AND A NOTE ABOUT HURRICANE GEORGES, ALABAMA Hurricane Bonnie was a Category 3 storm that made landfall near Cape Fear/Wilmington, North Carolina on August 27, 1998.
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Bonnie 19-30 August 1998
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Should North Carolina & Holden Beach Retrofit
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