The North Carolina Coastal Federation has launched a comprehensive five-year Salt Marsh Action Plan to save critical wetlands along the coast.
The new strategy focuses on three major pillars to protect the state's 220,000 acres of salt marsh. First, the roadmap would directly restore more than 600 acres of degraded marshland using nature-based solutions like living shorelines and oyster reefs. Second, the plan focuses on conserving specific inland land corridors. This ensures that as sea levels rise, the marshes have a clear path to naturally migrate farther inland without being blocked by development. Finally, the plan calls for updating local zoning laws and securing permanent state funding.
Environmental advocates say saving these marshes is vital because they serve as a natural defense system, drastically reducing local flooding and shoreline erosion during severe storms while supporting the state's commercial fishing industry.
