Raleigh Field Office

Welcome to the Raleigh Ecological Services Field Office web site. We work to protect endangered and threatened species, migratory birds and migratory fish and their habitat in North Carolina. To accomplish our mission the Raleigh Ecological Services Field Office has these programs: Coastal, Environmental Contaminants, Endangered Species, Project Planning, and Partners for Fish and Wildlife.

Outer Banks Scenic Byway Receives National Designation

The Outer Banks Scenic Byway received national status on Friday, October 16, 2009, as one of America's Byways®, placing NC Highway 12 on the map, so to speak, for its fascinating coastal heritage and unique natural landscapes, making the leg of the historic two-lane highway from Nags Head, NC to Down East a perfect autumn drive for exploring the beauty of the barrier islands and connecting with the coastal communities that set the destination apart.

"The Outer Banks touch people in different ways. Part of that connection, whether it is to the beach, or the landscape, or to the memories made while vacationing here is inextricably linked to the drive," explains Lee Nettles, managing director for the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. "When you round the curve of NC 12 and see Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Island for the first time, for example, that never leaves you. Those moments of surprise and wonder continue the whole length of the Outer Banks Scenic Byway."

The itinerary for this newest national byway features drives along barrier islands featuring national landmarks and coastal villages and two car ferry rides. The byway travels through two national seashores, Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout, and two national wildlife refuges, Pea Island and Cedar Island. Along the byway are four historic lighthouses and world famous stopovers for migrating song birds and waterfowl.

To explore the natural world that created byway stories, Wings over Water offers a six-day celebration of the wild side of the Outer Banks region. The Nov. 3 to 8 celebration features over 100 adventurous field trips, including kayaking at sunrise and sunset, exploring shifting sands, and venturing to the close-by Gulf Stream to view seabirds.

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Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge: Serving as a 150,000-acre laboratory for evaluating impacts, testing adaptations, and recording observations relating to climate change

Currently, two research projects relating to climate change are underway on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The first is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the effects of several types of adaptive management on an area severely impacted by sea level rise. The second project is a research effort focusing on carbon and nitrogen cycling within swamp forest ecosystems.

The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Partners for Coastal Resilience -- an Adaptive Management Study

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was established in early 1980s with aid from The Nature Conservancy. Today, the refuge encompasses more than 258,000 acres in Dare and Hyde Counties. However, accelerated sea level rise threatens the entire refuge. The Conservancy’s climate change adaptation project will take several steps to make the fragile shoreline more resilient to encroaching seas. Adaptation strategies include: restoring the hydrologic regime and associated wetland systems, while limiting saltwater intrusion to maintain necessary soil moisture and promote carbon sequestration benefits of peat soils; planting salt-tolerant species in advance to sea level changes to ensure a resilient shoreline in the future; and building oyster reefs to buffer shorelines from waves and storms.

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Service Releases Climate Change Strategy for Public Review and Comment -- Builds on Secretary Salazar’s DOI Climate Change Order

On coastal North Carolina's federal wildlife refuges, shorelines are receding and barrier islands are narrowing.

In the Florida Keys, the sooty tern, a sea bird, is showing up to breed three to four months earlier than usual.

Inland, invasive plants such as Alligator Weed are crowding out more desireable food for ducks and geese on refuges in Tennessee and northern Alabama.

These signs, and many others, are consistent with the science on global warming. And the climate models predict far worse, including the extinction of 20 to 30 percent of the world's species by the end of this century.

As part of the Interior Department’s commitment to building a coordinated strategy to respond to the impacts of accelerating climate change on the nation’s natural resources and safeguard the nation’s fish and wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is today releasing a draft strategic plan that will guide its efforts to respond to the unprecedented threat posed by global warming.

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