IRA-Funded Projects in Eastern North Carolina Announced

KNOTTS ISLAND, N.C. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams today announced the selection of nature-based solutions projects that will help address important ecosystem restoration needs and build climate resiliency throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico Region in North Carolina. These projects are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and are funded through the Inflation Reduction Act –the largest climate investment in history – which allocated $27.25 million to the Service for restoration in the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound. 

“These projects allow for significant progress towards restoring rivers, coasts and wetlands, and improving ecosystems that have been subjected to flooding and other extreme weather events,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “With increasing shoreline erosion, saltwater intrusion and loss of habitable environments, the Inflation Reduction Act gives us the resources needed to implement nature-based solutions which will have lasting benefits to nature and communities for generations to come.”

Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. We were directly appropriated $455 million over five years in BIL funds for programs related to the President’s America the Beautiful initiative.

Learn more about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Department of the Interior is implementing a more than $2 billion downpayment to restore our nation’s lands and waters. In March 2023, the Service announced an investment of more than $120 million from the Inflation Reduction Act, and includes this announcement, to rebuild and restore units of the National Wildlife Refuge System and State Game Lands or Wildlife Management Areas that have been affected by adverse weather events. This investment prioritizes projects that promote coastal resilience and climate adaptation, addresses invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species threats, and provides for additional data collection needed to support successful natural resource resilience. 

This Eastern North Carolina investment will fund nature-based solutions, which are sustainable practices that use natural features or processes to reduce carbon emissions and improve climate adaptation and resilience on nine units of the National Wildlife Refuge System and on State-owned game lands. These restored public lands will be able to better adapt to rising seas, floods, droughts, and wildfires by focusing on peatland restoration, shoreline protection, improvements to water quality, upgrades to wetland impoundment infrastructure and reconnecting floodplains. The projects will also benefit communities and private landowners whose lands are impacted by severe weather and improve living conditions for threatened and endangered wildlife.

“The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System is home to some of the most climate vulnerable counties in the nation and is particularly susceptible to sea level rise and changes in storm intensity and frequency,” said Mike Oetker, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region. “We will continue working with partners to ensure we are good stewards of this significant investment, using nature-based solutions to increase resiliency in our communities and water-management infrastructure, as well as provide clean air and water for the community and local wildlife.”

The Service will work closely with state and local officials, partners, and communities to implement this funding. Projects identified include:

• Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (Tyrell, Dare Counties):Projects will focus on upgrading water-management infrastructure to reduce the impacts of saltwater intrusion.

• Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge (Carteret County):Nature-based solutions to construct living shorelines will reduce wave action, trap sediment, and protect high priority sites for wildlife. Projects will help protect valuable marsh and wetland habitats, which can reduce the severity of storm surge during severe weather events and improve water quality in nearshore waters.

• Currituck National Wildlife Refuge (Currituck County):Nature-based solutions to construct living shorelines will stabilize and slow loss of shoreline and marsh habitat on Monkey Island. Projects will reduce wave action, trap sediment, and protect high priority sites for wildlife. 

• Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge (Currituck County):Nature-based solutions to construct living shorelines will reduce wave action, trap sediment, and protect high priority sites for wildlife. Projects will help protect valuable marsh and wetland habitats, which can reduce the severity of storm surge during severe weather events and improve water quality in nearshore waters.

• Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde County):Projects will focus on improving Lake Mattamuskeet water quality and water management capability by re-directing water runoff. Improving the water quality of the lake is expected to foster the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation, which is critically important for wintering waterfowl.

• Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge (Dare County):Nature-based solutions to construct living shorelines will reduce wave action, trap sediment, and protect high priority sites for wildlife. Projects will help protect valuable marsh and wetland habitats, which can reduce the severity of storm surge during severe weather events and improve water quality in nearshore waters.
• Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde, Washington, Tyrell Counties):Projects will focus on restoring peatlands. Healthy forested peatlands offer some of nature’s best carbon storage while protecting local communities from flooding, saltwater intrusion, and wildfires.

• Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge (Bertie County):Projects will remove barriers that isolate the Roanoke River from its floodplain. Reconnected floodplains provide more capacity for flood flows, which can reduce the severity of flooding in neighboring communities. Connected floodplains are also expected to provide new recreational opportunities, improve aesthetic values of the landscape, and increase available homes and food sources for fish and other aquatic species. 

• Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde County):Nature-based solutions to construct living shorelines will reduce wave action, trap sediment, and protect high priority sites for wildlife. Projects will help protect valuable marsh and wetland habitats, which can reduce the severity of storm surge during severe weather events and improve water quality in nearshore waters.

• North Carolina Game Lands:North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will receive $5 million to be invested onseveral State-owned Game Lands in the Albemarle-Pamlico region, such as Goose Creek Game Land and Gull Rock Game Land. Much like projects on units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, those on North Carolina Game Lands will focus on shoreline protection, improvements to water quality, climate resiliency, and wetland impoundment upgrades.

Through these investments, the Service is working with state partners to complete geographically diverse, large-scale projects that are mutually beneficial for these conservation areas, including projects that benefit underserved communities and Tribal interests. The program supports the Biden-Harris administration’s America the Beautiful [ Initiative, a decade-long challenge to pursue locally led and voluntary conservation to protect, conserve, connect, and restore our nation’s lands, waters, habitats, and wildlife.

For more information about the Service’s Inflation Reduction Act-related efforts, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov and connect with us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube.