The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted comments on Oct. 19 to North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality on the agency’s update to its Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, which sets priorities for state agencies on how to conserve and restore coastal ecosystems. Pew expressed support for the plan—finding it rigorous, thoughtful, and strong—but suggested several modest modifications to benefit underwater seagrass, to encourage the state to join an existing effort to protect salt marshes, and to assist in creating a public/private partnership to increase the involvement of stakeholders.
Pew is working to help North Carolina increase the resilience of ecosystems and communities in the face of climate change by focusing on protecting coastal habitat, restoring riverine ecosystems, and encouraging flood preparedness at the community and state levels.