Springer's Point Expansion Within Reach - Fall 2020

COASTLINES

SprINgEr’S pOINT ExpANDED AND SECurED

IT’S WITHIN Our rEACH

By Camilla M. Herlevich Coastal Land Trust Founder and Executive Director

The Coastal Land Trust’s Springer’s Point Preserve is a peaceful oasis of natural beauty in the heart of Ocracoke Village. The Preserve encompasses more than 120 acres of maritime forest, tidal red cedar forest, salt marsh, wet grasslands and sound front beach.

Designated as one of North Carolina’s significant natural heritage areas, it also enjoys a vibrant cultural history. The Preserve’s nature trail winds past ancient, gnarled live oaks to a sandy beach overlooking the infamous Teach’s Hole, where the legendary pirate Blackbeard was finally captured.

We couldn’t have been more delighted when we opened Springer’s Point Preserve to the public in 2006!

Beloved by Ocracokers and visitors alike, the Preserve is visited by more than 3,000 people annually.

Today, there’s more reason to celebrate!

For the first time since the opening of the Preserve, the Coastal Land Trust recently was given the opportunity to purchase a key private land holding within the Preserve—a prime residential parcel

SprIngEr’S, continued on page 5

The Coastal Land has protected almost 300 acres on the Chowan River known as the Bal Gra Harbor tract, and immediately transferred the property to the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. The property features a half mile of waterfront, with a sandy beach and high bluffs. Its interior includes mixed pine hardwoods with small ephemeral ponds. It’s the property’s strategic location, though, that makes it so special.

Immediately to the north of Bal Gra Harbor is a 137acre tract known locally as the Tall Glass of Water, which Bertie County purchased and intends to use as a public park for recreational purposes and public water access.

Immediately to the south of Bal Gra Harbor is the

LAND TruST LEADErS

COASTAL LAND TruST STAFFEr

TAppED FOr CONSErvATION ADvISOry

Jesica Blake, Associate Director of the Coastal Land Trust, has been appointed to the national Land Trust Alliance Conservation Defense Advisory Council.

Membership is limited to 16 individuals: experienced, knowledgeable, dedicated attorneys and conservation practitioners plus members of the Alliance Board Conservation Defense Committee.

As a member of the Advisory Council, Jesica will actively assist with preparation, review and maintenance of the legal clearinghouse. She will also assist with continuing legal education curriculum and a legal curriculum for land trust staff, boards and volunteers.

A land trust stewardship professional with a science background, Jesica has been a key presenter at the yearly National Land Trust Alliance Rally since 2003. Presentations and workshops led by her, such as Hot Topics in Stewardship, consistently receive evaluations of at least 4.5 out of 5.

Considerations for membership include: direct land trust experience, teaching history (including evaluations from Alliance events), Rally and conference attendance, team work and

problem-solving attitude, and reputation in the conservation community.

Among the many duties of an

Advisory Council member is to be an ambassador to the larger conservation community and to assist with promoting all aspects of conservation defense.

Linda

Wilmington, NC

Randy Beardsworth Wilmington, NC

Nancy J. Bray Grifton, NC

Sam Cook Raleigh, NC

Miles Coxe Edenton, NC

Tommy Hughes

Trent Woods, NC

Laurie McComas king Wilmington, NC

Hal kitchin Wilmington, NC

Murchison

Linda Pearsall Raleigh, NC

Ann Cary Simpson Chapel Hill, NC

Cheryl Bradley Smith Pine knoll Shores, NC

Lovay WallaceSingleton New Bern, NC

Robert Wells kitty Hawk, NC

George Wood kill Devil Hills, NC

President Melanie Allen Durham, NC

Vice President

Robert Perry Raleigh, NC

Secretary and Vice President

Hannah Holt Wilmington, NC

Treasurer Maggie Ashburn Wilmington, NC

Board members serve three, three-year staggered terms and are elected each year by the membership during the annual meeting.

Jesica Blake is up to her waders in land protection.

Congratulations, Dr. Hosier

pICkLEr JOINS LAND TruST ALLIANCE BOArD

kris Pickler, attorney and former member of the Coastal Land Trust’s Board of Directors, has been named to the Board of Directors of the national Land Trust Alliance. kris’s passion to protect land and the environment stems from growing up in the rural landscapes, tobacco fields and pine plantations of eastern Carolina.

It led him to a graduate degree in environmental management, a law degree, and a string of accomplishments and honors from Capitol Hill to Davidson,

North Carolina, where he and his wife Jen live currently. We’re delighted that kris is continuing his volunteer conservation leadership at the national level.

Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas has earned two high honors from the American Library Association. Written by Dr. Paul Hosier, the guide for coastal plant identification was recognized by the American Library Association Government Documents Round Table as a 2019 Notable Government Document, State and Local Selection.

Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas also was chosen as a 2019 Choice Outstanding Academic Title.

Dr. Hosier served on the Coastal Land Trust Board of Directors from 2012 until 2018. He is professor emeritus of biology at uNCW and a former associate vice chancellor of academic affairs.

Sharon guarino Volunteer of the Year

Sharon Guarino has been chosen as Volunteer of the year by the Coastal Land Trust’s stewardship team.

In making the announcement, kelsey kirwan, AmeriCorps Member and Volunteer Coordinator said, “Sharon joined us at all of our volunteer events, rain or shine, with a huge smile on her face. She always brought joy and happiness to our events. She is a dedicated volunteer who truly enjoys giving back to the community. We are thankful to have her committed support and fun-loving spirit!”

“Color me shocked and most appreciative to be so honored for doing something I so enjoy doing and the pleasure has always been mine,” said Sharon. “My sustenance comes from being outside in natural settings and it has never felt like work but more like something I can do to make sure others are able to enjoy the out of doors.”

“We are so lucky to have all the wonderful folks at the Coastal Land Trust as stewards for so many precious properties around the North Carolina Coast and beyond.”

Paul Hosier, center, on a field trip to the Veteran’s Organic Garden in New Bern in 2016. Also shown are Camilla Herlevich and fellow board member John Fussell.

Sharon Guarino, center, with fellow volunteers.

AWESOME BAL grA

contributed by Dr. Stanley riggs Distinguished professor of geology East carolina University

What an awesome picture of the Bal Gra beach, bluffs, ravines etc. This is a very significant component of the entire western Albemarle shoreline from the Hwy 17 bridge south through Bertie Co. property and Salmon Creek.

The clay bed underlies the entire area and forms the base for the overlying sand and muddy sand beds that form the bluff and supply the sand for the modern sandy beach. All of the black sand and white sand that forms the modern beach seaward of the bluff comes from the erosion of the bluff. The white sand is mostly quartz whereas the black sand is made up of various kinds of heavy minerals including magnetite, illmanite, zircon, rutile, tourmaline, garnets, etc.

The surface of the underlying clay bed is chock full of fossil shrimp and crab burrows (all of the holes you see on the surface). usually in the bluff (where it is exposed) there is a variable layer of ironstone (from a few inches to a foot or so) that has formed by the iron rich groundwater seeping down thru the sand bed and then flows out onto the beach. The iron precipitates at the edge of the bluff where it is oxidized. Locally you will see little patches that are preserved on top of the clay bed and bigger broken pieces slightly offshore when the water level is low. The overlying sand and muddy sand bed that form the major portion of the bluff. Also the entire land surface of the Salmon Creek (Site X), Bal Gra Harbor, and Bertie County’s Tall Glass of Water park properties form the Talbot Terrace, which is a major feature produced by a former high stand of sea level during a previous inter-glacial warm period.

The photo below also shows an extremely important feature along the lower portion of the vertical bluff—that is a slump apron that was formed during the last major storm surge event (based on the age of the vegetation on the apron this was a storm that occurred about a decade or so ago). This now protects the bluff from further erosion until the next big storm surge event which will overtop this and produce a freshly eroded bluff and new sediment for the beach. In the meantime the vegetated slump apron is protecting the shoreline from erosion by small scale storms.

From a scientific point of view, one of the important values of preserving all three of these properties is the geologic history that not only tells the climate change story of the past several hundred thousand years of earth history, but also dictates the different ecosystems that form on the surface, as well as the human cultural history of the region.

Eroding bluff temporarily stabilized by slump apron and vegetation. Bluff is composed of pleistocene beds of sand and clay.

vegetated slump apron: vegetated slumps from the bluff formed during the last major storm surge event.

High tide beach: pleistocene clay bed that underlies the upland and crops out on the beach, filled with fossil shrimp and crab burrows.

Low tide beach: Black heavy mineral sands

White quartz sands Ironstone pebbles

nearly 1,000-acre tract known as Site X by archaeologists, which the Coastal Land Trust purchased in 2017. This 1,000-acre tract is notable not only for its significant archeological resources attributable to the pre-Colonial period and indicative of settlement by a splinter group of the Roanoke or “Lost” colonists, but also its significant ecological areas, such as cypress gum swamp, hardwood forest, tidal freshwater marsh, and 3.5 miles of frontage

along Salmon Creek.

The 2018 transfer of the Site X tract to the state’s Division of Parks and Recreation was the first acquisition for the new Salmon Creek State Natural Area. It allowed for the preservation of its significant natural, historical, archaeological, and cultural resources in perpetuity. The Bal Gra Harbor tract will be added to the Salmon Creek State Natural Area.

SaLMOn crEEk continued from page 1

upland Talbot Terrace

SprIngEr’S, continued from page 1

overlooking Pamlico Sound, totaling almost two acres.

Fittingly, Ocracoke Holdings LLC, the company from whom the Coastal Land Trust acquired the original 31-acre tract at Springer’s Point in 2002, has made this property available. And, once again, the owners were willing to sell the property for considerably less than the appreciated value.

In May, with a grant from the u. S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act program, and several generous gifts from individual donors, the Coastal Land Trust closed on this strategically located parcel.

The Coastal Land Trust is very grateful to Ocracoke Holdings LLC, a company led by North Carolina native and philanthropist Louis Bacon, and to the family of Herbert Hoell, one of the original investors in this property, for their generosity in making this property available to us.

And there’s yet more good news for Springer’s Point!

The Coastal Land Trust has also been granted the opportunity to buy the only other remaining privately owned parcel at Springer’s Point, an 8.5 acre tract, which features maritime forest, tidal red cedar forest and estuarine marsh. The location of this tract, too, is key, as it flanks the trail entrance of the Preserve on one side and provides buffer to residential lots on the other side.

The Coastal Land Trust is thrilled to have entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the owner of this property and is actively seeking grants and donations for its purchase. We are very grateful to the owner and the listing broker for making this property available for a conservation purchase, which we hope to complete next spring.

The Coastal Land Trust is also grateful to many agencies and individuals, such as the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board, that are currently considering or have already made commitments towards the purchase of the 8.5-acre tract. We are working hard to raise all funds needed, and look forward

gET INvOLvED!

JOIN THE SprINgEr’S pOINT CAMpAIgN

Please consider joining the generous individuals, families, businesses and agencies who have already made a special grant, gift or pledge to the campaign to expand and complete Springer’s Point Preserve.

The campaign welcomes gifts of cash or securities, as well as planned gifts. Contact Vann Pearsall at 910-790-4524 or vann@CoastalLandTrust.org for more information.

“It gives Me comfort” Sally

Anger on Springer’s Point

The last vacation I took with my late husband Jim (Stephenson) was to Ocracoke. It was a favorite nearby destination for us, and Springer’s Point was always the highlight of the trip. It’s a magical spot. I feel a deep connection to him when I return there. And, on that last trip, Jim said: “you know, the Coastal Land Trust has done a great job with this preserve, we should donate more to them.” Not only is it a beautiful maritime forest with a lovely sandy beach, and wildlife watching, it also has creative touches

to making a complete thank you to donors and funders at the conclusion of the project.

Next year will mark the 15th anniversary of the opening of Springer’s Point Preserve to the public. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that anniversary could also celebrate that, after four separate transactions over 18 years, Springer’s Point has been forever secured for nature?

“It has been a pleasure to work with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust during the past twenty years as they have crafted this landscape scale conservation effort at Springer’s Point. The addition of these parcels and the recognition of Herbert Hoell’s vision will help ensure that this special place remains one of North Carolina’s most beautiful, unspoiled and well-protected nature preserves.”

—Louis Bacon of Ocracoke Holdings LLC

which speak to the artist in me. I love how visitors add shells, feathers, etc. to decorate the driftwood fences, and where else can you see an islander’s grave next to his beloved banker pony?

Jim and I loved those aspects. When he passed, I had people donate money to the Coastal Land Trust in his memory. His sister and I continue to make a yearly donation in his honor. The nature trail at Springer’s Point is named for him, the Jim Stephenson Nature Trail. It gives me comfort when I see it.

Sally Anger with her husband, Jim Stephenson, at a high school reunion in the 90s. At the time, he was her fiancé and she said that she was proud to show him off to her class.

Grant throu Gh Enviva ForEst ConsErvation Fund

Foundation

EddiE and Jo allison smith Family Foundation, inC.

Billings ConstruCtion

kelsey kirwan, the Coastal Land Trust’s 2019 - 2020 AmeriCorps Service Member, spent the first six months of her service organizing trail building (work) days for adults and field trips for elementary school students. In March she had to quickly adapt to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. She was able to reach thousands of individuals with virtual participation.

vOLuNTEEr DAyS

• 7 Volunteer Trail Days were organized in 5 counties

• 361 hours of work was donated by 119 volunteers

ENvIrONMENTAL EDuCATION

• 237 field trip participants from 4 counties

• 3 virtual programs created

September 26, 2020

• 2,000 individuals engaged virtually with “Flytrap Frolic Livestream”

• 200 individuals engaged with virtual Trails Day

ANNuAL CELEBrATION & MEETINg

Via Zoom 5 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

SAvE THE DATE

Fridays at Noon

Little Lunch Lectures

Via Zoom

CoastalLandTrust.org/ events for details

September 26, 2020 Annual Celebration & Meeting of Members

5 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Via Zoom Coastal Land Trust Directors will be elected More info: CoastalLandTrust.org/ Celebrate

October 10, 2020 Fire in the pines

Virtual Experience

December 9, 2020 Camilla Herlevich’s retirement Celebration and Fundraiser * Poplar Grove Wilmington

* Due to the uncertainty of planning events at this time, please watch CoastalLandTrust.org/ events for the most up-to-date information and details about virtual and in-person event opportunities

Upcoming in 2021 May 28, 2021

CoastalLandTrust.org/ events for details Visit coastalLandTrust.org/events for more information about upcoming events

Springer’s point 15th Birthday

The Barn at Berkley Manor Ocracoke

• 15 individuals participated planned outdoor activities on Trails Day

Coastal Land Trust Directors will be elected.

OF MEMBErS

More info: CoastalLandTrust.org/Celebrate

Paddling Bliss

Tal Madison, in photo above, and his wife Julie, found their new favorite place to kayak: Rice Creek in Brunswick County.

“Rice Creek has nice twists and turns and lovely flora,” said Julie. “Flat water makes for easy kayaking.” The Rice Creek Boating Access Area can be reached from the junction of uS 17 and SR1521 (Governors Road) near Winnabow. you can also launch from Brunswick Nature Park and paddle Town Creek to Rice Creek.

kelsey kirwan, center, with volunteers at Everett Creek Preserve

SCrApBOOk

Enhancing a Beautiful Forest Brice’s Creek Nature Preserve Craven County, May 23, 2020

Tom Glasgow, and his son, Nathaniel, joined Tim Tabak, Dave Allen and Director of Land Protection Janice Allen, to declare war on invasive plants at Brice’s Creek. Tom and Nathaniel have been continually working out there and have really taken a hit on the Japanese knotweed, non-native Wisteria, privet, and Japanese honeysuckle. The invasives are really limited to one hotspot near the Brice’s Creek bridge.

Nathaniel is quite the historian and said that he and John klecker, a member of the New Bern Historical Society, have noted that the large ditch running into the property was constructed as a mill race in the 1760’s! The group walked in and Nathaniel pointed out where he thinks the old mill pond and dam were located.

Janice remembers reading an article by John klecker on the Evan’s Mill Plantation which was in this area and seeing the old mill pond, but thought the latter was on the Carolina Colours development.

“It appears to be mostly on our preserve,” said Janice, “which is amazing.”

Raccoon at Springer’s Point

Coastal Land Trust Volunteer Trail Days spruce up area preserves

Solstice Stroll Online Fundraiser

June 20, 2020 at 6:20pm

The Coastal Land Trust hosted our first-ever online fundraiser! This special event took more than 75 viewers on a (virtual) tour of some of our favorite preserves. We heard from staff and conservation champions why some of these places are so special, why land conservation is so important, now more than ever, and why your support makes it possible.

And you know the best part? These places are waiting for you to come visit as our state begins to open back up.

Miss the event? Watch a recording of Solstice Stroll at CoastalLandTrust.org/Solstice/

Photo

The raccoon at Springer’s Point was carved years ago into a dead tree stump within the Preserve by Len Skinner, who was the Coastal Land Trust’s Preserve Steward and a local artist and craftsman.

STEWArDSHIp ENDOWMENT NAMED FOr FOuNDEr CAMILLA

The your Land campaign is heading into the home stretch. Nine Top 40 projects have been saved and more than $30 million has been committed towards the $36 million goal!

As founder Camilla Herlevich recognized long ago, acquisition success quickly evolves into land stewardship obligation! For that reason, she was thrilled when the Board of Directors chose to honor her remarkable legacy of conservation by naming the Coastal Land Trust’s stewardship endowment in her honor.

Perhaps the most critical goal of the your Land campaign, other than saving land, is to add $2 million to the Coastal Land Trust’s

$1,000,000

Nancy and John Bray

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

$100,000 - $999,999

Duke Energy Foundation

Linda and Reid Murchison

Mr. Michael Murchison and Ms. Barbara Sullivan

Ocracoke Holdings LLC

Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc.

Fred and Alice Stanback

Mrs. Nancy Stanback

The Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Family Foundation Inc

uS Endowment for Forestry and Communities Grant through Enviva Forest Conservation Fund

Anonymous

$25,000 - $99,999

Agnes R. Beane

Randy and Betty Ann Beardsworth

CJB Foundation

The Conservation Alliance Dr. I. Alan Craig

F. M. kirby Foundation, Inc. Charlotte Noel Fox

The Harold H. Bate Foundation

George and Alice Horton Fund of Triangle Community Foundation

Merck Family Fund

Orton Foundation LLC

Annie Gray Sprunt

David and Wesie Sprunt

The True North Foundation

Robert E. Wells

Anonymous

$10,000 - $24,999

Bruce Barclay Cameron Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Steve Capps

Cedar Hill West Bank Heritage Foundation

Dan Cameron Family Foundation

Bob and Lindy Emory

Camilla Herlevich and Jim Brier

Historic Wilmington Foundation, Inc. Hannah and Stephanie Holt

stewardship endowment by the end of this year. We urgently need your support to raise the remaining $600,000 and stay on schedule to complete the campaign before December 31, 2020.

your gift to the Camilla M. Herlevich Legacy Stewardship Fund will help continue Camilla’s vision and increase the organization’s capacity to preserve the irreplaceable lands in its care— now and forever.

Call Vann Pearsall, Director of Development, at (910) 790-4524 x2100; or to make your gift today, visit CoastalLandTrust.org/ yourLand-Donate.

Greg and Eden Honeycutt

Paul and Liz Hosier

The Longleaf Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. J. Dickson McLean

Mr. and Mrs. Brian J. McMerty

Edward and Susan Norvell

Mr. and Mrs. Chad Pearson kris and Jen Pickler

Caroll Gray-Preston and Anna Gray Stark

Mr. Willis Slane and Ms. Caroline Chiles

Bryan, Cheryl and Peyton Smith

The Community Foundation of NC East

The Paynter Law Firm PLLC

Mr.* and Mrs. John W. Thomas Jr. Mr. and Mrs. John Ward William A. Stern Foundation Anonymous (2)

$5,000 - $9,999

Janice and David Allen Mr. Michael C. Brown Jr. and Ms. Jane Haskell Fox

Peter and Cay Davis

Jen Esham Ms. Frances Goodman

In Memory of William Miller Mrs. Patricia A. Horstman David Huffine and Susan Stern

Otis* and Theresa Hurd

Bob Jones and Peggy Sloan Mr. Andrew k. McVey

Support from the Richard Chapman Cleve Fund, a component of the North Carolina Community Foundation

Alice Zawadzki Land Conservation Fund of the North Carolina Native Plant Society

Ms. Laura W. Padgett

Robert Perry and kathy Crawford

William Purvis

George and Lynda Wood Anonymous

$1,000 - $4,999

Maggie Ashburn

Capt. and Mrs. Ben Bowditch Jr. Mr. and Mrs. David Brownlow Mr.* and Mrs. Eric R. Calhoun Sr.

Berry Collier

Diana G. Corbett

Mr. and Mrs. Miles Coxe

Ms. Patricia Farnham and Mr. Charlie Hines

John Fussell

Mary and Dean Gornto

Royster and kathryn Hedgepeth Martin and Cynthia Hichens Mrs. Julia Hutcherson Mr. Tommy Hutcherson

Jason and Erica kesler Dr. and Mrs. Aaron king Mrs. Edythe Ledbetter Jane M. McNeer

John C. Nicholls Jr. Linda and Sam Pearsall

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan S. Phillips Point Clan LLC Mrs. Pat Rowlett Ann and Bland Simpson Jane and Scott Sullivan

$100 - $999

Mr. David Arneke Ms. Rachel L. Cameron Betty Clarke

Mr. W. Thompson Comerford, Jr. Sam and Sherry Cook

Elizabeth Frankenberg

Dr. and Mrs. John H. Haley III The Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina

Mr. Thomas O. Hollinshed and Ms. katherine Lange Mr. Tommy Hughes Lee and John Leidy

Hannah McOwen and Philip R. Forslund Dr. and Mrs. Clinton Meyer Rob and Nancy Moul Mrs. and Mr. Cotesworth Pinckney Dr. and Mrs. Stan Riggs Gary and Jennings Trawick Mr. and Mrs. DeWayne Singleton Mr. and Mrs. Brian West Ms. Tyanna West

$1 - $99

Ms. Melanie R. Allen Angel Oak Creative, LLC Mr. William S. Barbour

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Barker

Mrs. Lillian Benton

Blue Heron Asset Management

Stephanie and Stuart Borrett

Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cole

Mr. E. B. Cox

Mr. Lewis Dancy

Michael and Diane Foster Ms. Penny Hooper

Dr. and Mrs. Gary G. koch

Mr. Thomas R. Leidy

Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Lorenz Page and Herb Lowry

William and Susan Meggs

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Misner

Mr. Jim Reddoch

Dr. Norm Robinson and The Reverend Hannah Vaughan

Samuel and Jeanne Rose

Ms. Laura Beth Sedlock

Mr. James Shelton

Mr. Michael Snyder and Ms. Melissa Wilson

Bill and Rosie Sweeney

Wynn Wagenseil

Mr. Richard Weisman and Ms. Michelle Bannon

Laura and Robert West

Ms. Margaret Whisenhunt

Ms. Mara Wooten

Anonymous

edge of a Hyde County canal. —Narration by Tom Earnhardt except slight editorial edits

blue flag iris. The spider lilies were photographed in in a Craven County wetland and the blue flag iris on the

N AT u

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Pu

TS ON A B IG S OIREE FOR THE 4 TH OF Ju L y

COAST

laura@CoastalLandTrust.org

Contact Development Coordinator Laura Wilson

Become a monthly donor

Even in uncertain times, y our Coastal Land Trust

p hotos by Tom Earnhardt

Wilmington, North Carolina 28412 VOLUME 20 // ISSUE 3 // Fall 2020

U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 316 Wilmington, NC

Joel Cook returned to the Coastal Land Trust this summer to continue his work as the Gullah Geechee Corridor Project Coordinator. This year, Joel’s focus was the ongoing preservation of Reaves Chapel and the historic cemetery associated with the site.

In his role as project coordinator, he has enthusiastically engaged with the members of the Cedar Hill/West Bank Foundation to raise funds for the restoration of Reaves Chapel, and worked with the State Historic Preservation Office to seek National Historic Register recognition for the building and associated sites. He also continued his relationships with the Navassa community and Brunswick County NAACP in supporting their vision for broader recognition of Gullah Geechee heritage in southeastern North Carolina.

Joel is a graduate student at East Carolina university, where he is studying underwater archaeology.

uNDERWATER RESEARCH

3 Pine Valley Drive LINES CoastalLandTrust.org PAGE 10

Joel, left, is mapping a wooden shipwreck for Biscayne National Park (Florida keys).