CarWA is thrilled to announce and celebrate their 2017 Wetland Treasures sites! (click name to view a factsheet):

• Congaree National Park in Richland County, SC (owned by the National Park Service)
• Hobcaw Barony Wetlands in Georgetown County, SC (owned by the Belle W. Baruch Foundation)
• Kanuga Bog in Henderson County, NC (owned by Kanuga Conference & Retreat Center)
• Robertson Millpond in Wake County, NC (owned by Wake County)
• Scuppernong River Swamp in Tyrrell County, NC (owned by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

·         Six slides per page color (9 pages) –

https://naep.memberclicks.net/assets/webinars/2017webinars/trumpadministrationwebinar-20170308-final-6slidesperpage.pdf

·         Two slides per page color (27 pages) –

https://naep.memberclicks.net/assets/webinars/2017webinars/trumpadministrationwebinar-20170308-final-2slidesperpage.pdf

·         One slide per page color (53 pages) –

https://naep.memberclicks.net/assets/webinars/2017webinars/trumpadministrationwebinar-20170308-final-1slideperpage.pdf

The NCAEP is offering scholarship opportunities for students to attend the NAEP Conference we are co-hosting in Durham March 27-30.  

If you know a student who might be interested in attending the conference please forward this information to them.  The application is due by February 15 and will cover the $200 registration fee and will include an NCAEP membership as well.

Click here to get to the scholarship site and get all the details.  Thank you!

I'm sure you've seen the emails, but we just wanted to remind everyone that we're co-hosting the NAEP Conference in Durham in 7 weeks. We look forward to having a strong contingent of North Carolina folks in attendance. The program includes some very interesting speakers, including Ted Boling from CEQ, Tim Profeta from Duke's Nicholas Institute, and possibly the new Secretary of NCDEQ. 

The conference website can be found at http://www.naep.org/2017-conference.

Please feel free to get in touch with any of the NCAEP Board members with questions! Look forward to seeing you there!

On 21 April 2016 Brock Hoegh, President of the National Association of Environmental Professionals, sent a letter to NAEP members and affiliated chapter presidents.  The letter summarized discussions re: NC HB2, during the April 2016 National Board Meeting in Chicago, which I attended.  In addition to complimenting the efforts of the NC chapter to plan the 2017 national conference in Durham, the letter stated:

"The Board wants to be clear in its position that it does not support discrimination or intolerance."

To read the entire letter, use this link. 

If you would like to comment directly to President Hoegh, please email him (naep@naep.org).  As I would like to document NCAEP member comments, please consider copying me (president@ncaep.org).

Ward Marotti

President, NCAEP

The Service is announcing a final rule that identifies Endangered Species Act protections for the northern-long eared bat. The final 4(d) rule, published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2016, identifies prohibitions that focus on protecting the bat’s sensitive life stages in areas affected by white-nose syndrome.

The Service listed the northern long-eared bat as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in April 2015 and established an interim 4(d) rule. At the same time we opened a 90-day public comment period on the interim rule to gather additional information as we worked to refine and finalize it.

Defenders of Wildlife analyzes ESA in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

"In contrast to conventional wisdom about section 7 implementation, no project was stopped or extensively altered as a result of FWS finding jeopardy or adverse modification during this period. We also show that median consultation duration is far lower than the maximum allowed by the Act...The results discredit many of the claims about the onerous nature of section 7 but also raise questions as to how federal agencies could apply this tool more effectively to conserve species."

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/12/01/1516938112

Staff of Moffatt & Nichol (John Dorney), Axiom Environmental (Sandy Smith) and NC Department of Transportation (LeiLani Paugh) will conduct a 4-day course on the latest version (Version 2.1) of the North Carolina Stream Assessment Method (NC SAM) for determining the condition of streams and other non-wetlands from November 3-6, 2015 in Raleigh, NC.  This lecture and field course will focus on the method which is the standard method formally adopted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District in their Public Notice dated April 21, 2015. The authors were part of a multi-agency team of state and federal agencies who developed the method over the past several years and have previously taught this course using the same curriculum. The course will be taught at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center in Raleigh, NC and will focus on piedmont streams although a portion of the field work will be conducted on coastal plain streams. The fee for the course is $875 and includes lecture and field instruction, a copy of the most current NC SAM User Manual, field transportation, field drinks and snacks, as well as field lunches. Any interested parties should contact John Dorney at jdorney@moffattnichol.com or by phone at 919-522-6364 for additional information.

http://www.resourceinstituteinc.org/RI-education.html

Passed by the Senate (3rd reading) on 15 June 2015

RIPARIAN BUFFER REFORM

SECTION 13.(a)  Until the convening of the 2016 Regular Session of the 2015 General Assembly, the Environmental Management Commission and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall implement 15A NCAC 02B .0233 (Neuse River Basin: Nutrient Sensitive Waters Management Strategy: Protection and Maintenance of Existing Riparian Buffers) as follows:

(1)        Zone 1, as described in NCAC 02B .0233(4)(a) and Zone 2, as described in NCAC 02B .0233(4)(b) shall not be enforced.

(2)        The riparian buffer shall consist of the 30‑foot riparian area that formerly constituted Zone 1.

(3)        The activities and uses for the riparian buffer are those that could have occured in Zone 2.

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015/Bills/House/HTML/H44v3.html