This Land, Your Land

Miller-McCune magazine in a November feature profiles a pilot project at the 154,000-acre Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge to determine whether man can slow rising sea levels and the inevitable loss of land and habitat.

The world's sea level has been stable for about 5,000 years, Jim Morrison's 2,600-word report says, but "today, melting glaciers and rising sea waters have accelerated the transformation, making larger areas vulnerable to flooding, erosion, saltwater intrusion, and loss of wetlands and biodiversity."

At the Alligator River site, the Nature Conservancy has built oyster-shell reefs to slow currents and lessen the impact of waves to stave off erosion. Other efforts include filling man-made drainage ditches and installing gates in others to slow the advance of salt water, and planting salt-tolerant trees such as bald cypress and black gum.

Orrin Pilkey, the Duke University professor who is well-known for his warnings about the vulnerability of North Carolina's coast, says the state should plan for a rise of 7 feet. Meanwhile, models demonstrate that a 1-foot rise in sea level would flood up to 469,000 acres of the Albemarle Peninsula, the article says, and a 20-inch rise might inundate nearly 750,000 acres, more than a third of the peninsula.

Morrison quotes an independent report co-written in 2008 by Jim Titus, an EPA expert who has been considering the dangers of sea-level rise for three decades. About North Carolina, Titus concludes "there is no explicit plan for the fate of most low-lying coastal lands as sea level rises."

Update: The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources said Sunday is has determined that a lightning strike caused the fire on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Earlier speculation focused on arson.

The fire, which started May 5, has consumed some 25,000 acres, but firefighters had it 75 percent contained Sunday night.

Look for updates on the Pains Bay fire here.

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A wildfire burning since Thursday has engulfed nearly 21,000 acres of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge while wind, low humidity and state budget cuts hamper efforts to fight the blaze.

The state-owned CL 215 "Super Scooper," which has the capability to scoop up 1,621-3,000 gallons of water and drop it on fires, is not available to firefighters. It has been grounded to save money, Tom Crews, fire management officer for the refuge and incident commander on this fire, told the press Monday according to the Outer Banks Sentinel.

A Type 1 helicopter, which carries about a third of what the CL 215 can scoop up, was being used to fight the fire from the air Sunday.

The fire began in wetlands between Pains Bay and Parched Corn Bays on the south side of U.S. Highway 264 just south of Stumpy Point, a tiny fishing village on Dare County mainland, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By Tuesday morning it had burned 20,954 acres.

A 10-mile section of U.S. 264 between Stumpy Point and Engelhard was closed Tuesday morning. A temporary flight restriction is in effect in the airspace above the fire.

On Monday the fire was approaching Stumpy Point, according to the Virginian Pilot, and it was possible that the 220 or so residents would be evacuated.

Crews told The Associated Press that arson and human carelessness may have caused the fire. "From the air, there were three fires spotted in one location, and that is suspicious," he said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the death of a red wolf found Monday in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County.

Officials have not said how the wolf died, but they suspect someone is responsible for illegally killing it, the Virginian-Pilot said.

Two red wolves, each wearing a radio collar, were found dead in different parts of Hyde County in April.

The red wolf (Canis rufus), once considered extinct in the wild, is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The maximum criminal penalties for the unlawful taking of a red wolf are one year imprisonment and $100,000 fine per individual.

Contact Sandra Allred at (919) 856-4786 or Jay Eddy at (252) 216-8724 if you have pertinent information about any red wolf death.

Several organizations have combined to offer a reward of up to $10,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the deaths of two radio-collared red wolves that were found in Hyde County in April.

The red wolves, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, were found dead on April 23 near Englehard in the eastern part of Hyde County and on April 27 near Scranton in the western part of Hyde County.

The maximum criminal penalties for the unlawful taking of a red wolf are one year imprisonment and $100,000 fine per individual animal.

The red wolf (Canis rufus) was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. By 1987, enough red wolves were bred in captivity to begin a restoration program at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and today more than 100 red wolves roam their native habitats in five northeastern North Carolina counties.

The Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, and Humane Society National Council member Cathy Kangas have contributed to the reward.

Anyone with information on the deaths of these red wolves or any other red wolves, past or future, should contact Special Agent Sandra Allred at (919) 856-4786, Wildlife Refuge Officer Chris Smith at (252) 926-4021 or North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Officer Robert Wayne at (252) 216-8225.