NC Sea Grant Receives State Conservation Honor

Katie Mosher
NC Sea Grant Communications Office

North Carolina Sea Grant received the 2007 Natural Resources Agency of the Year Award as part of the 48th Annual Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards presented February 23 in Research Triangle Park.

Each year the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) requests nominations for the awards to honor individuals, governmental bodies, organizations and others who have exhibited "an unwavering commitment to conservation" in North Carolina.

"These are the highest natural resource honors given in the state," explains Eddie Nickens, NCWF awards committee chairman. "By recognizing, publicizing, and honoring these conservation leaders - young and old, professional and volunteer - the North Carolina Wildlife Federation hopes to inspire all North Carolinians to take a more active role in protecting the natural resources of our state."

Michael Voiland, North Carolina Sea Grant executive director, accepted the award on behalf of the program.

This tribute as Natural Resources Agency of the Year is gratifying and humbling," Voiland said. "It's also a testament to the abilities, efforts and dedication of our veteran staff, our partner organizations, and research faculty within the UNC system, at Duke University, and across the state. "

Chris Elkins of Chapel Hill, chairman of Sea Grant's advisory committee, nominated the university-based program that provides research, educational and outreach projects across a wide spectrum of coastal topics. Sea Grant receives federal funding through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and state matching funds from the N.C. General Assembly.

A research professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Elkins cited the "bang for the buck" that Sea Grant achieves as it tackles issues ranging from fisheries and aquaculture to seafood technology, land-use and water quality, marine education and ecotourism. Such topics often are highlighted in Sea Grant's award-winning Coastwatch magazine.

In 2006-07, Voiland chaired the state's Waterfront Access Study Committee, which at the General Assembly's request provided a series of recommendations to improve access to coastal waters. Legislators responded on several fronts, including the creation of a $20 million Waterfront Access and Marine Industries Fund, which is being administered by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

"I commend Sea Grant for not only its attention to the most pressing coastal issues of 2007, but also for its commitment to coastal science over the past three decades," Elkins said. "With offices in Manteo, Morehead City and Wilmington, along with its headquarters at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, it is firmly grounded in the needs of the coastal communities, as well as some of the strongest marine and coastal science academic research programs in the nation."

North and South Carolina Sea Grant programs also recently added the national network's first climate extension specialist who serves both states from an office in Conway, SC.