4.4 Terrestrial Communities
• Make eforts to address beach lighting, sand fencing, sand pushing, and beach stabili- zation issues so that sea turtles have a better chance for nesting success. • Continue the use of bird decoys and sound broadcasts to attract colonial nesting birds to better nesting sites. • Continue coordination to infuence where dredged material is placed to be most benef- cial/least detrimental to beach-nesting birds, foraging shorebirds, and sea turtles. • Reduce disturbance from of-road vehicles, people, and their pets on coastal beach and dune systems. Continued support for and enhanced coordination among coastal man- agement agencies regarding existing restrictions and programs aimed at regulating beach activities is also critical. Conservation Programs and Partnerships. Conservation programs, incentives, and part- nerships should be utilized to the fullest extent in order to preserve high-quality resources and protect important natural communities. Protective measures that utilize existing regu- latory frameworks to protect habitats and species should be incorporated where applicable. Land conservation or preservation can serve numerous purposes in the face of anticipated climate change, but above all, it promotes ecosystem resilience. • Continue coordination with waterbird working groups such as the North Carolina Waterbird Committee, the Piping Plover Recovery Team, the American Oystercatcher Working Group, and the Royal Tern Working Group. • Implement future recommendations from the North American Waterbird Conservation Plan (Kushlan et al. 2002) .
4.4.16 Sand, Shell, and Wrack Active Shoreline 4.4.16.1 Ecosystem Description
North Carolina’s Outer Banks are long and mostly narrow barrier islands formed by nat- urally occurring ofshore sand or sediment deposited over geological time. Tey are sep- arated from the mainland by relatively shallow sounds, bays, tidal inlets, or the mouth of large river systems that drain to the Atlantic coast (NOAA 2014) . Maintenance dredging of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway and various tidal inlets along North Carolina’s coast produces sand that has been used to create artifcial spoil islands located near the natural barrier islands. Te active sand, shell, and wrack shoreline is comprised of sand, small shells, shell debris, seaweed, and other marine detritus deposited between the low and high tide line. Water movement within the swash zone (Kelly and Dodd 2010) and saltwater inundation from tidal
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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