Public Meetings Planned for Draft Beach and Inlet Management Plan

The DENR divisions of Coastal Management and Water Resources are developing the state’s first comprehensive Beach and Inlet Management Plan, a systematic management strategy for North Carolina’s 326 miles of oceanfront beaches and 19 active tidal inlet complexes. The plan divides the state’s coast into management regions and sub-regions.

The first set of public input meetings were held in early December and covered the collection of available relevant data, discussion of existing management strategies, and delineation of the management regions and sub-regions. The presentations and public comments from the December meetings are available on the project Web site, www.ncbimp.net.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources will conduct a second set of meetings in March to update the public on the progress of the state’s Beach and Inlet Management Plan, a strategy for managing certain coastal areas.

The current meetings will highlight the management strategies being developed for each region and sub-region together with economic valuation and funding options. As part of these strategies, the divisions of Coastal Management and Water Resources will attempt to incorporate the ecological, economic and socio-political factors affecting beach and inlet management.

The meeting agenda and presentation summary will be available on the project Web site in the week prior to each meeting. This will be the last set of public meetings prior to the scheduled release of the Beach and Inlet Management Plan in May 2009.