North Carolina Reserve

Location: The reserve is comprised of four sites located near Corolla (Currituck Banks), Beaufort (Rachel Carson) and Wilmington (Masonboro Island and Zeke's Island). Total Acreage: 10,000 Designation: Currituck Banks -1985 Rachel Carson -1985 Zeke's Island - 1985 Masonboro Island - 1991 Lead State Agency: North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Mailing Address: North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve 101 Pivers Island Road Beaufort, NC 28516 Phone: (252) 838-0880

North Carolina's estuarine system is the third largest in the country, encompassing more the two million acres. This system is of prime economic importance to the coastal area -- 90 percent of the commercial seafood species caught in the state spends at least part of their lives in an estuary. The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve was established to preserve these fragile natural areas and the variety of life they support.

The state is representative of two major biogeographic regions located north (Virginian) and south (Carolinian) of Cape Hatteras. Therefore, NOAA and the state of North Carolina created a multi-component reserve with the following sites: Currituck Banks (960 acres near Corolla), Rachel Carson (2,625 acres near Beaufort), Masonboro Island (5,097 acres near Wrightsville Beach) and Zeke’s Island (1,165 acres near Kure Beach).

Highlights from the North Carolina Reserve:
Realtors Get to Know the Nuts and Bolts of Septic Tanks in North Carolina