COASTLINES VOLUME 18 // ISSUE 4 // Winter 2018
After the Storm An Open Letter from Kim Elliman
President and CEO of Open Space Institute (OSI)
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SI shares in the nation’s heartfelt concern for the communities in North and South Carolina impacted by Hurricane Florence. As floodwaters recede and people trickle back to their homes, we are mindful of the long recovery that lies ahead. In particular, we are thinking about the communities in which we work — where we consider ourselves partners and neighbors. I know it is difficult to think long-term at times like these, but the disturbing media images require us to consider how we, as a society, respond to these intensifying storms. In the struggle against flooding and other severe weather exacerbated by a changing climate, landscape-level conservation remains a key ally in defending our communities and our infrastructure. When kept unspoiled,
Nature Heals
Blooming in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence By Janice Allen, Coastal Land Trust Deputy Director
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ur rosebush is blooming. This spot of natural beauty stands out like a beacon in our otherwise brown and beaten yard strewn with downed trees and soggy debris from our flooded home. This profusion of pink flowers helps lift my spirits. So many of us in Eastern North Carolina were impacted by large and in charge ol’ Flo who visited in mid-September, but we will get through this. We will recover from Hurricane Florence. A friend and kindred spirit recently sent me this wonderful quote to remind me to take time to appreciate nature even in this most difficult of times. Nature heals. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, spring after the winter. . .” Rachel Carson
At the Coastal Land Trust, we are slowly assessing and cleaning up our nature preserves after the hurricane. Sadly, we lost some trees (i.e., many longleaf trees at our Gales Creek Preserve and old oaks at Everett Creek), but we understand there will be regrowth. We know storms are a disturbance that creates gaps in the forest or completely
resets natural succession over a larger area. Some wildlife will benefit from storm-related changes to habitats, some won’t. The wetlands on many of our preserves (like our new 3,000acre Waccamaw Preserve which is 96% wetlands) were covered in many feet of water, but we know this is their Nature Heals, continued on page 2
Hurricane Florence left devastation in its wake such as this damage at the Coastal Land Trust’s Gales Creek Preserve.
Letter, continued on page 2
www.CoastalLandTrust.org
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