The NC Wildlife Resources Commission is pleased to offer PowerPoint presentations intended to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of our states aquatic resources, help explain the environmental review process, and suggest ways to limit the impacts of future growth in our state. These presentations can be considered condensed versions of those given at the Planning for Growth workshops held last summer. The presentations are complements to the booklet Swimming with the Current.
Three presentations are currently available:
The Importance of Aquatic Ecosystems (approximately 25 minutes)
Environmental Laws and Review Process (approximately 20 minutes)
Planning for Growth: Regional, Local, and Site Level Approaches (approximately 30 minutes)
Any or all of these presentations are available to be presented to interested groups. For more information or to set up a presentation, please contact Vann Stancil (vannstancil@gmail.com).
The Importance of Aquatic Ecosystems
This presentation describes the variety of aquatic organisms found in our state, such as freshwaters mussels, fish, and crayfish and the important ecological roles they play. We discuss the important ecologic services provided by clean water and healthy aquatic systems such as flood control and recreation. We also discuss the primary impacts to aquatic ecosystems such as habitat degradation and invasive species. We wrap things up with a few recent success stories.
Environmental Laws and Review Process
This presentation describes the roles of the various state and federal agencies involved in the environmental review process. We highlight some of the major federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. We also discuss ways to avoid impacts and help the environmental review process go smoothly and we go through a hypothetical scenario.
Planning for Growth: Regional, Local, and Site Level Approaches
As the title suggests, this presentation describes techniques at several levels that can be used to plan for growth. We begin this presentation by discussing changes in our state brought on by population growth and how these changes affect our natural resources. We then discuss the need to identify important natural areas and how effective planning can reduce the impacts from population growth and development. We also discuss best management practices such as Low Impact Development (LID) and riparian buffers.Presented by:
