6 December 2025 Newsletter
Speak up on Wilmington Harbor project!
Cape Fear Sierra Club requests your urgent attention to the proposed Wilmington Harbor 403 Dredging Project.
The public comment period to the NC Division of Coastal Management (DCM) closes on Dec. 20.
The proposed project will substantially impact the lower Cape Fear region, as summarized in the letter to the DCM linked below, which addresses the severely flawed Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
In essence, the DEIS outlines a plan that is fundamentally inconsistent with DCM's charter "... among NC's most valuable resources are its coastal lands and waters ... which should be preserved and protected."
The DCM is taking public input until Dec. 20, so we urge you to use our letter to help craft comments that you can send by mail or email before the deadline. Speak up with us: Numbers make a difference!
Thank you in advance for your support.
Richard Eggeling, Chair
Cape Fear Sierra Club
Submit by email to:
Federalconsistencycomments@deq.nc.gov
Subject: Wilmington Harbor 403 Dredging Project
Or snail mail to:
Division of Coastal Management
ATTN: Federal Consistency Coordinator
400 Commerce Avenue
Morehead City, NC 28557
Here is a letter with the salient points. Create your own based on what is important to you.
Speak Up NOW for Wetlands
Our wetlands are under attack - AGAIN! The EPA has proposed a Polluted Water Rule, which eliminates more streams and wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act. This rule hands corporate polluters a license to damage our country's streams and headwaters. The proposed rule cuts protections for 80% of wetlands and 5 million miles of streams. Major rivers and lakes cannot be effectively protected from pollution if the small streams that flow into them are unprotected. This rule ignores science and puts our drinking water at risk for millions of people.
Americans overwhelmingly say that protecting the water in our nation's lakes, streams and rivers is important. Wetlands protect our communities during floods, improve our water quality, provide safe drinking water and provide wildlife habitat.
Please take action now! Use our template letter to send your comments to the EPA, telling them to reject this change to protections for our waterways.
Monthly Speaker Presentation
When: Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 6:15 pm
Where: Halyburton Park Event Center
Speaker: Isabelle Shepherd, Executive Director of the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees
Topic: The growing role of policy in preserving our region’s forests
As Executive Director of the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees, Isabelle leads efforts to protect and plant trees to combat canopy loss, mitigate climate change, and enhance community well-being. Before joining ACFT, Isabelle served for five years as Development Director and later interim Executive Director of the Historic Wilmington Foundation. Isabelle holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
The presentation will trace the Alliance’s evolution — from planting thousands of trees to confronting the deeper, structural drivers of canopy loss. She will share how ACFT is branching out into advocacy with their Code & Canopy policy guide for local governments and developers, pressing for land use policies that sustain our urban canopy and safeguard mature trees. Putting shovels in the ground is one level of tree preservation. But policy on paper — the development codes and zoning decisions that shape our built environment — is another. She will explore how these policies intersect with environmental justice, climate resilience, and community health. And also share practical ideas for how we, as residents and advocates, can speak up for trees and the people who need them most.
PLEASE CLICK HERETO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT. EVENTS PAGE
December Outing
Thursday, Dec. 11 - 9:30 am
The next CFSC outing is a visit to a local weather station in Wilmington. Carpooling is encouraged. Learn about the ins and outs of forecasting, weather instruments and how climate change is affecting our area.
Space is very limited so please register quickly to secure a space. Please email capefearsierraclub@gmail.com if you need to cancel or if the registration is full. We can add you to the wait list.
To register, click here. EVENTS PAGE
Carolina Beach Clean-Up
Join Plastic Ocean Project for a fun afternoon of cleaning up at Carolina Beach State Park on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 12 - 3 pm. The cleanup event will begin with a short educational program including the history of Lily Pond and Park. Lily Pond was a dumping site for trash from 1920-1960, before the area became a State Park. Although this is not an official Sierra Club Event, we have helped with these cleanups in the past and it has been great fun. We encourage you to join in if you can.
Everyone will meet at the Visitor Center and the group will then walk together to Lily Pont which is about a 20 minute walk. Volunteers are welcome to stay for any duration throughout the 3 hour event. No need to signup, just show up.
Since 2022, POP has helped remove over 9,550 pounds of trash from Carolina Beach State Park, earning 382 trees for Plastic Ocean Project's Trees4Trash initiative.
It is recommended that you bring work gloves and a small trowel with which to dig. EVENTS PAGE