North Carolina Wildlife Federation

We recognize the importance of both commercial and recreational fishing, but today’s practices are unsustainable. Without much better stewardship, NC’s marine resources will deplete until there’s nothing left for anyone.
NCWF’s statewide Sound Solutions Campaign aims to sustain North Carolina’s marine resources by reforming how our fisheries are managed and by addressing destructive fishing gear, unsustainable harvest levels, and weak habitat protections.
Sound Solutions is working at the state, regional and local levels, using legal maneuvers, legislative remedies, agency rule making procedures, grass roots organizing, marketing and publicity, and coalition building.
NCWF has a balanced, science-based, SOUND approach to the challenges facing our sounds, and we invite you to learn more and join our efforts at www.ncwf.org/conservation-priorities/sound-solutions

Pollinators such as bumblebees, butterflies, and other insects are critical to maintaining North Carolina’s agricultural economy and biological diversity.
The Butterfly Highway is NCWF’s statewide initiative that aims to restore native pollinator habitats to areas impacted by urbanization, land use change and agriculture across North Carolina.
From backyard Pollinator Pitstops to solar farms and utility company rights-of-ways to large-scale roadside habitat restoration, this project is creating a network of native flowering plants to sustain butterflies, bees, birds and other pollen and nectar dependent wildlife. To date, we have collaborated with utility companies, land trusts, and public and private landowners to protect over 30,000 acres of pollinator habitat.
In 2017, NCWF helped form the NC Pollinator Conservation Alliance. We co-chair this coalition of 28 NC-based partner organizations, agencies, universities, and companies. Our goal is to coordinate the work these groups have been doing individually so that together we can accomplish landscape-scale habitat restoration for pollinators.
Learn more at: http://ncwf.org/programs/garden-for-wildlife/butterfly-highway

Great Outdoors University (GoU) is a conservation-based, experiential education program created by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation that brings outdoor adventures to kids ages 6-18 who have limited opportunities to explore the natural world.
For many kids, a GoU experience is the first time they’ve had a chance to connect with the great outdoors – whether it’s exploring a lake by canoe, learning to fish, observing wildlife up close, romping through the woods or mucking about in creeks. Kids learn the importance of conserving special places for wildlife and have the chance to gain new skills, build self-confidence, mentor with positive role models and experience teamwork and hands-on problem solving.
GoU connects over 12,000 kids to nature in profound ways each year and works hand in hand with our 27 partner social service agencies like Boys and Girls Clubs and our 30 destination partners in forests, farms, parks and private lands. We provide all the gear, insurance, transportation, binoculars, dip nets, naturalists and curriculum at no cost to kids or our partner agencies.
Learn more at: http://ncwf.org/programs/great-outdoors-university/

NCWF's Deer Program brings together farmers, sportsmen and women, and community groups to sustainably manage white-tailed deer, reduce deer damage to crops, increase local farm and community revenue and provide hunter-harvested venison to local food banks and shelters.

High numbers of deer can contribute to excessive crop loss on farms, the spread of disease within deer populations and deer-vehicle collisions. With assistance from farmers, hunters, hunt clubs, civic organizations, church ministry groups and businesses, the Farmers and Communities Manage Deer Program supports deer management, donates about 13,000 pounds of venison each year to feed the hungry and serves as a model for farmers and communities across the state struggling with an overabundance of deer.
We are currently working many counties across the state. Learn more at www.ncwf.org/programs/farmers-manage-deer

Unless we begin to protect remaining high quality aquatic habitats and the healthiest native fish populations, we will likely experience an unprecedented series of population declines and species extinctions over the next half-century.
Native Fish Conservation Areas are watersheds where management primarily emphasizes conservation and restoration of native fish and other aquatic species, and their habitats, while also managing compatible recreational and commercial uses.
In 2015 NCWF launched our nation’s first successful Native Fish Conservation Area in the Little Tennessee River Basin. This coalition of 35 state, federal, industry, and local stakeholders is working together to coordinate, prioritize and invest in projects for the greatest long-term conservation of native fish in the Little Tennessee River.
Now beginning its fourth year, this working demonstration is being adopted in other river basins around the region and country. Learn more at: www.ncwf.org/conservation-priorities/little-tennessee-river-native-fish-conservation-area

The ranks of hunters and fishermen in our state number in the millions. The NC Camouflage Coalition is NCWF’s online network of over 200,000 sportsmen and women who monitor and act on issues that affect hunting, fishing and conservation on a local, state and national level.
This Coalition forms an overlying bridge across all sporting groups. Its membership – comprised of hunters and anglers who see themselves as committed and effective voices for conservation – helps protect the sporting heritage by ensuring sound science-based management of our state’s natural resources.
Learn more at: www.ncwf.org/programs/the-north-carolina-camouflage-coalition/

NCWF organizes local voices for conservation into Wildlife Chapters in communities all across NC, and invites everyone to get involved - see if there is one near you, or help start a Wildlife Chapter in your community.
Our Wildlife Chapters serve as a conduit between NCWF and the people of NC helping drive forward NCWF’s statewide initiatives, and, helping local communities harness NCWF’s strengths of education, advocacy, grassroots mobilization, outdoor activities and policy expertise.
Each Wildlife Chapter is uniquely designed to empower local wildlife enthusiasts – including anglers, backpackers, birders, hunters, gardeners and hikers – to have a direct and effective impact on the conservation of wildlife in their local communities and across the state. Our Wildlife Chapters hold nature programs, conduct field trips and work on wildlife projects and issues in their communities.
Learn more at www.ncwf.org/ncwf-chapters