Sandra Harris

Sep 1, 2001

PEOPLE & PLACES: Cliffs of History

From atop the trail, the view is typical of many mountain forests. Lush foliage, steep inclines and animals scurrying about. But this is not a mountain forest. This is the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park in the small town of Seven Springs, near Goldsboro.

Mar 1, 2001

FISHING FOR CREDIT: ECU Students Explore Lake Mattamuskeet

That's good news to Roger Rulifson, East Carolina University professor of biology and director of the Field Station for Coastal Studies at the Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. He's hoping to begin research to help pinpoint — and control — a parasite that is taking a heavy toll on the once abundant eel fishery.

Mar 1, 2001

THE GREAT DIVIDERS: OLD-FASHIONED DRAWBRIDGES DWINDLING ALONG COAST

Perched in a tiny wood building high on the edge of the Wrightsville Beach bridge, Nancy Cayton focuses her binoculars south toward the Intracoastal Waterway.

Mar 1, 2001

SEA SCIENCE: Oyster Reef Restoration: A Sound Investment

The state invests around $700,000 each year restoring ever-diminishing oyster reefs. But the total annual oyster harvest is not much more than that — about $800,000 to $900,000 — and most does not come from restored reefs, according to Mike Marshall, fisheries biologist for the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). The math can make oyster reef restoration appear less than profitable.

Dec 1, 2000

A HISTORIAN’S COAST: Goshen’s Land

As I drive east on Highway 58, the last landmark before the community of Goshen is the E. E. Bell farm. A long avenue of oaks and cedars veils an antebellum manor house with classical revival columns. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the 2,000-acre cotton plantation once belonged to James C. Bryan, Jones County's largest planter.

Dec 1, 2000

NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: Coyote Influx Threatens Red Wolf Survival

Coyotes. In popular conscious­ness, they slink through sagebrush and sand under a desert sky, frighten ranchers' cattle and howl at the Arizona moon. In truth, coyotes are just as likely to prowl under a North Carolina sky — and biologists with the federal red wolf re­establishment program are the ones who are howling.

Dec 1, 2000

The Vanishing Oyster: Stocks Are Declining in North Carolina

While Culpepper is laboring in the river, many of his neighbors are steaming oysters on a gas grill for the Mill Creek Oyster Festival. For the past 26 years, the festival has celebrated the delectable oysters harvested on the Newport River. Each year, people flock to the festival to get bowls of steaming clam chowder and plates full of fried seafood and steamed oysters.

Dec 1, 2000

TREASURES OF CHICAMACOMICO: Architectural Gem Yields Rich Historical Bounty

Mention shipwrecks and treasures along the North Carolina coast, and most folks think of gold coins or ship’s cannons. But near Rodanthe, one treasure has more to do with the…

Nov 2, 2000

ANGLING FROM PIERS: Fall is Prime Fishing Season in North Carolina

As the sun begins to cast a metallic glaze over the deep blue water around Nags Head Fishing Pier, Jessica Massie dangles her rod over the wooden railing into more…

Oct 1, 2000

A HISTORIAN’S COAST: The Book of Nature

How the book ended up in Illinois remains a mystery. But that manuscript turned out to be the only surviving copy of Parker's Recollections in any library or archive in the United States.