VICTOR PILLOW
Above, top to bottom: Clint Morgeson, Madi Polera, and Kyle Rachels
sample fish populations for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission in March 2017. Paddlers with Brevard College’s Voice of
the Rivers expedition are locked through in May 2018. The waters
below Lock and Dam #1 are a favorite fishing spot for Chris Koller.
On a tour of the facility in June 2017, University of North Carolina
Wilmington students learn about the rock arch rapids, constructed
as a fish passage.
There are also a multitude of
studies underway to determine
how to improve the work being
done.
“There is still a lot more to the
picture with fishery restoration,”
Polera says. “Is it where we’re
stocking them, is there a chemical
key that we’re missing, are we just
waiting on that older generation
that knows what to do when they
hit that fish passage to have the
drive to get up there? Is it a water
quality thing, is it a habitat thing?
So all of those different pieces still
need to come together. It’s not just
going to be this passage portion.”
With classes and programs avail-able
to elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as
adults, there are many opportunities to learn about the history,
stewardship, and conservation of the Cape Fear River and the
wildlife that relies on it for survival.
Visitors can stroll along the boardwalk to see local fauna and
flora, including pileated woodpeckers, cormorants, white ibis,
frogs, and snakes. They can check out the rain garden to catch a
glimpse of the bees and butterflies, or visit the fishing pier with
some buddies.
ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION IS REALLY
ABOUT GIVING THEM
A DIFFERENT KIND OF
EXPERIENCE, A WAY OF
VISUALIZING AND
GETTING HANDS-ON
WITH THESE KINDS
OF THINGS SO THAT
WE CAN CREATE
THAT BOND BETWEEN
THEM AND THE
ENVIRONMENT.
ROBERT HERRING VICTOR PILLOW VICTOR PILLOW
37
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