Special Reports

  • Conflicts, Ill Will Threaten Red Wolf Recovery

    Angry landowners, public mistrust and unsettled science spurred the recent dramatic policy reversal and continuing threats to end the endangered red wolf recovery program in northeastern North Carolina.

  • Rolling Back the Red Wolf Recovery Effort

    In the first of a two-part series, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered red wolf recovery program, once hailed as a groundbreaking conservation effort, is now in danger of repeal.

  • Estuaries: Protection and Restoration

    North Carolina’s valuable estuaries face a number of threats and water quality has been diminished by pollution and development, but efforts to protect and restore these coastal areas could yield big returns.

  • Estuaries: Understanding Their Vital Roles

    Estuaries, where freshwater from rivers and streams meets the salty ocean, are vital to marine life, the coastal environment and the economy here, and ongoing research has revealed additional benefits.

  • Protecting Habitat Isn’t Always Scary

    Protecting habitat that endangered species need to survive always comes with scary stories about how people will be restricted from using the land. Experts say those fears are almost always overblown.

  • Critical Habitats: What They Are, What They Do

    Putting a plant or animal on the endangered species list isn’t enough to save it. Federal law requires that the habitat a species needs also must be protected. Yet, agencies are often slow to take this necessary step.

  • Navassa: From Guano to Creosote

    A black industrial town in an agricultural and tourist county, Navassa is the “poster child” for environmental justice issues, says an advocate.

  • Navassa: A Century of Contamination

    CRO spends the next three days in Navassa, a predominantly black town in Brunswick County that has been the site of a century of industrial pollution. Today, we relive some of that history and outline the plan for the cleanup.

  • Will Beach Towns Seize Property?

    Town officials hoping to build terminal groins say they don’t plan on taking private property for the needed easements. Eminent domain is politically unpopular and rarely used in North Carolina.

  • Terminal Groins: Easements Needed

    Communities proposing terminal groins may have to get the permission of property owners to build these controversial structures. What happens if they say no? We explore possible answers in this Special Report.