Buckridge Costal Reserve Tide Gate Installation
Project Description: APNEP provided financial support to the Division of Coastal Management (DCM) to have a tide gate and appropriately sized culvert installed near Grapevine Landing on the Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge Coastal Reserve in Tyrrell County. Effective installation will restrict unnatural saltwater intrusion. 
Restoration of the wetlands at the Buckridge site has been a primary goal since its acquisition. When increasing stress and mortality was noted on the 4000 acre Atlantic white cedar (AWC) tract on site, it drew the DCM’s first attention, especially due to the rarity of AWC forests. The results of their monitoring suggest that the AWC stress/mortality is caused by a combination of salt intrusion (confirmed as seawater salt, not some other source) and altered hydrologic regime caused by the canal and road network. DCM has decided that addressing saltwater intrusion is their top restoration priority. This is also important as saltwater can break down the peat soils of Buckridge, releasing large amounts of nitrogen, mercury, and a host of heavy metals. In talking with the Division of Marine Fisheries and researchers from ECU, anadromous fish may use the major canals as secondary habitat, so all tide gates are designed to allow for fish passage, as they are now at Lake Mattamuskeet.
Additionally, DCM has recently installed a hydrologic monitoring network along the main canals that will provide the data needed to adaptively manage water levels, helping restore the site while preventing hydrologic trespass.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.ncnerr.org/pubsiteinfo/
siteinfo/buckridge/buck_ridge.html