The University of North Carolina Press

News Bytes

May-July 1998


Dirk Frankenberg on the Nature of North Carolina's Coast

Dirk Frankenberg has spent a lifetime studying coastal phenomena. Brought up on the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, he moved South in the early 1960s and joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974. His courses in oceanography and coastal processes always include field trips to allow students to see firsthand what they have heard about in lectures.

Not everyone visiting the coast is traveling with a marine scientist, though, so Frankenberg has produced two books for visitors and residents who are interested in the natural processes that have shaped, and continue to shape, North Carolina's dynamic southern coast. The Nature of the Outer Banks, published in 1995, highlights the major environmental processes affecting the Banks and provides a mile-by-mile field guide showing ecotourists and everyone who treasures the Outer Banks where they can observe these natural forces at work. The Nature of North Carolina's Southern Coast (1997) provides similar information for the sometimes-neglected southern portion of the state's coastline.

Here Frankenberg discusses his books, environmental issues affecting the North Carolina coastline, and his vision for maintaining the beauty of this fragile region.


News Bytes: Tell us about your books.

Frankenberg: They are designed to encourage readers to understand and explore natural areas of our coast. Each book is organized to provide an understanding of this region, to serve as a guidebook to neat natural areas, and to offer a primer on management issues.

News Bytes: Why did you write the books, and what are your hopes for them?

Frankenberg: I felt I had an obligation to share what I have learned about North Carolina's coasts with the people who gave me the opportunity to study and learn about the coast--i.e., the citizens of North Carolina. My hope is that readers will enjoy the coast more if they understand it better and are directed to interesting natural areas to explore.

News Bytes: Give us a brief overview of some of the pertinent environmental issues of the North Carolina coastline.

Frankenberg: There are two major ones: shoreface erosion and dynamics and storage and concentration of wastes in coastal water bodies. Shoreface erosion creates problems for infrastructure development and survival; beach erosion, dune overwash, inlet migration, and barrier island retreat threaten everything we build on the dynamic shoreface.

Waste in coastal water bodies creates the problem of excessive organic matter and nutrient concentrations, low dissolved oxygen, and fishkills and blooms of noxious algae with potential health consequences for humans.

News Bytes: What have been some of the consequences of the population explosion on the southern coast of North Carolina?

Frankenberg: More people mean more infrastructure at risk along the shoreface, more nutrients and pollutants in the nearshore waters, and more conflicts between natural and human resource management.

News Bytes: How confident are you that our present coastal resource management agenda will preserve the beauty of the coastline for the next 20 to 50 years?

Frankenberg: If I had to pick a number, I'd say I have a 60% level of confidence. That is predicated on the assumption that recent improvements in our management procedures will carry through in the future. We have established a 30% reduction in nitrogen entering the Neuse river--that's a major step in the right direction. We have agreed upon and federal and state agencies are establishing policies that we will not rebuild infrastructure that is in harm's way as a result of eroding shorefaces. Rather, we will relocate it out of harm's way. We have established a trust fund through which the state can purchase undeveloped coastal properties that contribute to high water quality rather than have them developed in a way that would cause water quality to further deteriorate.

News Bytes: What needs to be done to maintain the beauty of the coastline, and how soon do we need to start implementing changes?

Frankenberg: We need to understand the natural processes that have created and sustained the beauty of the coastline and manage human use of coastal resources in ways that are consistent with these natural processes. We have not done so in the past, but we show evidence of recognizing that fact at present. We must start implementing changes in our shoreline infrastructure development and waste water treatment practices immediately if not sooner! Our current problems have been centuries in the making.

We are late in the game of preserving coastal beauty, but we seem educable and increasingly committed to play "catch up" before it's too late.


The Nature of The Outer Banks ($14.95) and The Nature of North Carolina's Southern Coast ($17.95) are available at bookstores or from the University of North Carolina Press. 1-800-848-6224. Say you saw it on our website!


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