Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point in Havelock was commissioned in 1941 and for more than 80 years has served as an important hub for Marine Corps aviation. The Air Station and its associated support locations occupy approximately 29,000 acres. Over 38,000 individuals are part of the MCAS Cherry Point community, which includes active duty and retired Marines, the civilian workforce, and their families.
The importance of this installation and its surrounding military operations has underscored the necessity of protecting and stabilizing the eroding shoreline habitat along the Neuse River at MCAS Cherry Point. To achieve this objective, the Coastal Federation worked in collaboration with personnel at MCAS Cherry Point to fund, design, and construct a living shoreline.
The Project
The failure of several bulkheads along the Neuse River led MCAS Cherry Point to implement living shorelines rather than these hardened structures to stabilize the shoreline, reduce erosion, and provide crucial habitat. Overall, the project will construct 12,035 feet of living shoreline, with at least 1,667 feet funded through grants secured by the Federation from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund and the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program administered through the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
Coastal Wildlife Consultants began construction of the 1,667-foot granite sill section in December 2024, with Quible & Associates, now WithersRavenel, overseeing the project. Native Shorelines will plant native plants along the shoreline in the spring of 2025.
