North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper has launched a plan to conserve and restore wetlands that lost state protections in 2023 due to a law aligning with federal wetland rules. On Monday, he signed Executive Order No. 305. This order aims to conserve and restore 1 million new acres of forests and wetlands, and plant 1 million trees in urban areas by 2040. Cooper highlighted the role of North Carolina’s natural resources in combating climate change and flooding, and their contribution to the state’s economy.
Last summer, Cooper tried to stop the Farm Bill from becoming law, but was unsuccessful. This bill includes a provision that limits how the state can protect wetlands. The North Carolina Farm Act of 2023, part of the bill, aligns the state’s wetlands definition with the U.S. Supreme Court’s. The court ruled in May 2023 that the waters of the United States, or WOTUS, only applies to wetlands with a ‘continuous surface connection.’ This ruling removed state protections for over 2 million acres of North Carolina wetlands, including Carolina bays and pocosins, which lack an inlet or outlet.