Waterkeepers Carolina members celebrated the winter gathering with a boat cruise on the Cape Fear River.

Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Jill Howell, Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop and Sound Rivers’ Executive Director Heather Deck were in Wilmington this week for Waterkeepers Carolina’s two-day conference to discuss current projects and determine next year’s legislative agenda.

“We had some good conversations about our main campaigns, like bacteria and PFAS sampling, the work we’re doing on CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), as well as setting up our legislative priorities for next year — things we think we can get to move forward legislatively in the next year,” Sam said.

Part of that will be a lobby day in conjunction with the spring Waterkeepers Carolina conference in March.

One of the highlights of the conference was a boat cruise on the Cape Fear River, where the Riverkeepers were introduced to “Ghost Forests,” or forests of dead trees that are the result of sea level rise and saltwater inundation.