Have you been to Harkers Island lately? What images come to mind? Wind-shaped oaks, sandy lanes, wooden skiffs in various stages of construction in side yards, stewed hard crabs and conch chowder at the Island Restaurant (known as “Liston’s” locally), and small trawlers in the harbor?
Harkers Island is but one example along the coastal plain of North Carolina. You name it, wealth is changing it — Ocracoke, Carolina Beach, Calabash, Bayboro, Sea Level, Columbia. On the beach and up the rivers, small village life and rural austerity wane beside gated communities, subdivisions and eight-bedroom, nine-bath “rental machine” structures — nine toilets in one waterfront house, multiplied by how many houses? Whatever the math, that’s a lot of flushing, and along with an increase in asphalt, fertilized lawns and marinas it is no wonder we are losing productive shellfish beds every year.
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