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Photo by: Steve Genkins

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Every Acre Matters: Connecting Wildlife Habitat Across North Carolina’s Electric Corridors

With more than 85 percent of North Carolina’s land in private ownership, conserving and connecting wildlife habitat requires innovative solutions. As development continues to fragment forests, farms, and natural areas,…

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North Carolina’s New Budget Delivers Historic Wins for Conservation

For the past two years, North Carolina stood alone as the only state in the nation operating without a comprehensive state budget. That uncertainty made long-term planning difficult across government,…

Photos: Red fox family (Vulpes vulpes) by Michael Burkhard, Red Wolf crossing sign on Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Black bear cub (Ursus americanus) by Ginger Barger

Crossings: Habitat Connectivity and A Historic Investment in North Carolina Wildlife Crossings

    “The chief irony of biological annihilation is this: we are both its cause and its solution.” – Ben Goldfarb, Crossings We live in a world with many severed connections –…

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Planting Trees, Growing Community: Charlotte Project Creates Lasting Benefits for People and Wildlife

Imagine a bright April morning in Charlotte: birds singing overhead, neighbors sharing stories and laughter, and the steady sound of shovels breaking ground. The soundtrack of this project wasn’t speeches…

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North Carolina Wildlife Federation Joins Legal Challenge to Defend Endangered Species Habitat Protections

North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF), alongside conservation organizations from across the country, has notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of its intent…

June 20, NCWF Deer, Turkey, and Beyond Private Land Workshop: NC Wildlife Resources Commission and NCWF hosted a workshop to teach landowners how to manage habitat for deer and turkey. The tour began with tips for managing early successional habitat by providing forage and brooding areas and ended with tips for managing forests for game species. Highlights of the day included an albino deer and a predated turkey nest spotted in one of the food plots. The day was a fantastic networking opportunity for landowners and experts alike and a crash course in managing private lands for wildlife.

NCWF In The Field – June, 2026

North Carolina Wildlife Federation staff and Community Wildlife Chapters connected 2,087 people to nature through 63 wildlife and habitat events and activities in June, including: Planting 445 native trees and…

Photo: Jason Walle, NCWF Photo Contest Submission

Heat of the Hunt: How Predators Hunt Their Prey

It’s one of those warm summer evenings in the North Carolina woods. Humidity hangs in the air, and the last rays of sunlight filter through the forest canopy. The chorus…

Photo: Chuck Traxler, USFWS

Hunters, Conservation, and the Making of America’s Wildlife Legacy

When most people think of conservation, they picture national parks, wildlife refuges, endangered species recovery programs, or maybe habitat restoration projects. While all of these facets are essential to wildlife…

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Fox Creek Park: A Story of Restoration, Ecology, and Community

It’s a Sunday afternoon in late March at Fox Creek Park in the heart of Swannanoa. Unseasonably warm without a cloud in the sky. The park is springing back to…

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Seeds Take Root: A Mid-Season Update on NCWF’s Butterfly Highway Seed Trials

NCWF’s Butterfly Highway Seed Trials are in full swing at Daniel Stowe Conservancy. Several months have passed since our first seed packets were sown (November), and the plots in full…

May 16, Frosted Elfin Caterpillar Survey: NCWF Wildlife Habitat Stewards of Northeastern NC went out to Chowan Swamp Game Land to continue their support for frosted elfin monitoring efforts, but this time, they went out in search of bioluminescent elfin caterpillars. Black lights in hand, volunteers scanned the tops of the sundial lupine flowers, where the caterpillars are most often observed feeding, with hopes of seeing a glowing caterpillar on their host plant. No frosted elfin caterpillars were spotted, but volunteers enjoyed the evening sounds of birdsong from species like Eastern whip-poor-wills, summer tanagers, and Chuck-will ’s-widow–North America’s largest nightjar, that breeds in North Carolina’s coastal and piedmont oak and pine woodlands.

NCWF In The Field – May, 2026

North Carolina Wildlife Federation staff and Community Wildlife Chapters connected 1,256 people to nature through 39 wildlife and habitat events and activities in May, including: Planting 257 native trees and…

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In Search of the Frosted Elfin: NCWF Volunteers Survey Rare Butterflies in Northeastern North Carolina

For a few short weeks each spring, one of North Carolina’s rarest butterflies quietly appears on the Coastal Plain. Small, fast-flying, and easy to miss, the frosted elfin is a…