"BELHAVEN, N.C. — The birds are up with the sunrise — warblers, flycatchers, sparrows and towhees calling across the treetops. Deer browse on tender buds emerging from dense shrubs. Black bears scrounge for roots, insects and other edibles.
It’s an idyllic setting in North Carolina’s Inner Banks, where fields of cotton, soybeans and corn stretch for miles, country roads wend through stands of pines and thousands of bird watchers converge to witness the spring migration.
But it’s what’s underground that has drawn scientists and investors to this 23-square-mile (60-square-kilometer) tract: spongy, dense peat up to 15 feet (5 meters) deep.
They’re here to save it."
Tammy Webber and Joshua A. Bickel report for the Associated Press September 9, 2026.
SEE ALSO:
"Takeaways From AP Story On A Major Effort To Restore Peatland In North Carolina" (AP)
