The fall and winter hunting seasons are an important part of my life, as they are for so many others. For duck hunting, cold and wet are two ideal conditions, and we’ve already had plenty of both here in eastern North Carolina as January and duck hunting season wound down to a close. Hunting is so much a part of our way of life that it’s enshrined in our state constitution. Thankfully, North Carolina is blessed with an abundance of natural areas and public lands to exercise that right.

One of the places I enjoy hunting is in Hyde County, home to Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is named for its pocosin—peat-filled, boggy areas with organic soils. These wetlands, along with open-water areas and well-managed agricultural lands, provide excellent stopover habitat and high-energy food for migrating waterfowl and a host of local game species like deer, turkey, and black bear.

Peat can be found throughout Hyde County and across North Carolina’s coastal plain. In a lot of areas, these soils have been drained and dried out. Unfortunately, due to its rich carbon content, dried peat is highly flammable. In the past several years, we’ve experienced several huge wildfires in these dried peatlands. For example, the Great Lakes fire in Croatan National Forest in 2023 burned more than 32,000 acres and came close to the City of New Bern. Smoke from the fire darkened the skies over subdivisions on the south side of the city.

Today, public lands managers are partnering with conservation groups, such as The Nature Conservancy, to restore peatlands and to protect our natural resources.  Restoration involves rewetting peatlands through water management infrastructure. The benefits of restoration are numerous. When re-saturated, peat soils are much less flammable, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. These restored peatlands also provide important habitat for hunting, which in turn supports local economies and our way of life. And healthy peatlands store and filter vast quantities of rainwater, which helps reduce flooding from intense storms and improves water quality.

As we close out another of North Carolina’s winter hunting seasons, and time with our families, I’m reminded of the value of nature for clean water, clean air, our communities, and our way of life. I want my children, and our future generations to preserve and enjoy our natural resources, just as I have during my lifetime.  It is important that we continue to support efforts to steward our state’s natural places. Protecting and restoring our state’s peatlands is a part of this effort and one that all North Carolinians can support.

Sen. Danny Britt represents District 24 in the North Carolina State Senate.