This nonprofit is featured in the WALTER Guide to Giving 2026, a special advertising feature that highlights Raleigh and Wake County organizations that depend on holiday-season support.

North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) protects, conserves, and restores the wildlife and habitats that make the state extraordinary. Through science, community collaboration, and an all-encompassing, non-partisan approach, this organization tackles urgent threats to wildlife, most notably habitat loss and species decline. NCWF brings North Carolinians together, regardless of their differences, around a simple belief: That the state’s natural resources belong to no one and yet are the responsibility of everyone to protect for future generations.

Today, that responsibility is especially urgent along the coast. North Carolina’s marine fisheries are in trouble. Since the Fisheries Reform Act passed 30 years ago, fish stocks including weakfish, Southern flounder, spot, croaker and blue crab have experienced significant declines. NCWF and other conservation advocates have pushed for science-based solutions to rebuild stocks, protect nursery habitats and reduce destructive bycatch.

Recent developments have underscored the need for change. A four-year independent study commissioned by the General Assembly identified significant shortcomings in the health and management of North Carolina’s fisheries.

Then, in August, a Wake County Superior Court ruling found that the state had failed to meet its legal obligations to protect North Carolina’s coastal fisheries for the public. The decision followed a six-week trial and years of litigation brought by the Coastal Conservation Association North Carolina and 86 citizens.

For NCWF, the path forward requires systemic reform: stronger scientific oversight, more responsive management, protection of critical nursery habitats and meaningful reductions in bycatch from large-scale, inshore bottom shrimp trawling.

Now is the time to rebuild iconic fish stocks, restore coastal ecosystems and protect the resource today so future generations don’t curse those of the present.

With public support, NCWF aims to secure the state’s seagrass meadows, safe-guard its sea life, sustain its seafood and save its sounds.

For more information, visit ncwf.org

Keep exploring the Guide to Giving: Next up, Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) — or see all 18 nonprofits.

A version of this article originally appeared in the November 2026 issue of WALTER Magazine.