Hoop Pole Creek is one of the last remaining natural refuges for fish, wildlife, and plant life in Atlantic Beach, NC. This 31-acre property was purchased by the NC Coastal Federation in 1997 through a grant from the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, preserving its healthy maritime forest and coastal marshes from planned development that included condominiums, a marina, and a boat basin. The creek serves as a refuge and sanctuary for countless plants and animals and also draws fishermen, locals, and tourists to its year-round self-guided nature trail. Preservation and maintenance of the site are a community effort supported by volunteers, annual trail cleanups, and Atlantic Beach residents. Although pollution has closed many of Bogue Sound’s productive shellfish grounds, Hoop Pole Creek remains one of the few areas where shellfish beds consistently stay open for commercial harvest. In 1998, the NC Coastal Federation began ongoing restoration to create an oyster sanctuary, protect water quality, and restore shoreline habitat through marsh grass plantings, with volunteers playing a major role in restoration and monitoring. These projects also educate students and the community about coastal plants and animals, wetlands, estuaries, water quality, and environmental concerns. Hoop Pole Creek is the only unpolluted tidal creek in densely developed Atlantic Beach, yet it remains vulnerable to polluted stormwater runoff from nearby roads, parking lots, shopping centers, and homes. A large culvert installed before the property’s purchase had carried untreated stormwater directly into the creek, but a project funded through grants from the NC Division of Water Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 319 Water Quality Program redirected the flow across forested land so water and pollutants could infiltrate the soil and plants before reaching the creek. An elevated wooden walkway and a riser structure were added to keep stormwater out of the pipe except during extraordinary floods, helping protect and improve the creek’s water quality.