Wetlands Data
The primary source for wetlands data in the United States is the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), which is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The NWI has a Wetlands Mapper and data download offerings on their website. As of December 2008, the NC wetlands data described in the section below are not included. The NWI does, however, solicit contributions(This link is broken. We're working on fixing it) from wetlands data producers.
Coastal North Carolina Wetlands Data
The NC Division of Coastal Management (DCM) has produced wetlands data for the eastern Coastal Plain, including the following counties as shown in the map below:
20 Coastal Counties
Bertie, Beaufort, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico. Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Tyrrell, Washington
Inner Coastal Plain Counties
Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pitt, Sampson, Wayne, Wilson
The DCM Wetlands Download Page(This link is broken. We're working on fixing it) contains links to data files, documentation, and metadata. In addition to data on the location of existing wetlands, data are also available for Potential Restoration and Enhancement sites and NC Coastal Region Evaluation of Wetland Significance (NC-CREWS).
Using NWI data, detailed soils data, and land use/land cover data, DCM identified the location and extent of coastal area wetlands. Modifiers may be applied indicating that they have been drained, cleared of vegetation, or recently cut over.
From the Wetland Type Data Fact Sheet, "These data were created to use in a planning, not a regulatory context. The maps produced from these data are advisory in nature. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and validity of data location and extent, remotely-sensed data have inherent errors and accuracy limits. Surfaces mapped from remotely-sensed data have certain degrees of error. Actual feature boundaries may differ from those from which these statistics were derived. Features smaller than one acre are often omitted at this scale and may not be included in the data." Also, these data, "... are not a substitute for an on-site determination of jurisdictional wetlands."
Potential Restoration and Enhancement sites are non-wetland areas identified as having the greatest ecological potential for performing valuable wetland functions.
Links
DCM Wetlands Page(This link is broken. We're working on fixing it)
Former DCM Wetlands Data website(This link is broken. We're working on fixing it)