The campaign trail can be a little rough at times—I end up asking a lot of questions like, “Is it physically possible to drive from Waynesville to Greenville and then back to Durham all in one day?” that kind of drive my scheduler crazy. But one thing I definitely don’t mind is the opportunity to see so much of our state—you meet a lot of great folks and learn a lot about what makes North Carolina so incredible when you’re crisscrossing it every weekend.
(And if you’d like to help the campaign keep enough gas in my car to make that happen, you can click here to rush us a contribution.)
I’ve had the opportunity to get down to the coast a couple of times since we launched, and one thing I’m always struck by when I’m there is how much of our coastal land is set aside as a public trust, for the benefit of all of us. No one can legally stop you from accessing the beach in North Carolina—a common law right that actually goes all the way back to the signing of the Magna Carta, which had a provision forcing King John to allow the public to benefit from England’s waterways and estuaries, though we also codify beach access in our statutes here in NC.
Perhaps the crown jewel of our coastal public lands is the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which preserves over seventy miles of shoreline from Bodie Island to Ocracoke for wildlife preservation and public recreation. Our nation’s first national seashore, it was actually authorized by Congress on this day in 1937 and now sees around three million visitors each year—generating hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity and creating thousands of jobs.
Holding our beaches and waterways as a public trust is a great example of the kinds of things we can do when we care deeply about our communities. Because no one can gate off access to our shore, and because much of it is protected against overdevelopment, we have a resource that all of us can enjoy, and we’ve seen our oceanfront become a critical piece of our state’s economy as a result.
An investment in our state’s natural beauty is really an investment in our people.
When our government invests in our communities—when it works to protect and increase access to the things that make them great—we create opportunity. And when we increase our government’s capacity to invest and foster our ability to pursue big projects like state parks or smart transportation infrastructure or new schools, we’re making an investment in the economic health of our state, setting the stage for our children and our children’s children to reap the rewards of our work.
Our campaign’s message is fundamentally based in hope, John. As I’ve crossed North Carolina, I’ve seen firsthand how voters have been resonating with that message. But the truth is, even if we do keep my gas tank full, it’d be impossible for me to meet every voter in the state and share our message myself. To stay competitive and win so that we can make government a force for good, we’re going to have to get on the airwaves, get in mailboxes, and get our message out to millions of people—so I’m asking you to chip in and help us make that happen. Can I count you in?
