The North Carolina Association of Environmental Professionals will hold NC Wetland Assessment Method meeting on November 15, 2011 – Social Hour @ 5:00, Dinner @ 6:00, Speakers @ 6:30 at the Front Street Brewery, 9 North Front Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. Presenter will be Emily Hughes, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office. The North Carolina Wetland Assessment Method (NCWAM) is a qualitative approach to assessing wetland functions that was developed by local field experts to help provide consistency among regulatory agencies, consultants and the community.  It identifies 16 different wetland types and rates them according to 3 major functions: hydrology, water quality and habitat.  The field assessment form is intended to be a rapid (15 minute) procedure that takes into consideration natural and human stressors on site as well as in surrounding land uses. The intention is to use NCWAM as a regular component to pre-project planning, permitting and enforcement processes and to determine fair and reasonable compensatory mitigation for wetland impacts. NCSAM is the stream equivalent that follows similar goals and methodologies as NCWAM.  New stream mitigation guidelines and monitoring protocols are currently undergoing review and will be incorporated into NCSAM process. For more information and to register, click here.