Press Releases

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources will launch the state’s new Moonshine and Motorsports Trail at a Feb. 2 event at Rockingham Speedway. Launching in 2023 in conjunction with the North Carolina Year of the Trail, the Moonshine and Motorsports Trail will include locations across the state designed to highlight North Carolina’s unique, intertwined history of distilling and stock car racing.        WHAT:  Launch Event for N.C. Moonshine and Motorsports Trail

The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission will hold its regular meeting Thursday, Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. in Room 308 of the Archives and History/State Library Building, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh. The meeting is open to the public During the meeting, commission members will hear presentations and project reports from staff of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and will discuss the scheduling of upcoming meetings and events.

The N.C. Division of Historic Sites and Properties, part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, has received a grant of $468,403.60, which will help pay for programming aimed at closing the digital divide for North Carolina residents. The grant will promote increased availability and accessibility of online content at state historic sites by hiring a part-time digital inclusion coordinator and underwriting broadband subscription costs for visitors at historic sites and properties.

Sam Koch has been named superintendent at Mayo River State Park in Rockingham County, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. Koch has served as interim superintendent at the park since September. A state park superintendent manages the operations and administration of a park and has wide-ranging responsibilities including staffing, planning, environmental education, natural resources management, law enforcement and visitor services.

The deadline has been extended for North Carolina students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions of Higher Education to apply for 10-week paid summer internships within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The new deadline to apply is Feb. 3. 

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is partnering with Hometown Strong and consultancy firm Sound Diplomacy to develop the North Carolina Music Friendly Communities program. Three North Carolina cities have been chosen to participate during the pilot program’s first year – Durham, Shelby and Elizabeth City. 

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is partnering with Hometown Strong and consultancy firm Sound Diplomacy to develop the North Carolina Music Friendly Communities program. Three North Carolina cities were chosen to participate during the pilot program’s first year — Durham, Shelby and Elizabeth City.

North Carolina’s state parks director Dwayne Patterson is retiring from the state agency he has led for the last five years. Patterson will depart early next year. He is the first African American to serve as director of the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. During his tenure, Patterson helped secure historic funding levels to support both state and local parks. He also served the state as the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ chief financial officer and as chief deputy secretary for the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Bill Stanley has been promoted to lead superintendent at Kerr Lake State Recreation Area in Vance and Warren counties, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. A state park superintendent manages the operations and administration of a park and has wide-ranging responsibilities including staffing, planning, environmental education, natural resources management, law enforcement and visitor services.

Allen Williford has been named superintendent of Medoc Mountain State Park in Halifax County, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. A state park superintendent manages the operations and administration of a park and has wide-ranging responsibilities including staffing, planning, environmental education, natural resources management, law enforcement and visitor services. Williford succeeds Kelley King, who retired last spring.