North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality \Secretary Reid Wilson this week announced eight grants awarded through the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership to support projects that advance environmental stewardship and community engagement across the region. “Community engagement is critical to APNEP’s success. While we only received applications for projects in North Carolina for this round of funding, we hope to see more participation from Virginia in future cycles.” Hosted by DEQ, APNEP is a partnership between North Carolina and Virginia and is the largest of the National Estuary Program's 28 estuary partnerships, covering 36 counties in North Carolina and 18 cities and counties in Virginia. APNEP is a collaborative program dedicated to understanding, protecting and restoring the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system in North Carolina and Virginia.