N.C. Gen. Stat. § 104-12
For the purpose of aiding in the construction of the proposed inland waterway by the United States from the Cape Fear River at Southport to the North Carolina-South Carolina State line, the Secretary of State is hereby authorized to issue to the United States of America a grant to the land located within said inland waterway, right-of-way, which is to be 1,000 feet to 1,750 feet wide insofar as such land is subject to grant by the State of North Carolina, the said grant to issue upon a certificate furnished to the Secretary of State by the Secretary of War, or by any authorized officer of the corps of engineers of the United States Army, or by any other authorized official, exercising control over the construction of the said waterway. Whenever in the construction of such inland waterway within this State, lands theretofore submerged shall be raised above the water by the deposit of excavated material, the land so formed shall become the property of the United States if within the limits of said inland waterway, right-of-way, herein set out 1,000 feet to 1,750 feet and the Secretary of State is hereby authorized to issue to the United States a grant to the land so formed within the limits above specified, the grant to issue upon a certificate furnished to the Secretary of State by some authorized official of the United States, as above provided. If said lands so required for the inland waterway right-of-way shall be marshlands, or sound lands, the title to which has heretofore been vested in the State Board of Education, the Governor of the State, as President thereof, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction as Secretary, are hereby authorized and required to execute proper conveyance to the United States of America for said marshlands or sound lands, free of cost, both to the State and to the United States government, upon a certificate furnished to said Board of Education by the Secretary of War, or by any authorized officer of the corps of engineers of the United States Army, or by any other authorized official exercising control over the construction of the said inland waterway.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 104-12