THANK YOU to our volunteers who helped to rake around Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity trees!! Friends, volunteers and staff of Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge along with the SC Wildlife Federation hosted a workday at the Refuge on Saturday, December 10, 2016. The workday is an annual project of the SC Wildlife Federation. Volunteers learned about refuge wildlife as they helped conserve and protect valuable natural resources. Projects included raking around red-cockaded woodpecker trees to exclude them from prescribed burns, maintaining trails, installing trail signs, and building information kiosks.

Established in 1939, Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge contains rolling sand hills dominated by the longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem. Along with the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, the refuge is home to more than 190 species of birds, 42 species of mammals, 41 species of reptiles, and 25 species of amphibians. More than 800 species of plants have been identified on the refuge, including rare species of pitcher plants, Well’s pixie-moss, and the white-wicky.

The Friends of Carolina Sandhills NWR is a group of citizens dedicated to supporting the role of the refuge in protecting and preserving the longleaf-wiregrass ecosystem; promoting the enjoyment and responsible use of the refuge by the public; and engaging in educational and civic activities to promote the refuge and wise stewardship of its resources.