Keep South Carolina Wild

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Costa Rica Birding 2026

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By Sara Green, SCWF Executive Director

Earlier this month, SCWF took an amazing group of birders on a fantastic trip to Costa Rica! I got to tag along and help with logistics, and Jay Keck, our Industry Habitat Manager, speaks Spanish in addition to being a bird expert – so he was a great bird guide! These annual SCWF trips to Costa Rica help to tie together conservation efforts here in South Carolina with those in Costa Rica where several neotropical migrants spend their winters and/or migrate through Central America. We were inspired by the intentional emphasis that Costa Rica places on ecotourism, carefully managing wildlife preserves and training guides to take tourists to see the beautiful landscapes and incredible biodiversity while not jeopardizing the pristine areas.

Our group was excited to explore the northern, mountainous part of Costa Rica together, and we saw amazing birds and other wildlife. They had a variety of levels of birding experience, some chose to focus more on photography or hiking, and some checked “lifers” off their extensive bird lists.

On this trip, we ended up with 162 species of birds (see entire list below), including 13 species of hummingbirds and 4 species of kingfishers! We also saw a few tapirs, howler monkeys, caimans, coatis, red-eyed treefrogs, eyelash vipers and even two fer-de-lances!

The wonderful nature-based La Carolina Lodge was our home base, and we took day trips to birding hot spots in the Guanacaste Region. The Lodge was built from wood on the property, and our meals were prepared deliciously with fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat from their farm and greenhouse. Every day, the staff would build fires for cooking and heating hot tubs, and they lit candles which lined the paths in the evenings, producing a beautiful and relaxing atmosphere to end the day. The sounds of the Montezuma oropendola were delightfully ever-present during the day, and toucans and honeycreepers came to the fruit feeders.

Montezuma oropendola at feeders by Jeff & Cindy Hekking

For our first day of birding, we stayed right there on the grounds of the Lodge – there were so many amazing habitat types and edges there! We hiked through meadows where horses and cows grazed, along the forested edges of the creek, and through the property’s numerous gardens. We met our amazing local guide, Jorge, from Bijagua Birdwatching, who was a wealth of knowledge about birds, as well as many plants, insects, etc., and the culture of the area. He brought along a spotting scope to allow us all to have a great view of the birds. This property was a great location for our group to begin to recognize many of the common birds at a leisurely pace.

The Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge was our destination for day two, and we were treated to a boat ride through the Caño Negro Wetland – one of the most dynamic and biodiverse ecosystems in Costa Rica. Traveling to this Refuge allowed us to see numerous water birds that we would not otherwise have seen on this trip – bare-throated tiger heron, boat-billed heron, black-necked stilts, jabaroo, and four species of kingfishers. This is where we saw numerous caimans and iguanas, in addition to a couple green basilisks and white-faced capuchin monkeys.

One of four species of kingfishers we saw – photo by Tracy Nunnery

Day three took us to the Cataratas Bijagua Lodge which is set on the lush slopes of the Miravalles Volcano and the banks of the Bijagua River in the Guanacaste Province. The parking lot was surrounded by a garden which attracted a great variety of hummingbirds and the lodge had hummingbird feeders which gave us great looks at them up close. Highlights there were the violet saberwing and the black-crested coquette.  We saw a white hawk perched on a low tree in the gardens for us to easily see and marvel at. A hike to see the Bijagua River waterfall tired us all out, and we had time to rest in the afternoon back at La Carolina Lodge.

Violet sabrewing, photo by Tracy Nunnery

On day four, we drove a short distance to Tapir Valley, which is carefully managed for the native, nocturnal mammals for which the preserve was named. Upon arrival, we quickly hiked to catch a glimpse of 2 tapirs before they bedded down for the day. We then visited some areas in the valley where we saw several different species of hummingbirds (highlight – a snowcap!), and then our group was treated to delicious snacks at an overlook where we watched a great diversity of birds at the fruit feeders. We then continued the hike around the valley and saw many more new birds, another highlight was the barred antshrike, both male & female! On the way back to the Lodge, we stopped in the nearby town of Bijagua for souvenirs, snacks, and cash for tips. We were treated to a night hike back at Tapir Valley later that evening, and saw a tapir out in the open feeding, as well as several species of frogs, lizards and snakes!

Night hike at Tapir Valley, group members observing a tapir browsing, photo by Sara Green

The fifth day was a planned “free” day and folks were free to make arrangements to visit nearby cocoa farms, go horseback riding or zip lining, rent a car and travel to another area, etc. Some folks went to visit Rio Celeste, Costa Rica’s most famous turquoise waterfall. Others went to the cocoa farm, and some went back to Catarata Bijagua for more birding, where they spotted a sloth, too!

Group members visited Rio Celeste, photo by Jeff Hekking

Each of those days, we rose early to go birding, usually taking “breakfast” with us in the form of granola bars, fruit and nuts. We’d typically be back to the Lodge by early- to mid-afternoon to rest and cool off in the river before dinner. Most days included 5+ hours of birding, 2-4 miles of hiking (sometimes with considerable elevation change and uneven footing), and we ended up with light rain each day, even though it was the dry season. We carried lots of water and snacks, and found some incredible places to eat when we were away from the Lodge.

Candlelit dinner at La Carolina Lodge, photo by Sara Green

The Lodge does not have air-conditioning, but every room has a ceiling fan and at least one floor fan, and multiple screened windows to help with airflow. The creek that runs through the property is nice and cold and refreshing, and has easy access by stairs. Dips in the creek, plenty of showers, and all the fans and open windows allowed us to keep cool. The beds also have mosquito nets above them, and I figured they were there for a reason, so I used them every night. But, we did not have much of an issue at all with insects, either at the Lodge or on any of our excursions.

This trip is definitely geared toward birding – while we did stop to check out all mammals and reptiles, we did not spend much time on all of the amazing tropical plants along our hikes. Our guides Jorge and Jay were very focused on helping the group see as many different birds as possible.

Here is the complete list of birds from our trip:

  1. Red-billed pigeon
  2. Short-billed pigeon 
  3. Pale-vented pigeon
  4. Ruddy ground dove
  5. White-winged dove 
  6. White-tipped dove
  7. Common Squirrel Cuckoo (heard)
  8. Groove-billed ani
  9. Southern lapwing
  10. Russet-naped wood rail
  11. Black-crowned night heron
  12. Green heron
  13. Tricolored heron
  14. Great blue heron
  15. Little blue heron
  16. Boat-billed heron
  17. Bare throated Tiger heron
  18. Great egret
  19. Snowy egret
  20. Wood stork
  21. Jabaroo 
  22. Broad-winged hawk
  23. Yellow-headed caracara
  24. Crested caracara
  25. Great black hawk
  26. Gray hawk
  27. White hawk
  28. Roadside hawk
  29. Black-collared hawk
  30. Laughing falcon
  31. Swallowtail kite
  32. White kite
  33. Osprey
  34. Keel-billed motmot
  35. Ringed kingfisher
  36. Amazon kingfisher
  37. American Pygmy kingfisher
  38. Green kingfisher
  39. Gray-headed chachalaca
  40. Crested guan
  41. Great curacao 
  42. Black-bellied whistling duck
  43. Muscovy duck
  44. Blue-winged teal
  45. Least grebe
  46. Sun grebe
  47. Tropical cormorant
  48. Anhinga
  49. White ibis
  50. Green ibis
  51. Spotted sandpiper
  52. Northern jacana
  53. Black-necked stilt
  54. Purple gallinule
  55. White-collared swift
  56. Lesser swallow-tailed swift
  57. Long-billed hermit
  58. Stripe-throated hermit 
  59. Scaly-breasted hummingbird
  60. Rufous-tailed hummingbird 
  61. White-necked jacobin
  62. Green hermit
  63. Black-crested coquette 
  64. Violet-headed hummingbird 
  65. Violet saberwing
  66. Crowned wood nymph
  67. Blue-throated golden tail
  68. Bronze-tailed plumeleteer 
  69. Snowcap
  70. Cattle egret
  71. Black vulture
  72. Turkey vulture 
  73. King vulture
  74. Gartered trogon
  75. Slaty-tailed trogon
  76. Rufous-tailed jacamar
  77. Collared aracari
  78. Yellow-throated toucan
  79. Keel-billed toucan
  80. Black-cheeked woodpecker
  81. Hoffman’s woodpecker
  82. Golden-olive woodpecker
  83. Smokey brown woodpecker
  84. Orange-chinned parakeet
  85. Crimson-fronted parakeet
  86. Olive-throated parakeet
  87. Red-lored amazon
  88. White-fronted amazon
  89. Southern mealy amazon
  90. Chestnut-backed antbird
  91. Barred antshrike
  92. Streak-headed woodcreeper
  93. Masked tityra 
  94. Common Tody flycatcher
  95. Black-headed tody flycatcher
  96. Cinnamon becard
  97. Yellow olive flatbill 
  98. Black phoebe
  99. Mistletoe tyrannulet
  100. Yellow tyrannulet
  101. Bright-rumped Attila 
  102. Great kiskadee
  103. Social flycatcher 
  104. Pyratic flycatcher 
  105. Dusky-capped flycatcher 
  106. Ringed flycatcher 
  107. Great-crested flycatcher
  108. Yellow-bellied flycatcher 
  109. Yellow-bellied elaenia 
  110. Long-tailed tyrant 
  111. Tropical kingbird
  112. Tropical mockingbird
  113. Philadelphia vireo
  114. Lesser greenlet 
  115. Northern rough-winged swallow
  116. Southern rough-winged swallow
  117. Mangrove swallow 
  118. Blue & white swallow
  119. Southern house wren
  120. Bay wren
  121. White-breasted wood wren (heard)
  122. Nightingale wren (heard)
  123. Clay-colored thrush
  124. Wood thrush
  125. Yellow-throated euphonia 
  126. Black-striped sparrow
  127. Orange-billed sparrow
  128. Montezuma oropendola
  129. Great-tailed grackle
  130. Nicaraguan grackle
  131. Melodious blackbird
  132. Baltimore oriole 
  133. Mourning warbler
  134. Yellow warbler
  135. Chestnut-sided warbler 
  136. Buff-rumped warbler 
  137. Black-and-white warbler
  138. Tennessee warbler
  139. Olive-crowned yellow throat 
  140. Louisiana waterthrush
  141. Northern waterthrush
  142. Prothonotary warbler
  143. Tropical parula (heard)
  144. Scarlet-rumped tanager
  145. Crimson-collared tanager
  146. Blue gray tanager
  147. Palm tanager
  148. Summer tanager
  149. Golden-hooded tanager
  150. Red-throated ant tanager
  151. Carmiol’s tanager
  152. Red-legged honeycreeper
  153. Shining honeycreeper
  154. Green honeycreeper
  155. Rufous-winged tanager 
  156. Blue-black grosbeak
  157. Black-faced grosbeak
  158. Variable seedeater
  159. Morelet’s seedeater
  160. Bananaquit
  161. Yellow-faced grassquit 
  162. Buffthroated saltator 



    Photos by Tracy Nunnery

Working for Wildlife Day Brings Volunteers Together for Conservation Action

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Volunteers, partners, and staff gathered once again for the annual Working for Wildlife Day, a hands-on volunteer event hosted by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation in partnership with the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge. The event continues a long-standing tradition of conservation work at the refuge, where volunteers help maintain and protect habitat for native wildlife.

This year’s workday brought together a dedicated group of volunteers ready to roll up their sleeves and make a difference. After gathering at the refuge headquarters in the morning, participants split into teams and headed out to tackle a variety of stewardship projects across the refuge.

 

 

Supporting Habitat and Wildlife

One of the tasks of the day involved raking around Red‑cockaded Woodpecker cavity trees. This endangered species depends on mature longleaf pine forests for nesting, and maintaining the areas around their cavity trees helps protect these sites during prescribed burns and keeps habitat conditions suitable for the birds.

Another group of volunteers helped check and maintain duck nest boxes throughout the refuge. These boxes provide important nesting opportunities for species such as the Wood Duck, which rely on cavities near wetlands to raise their young.

Volunteers also assisted with installing and maintaining signage around the refuge. These signs help guide visitors, protect sensitive areas, and share important information about the wildlife and habitats found within the refuge.

 

A Landscape Worth Protecting

The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge protects a unique sandhills ecosystem dominated by longleaf pine and wiregrass habitat. The refuge supports an incredible diversity of wildlife, including more than 190 species of birds and dozens of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

By assisting with habitat maintenance and conservation projects, volunteers play an important role in helping refuge staff protect these species and the landscapes they depend on.

Thank You to Our Volunteers

Events like Working for Wildlife Day would not be possible without the dedication of volunteers who give their time and energy to conservation. Their efforts help ensure that South Carolina’s wildlife and wild places remain healthy for generations to come.

We are grateful to everyone who joined us this year and helped make the day a success. Whether raking around woodpecker trees, checking duck boxes, or installing signage, each project contributed to the continued stewardship of this special place.

We hope to see everyone again next year for another day of working together for wildlife!

 

 

Prothonotary Warbler designated State Migratory Bird

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SCWF and our partners in the SC Conservation Coalition are celebrating the passage of SC Senate Bill 383—the “Prothonotary Warbler Recognition Act”—which designates the brilliant yellow, swamp-dwelling songbird as South Carolina’s official migratory bird. The legislation passed the South Carolina House and Senate unanimously, and is now headed to Gov. Henry McMaster to be signed into law.

The Prothonotary Warbler, a bright yellow bird with a striking dark eye, is often one of the rock stars of our birding outings.  As part of their natural behavior, they are often seen foraging and nesting right at eye level, and often in close proximity to trails, giving birdwatchers a close view of this beautifully colored bird.  

During the spring and summer months, the Prothonotary Warbler calls South Carolina home to feast upon insects, spiders, and snails located in and around our forested wetlands, before returning to their wintering grounds as far south as Colombia, South America. They depend on healthy swamps and waterways, illustrating the need to protect our state’s wetlands. 

Uncommon among warblers, this bird is a cavity nester, which presents us a great opportunity to help save this bird whose population has declined approximately 42% over the last 50 years. SCWF staff, volunteers, and partners have installed over 600 boxes on state, federal, and private land all throughout South Carolina over the past 4 years for this species.  

As South Carolina’s human population continues to grow, all wildlife face continued threats from habitat destruction due to pollution, deforestation, and invasive species.  This designation will help bring awareness to this amazingly bright and beautiful bird, and how we can all make a difference for wildlife by protecting and enhancing its habitat.

SC third graders studying the SC State Symbols will now get the opportunity to learn more about the iconic prothonotary warbler, its long-distance migration, and its habitat needs.

The song of the Prothonotary warbler is said to sound like: “sweet, sweet, sweet!”  This designation will help us ensure that the “sweet” song of the Prothonotary Warbler is a sound our swamps and forested wetlands will have for generations to come.

Best places to see Prothonotary Warblers:

 

Banner image by David Ramage.

Forks, Knives, & Spoonbills art contest winner

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We are excited to announce that Liz List is the winner of the 2026 Forks, Knives, & Spoonbills art contest for her piece, Gathered Around the Plate! This statewide competition, hosted by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, invited local artists to design unique artwork featuring the six imperiled wildlife species highlighted in this year’s conservation dinner series. This year’s featured species include the Eastern whip-poor-will, golden-winged warbler, green heron, prairie warbler, yellow-billed cuckoo, and of course, the roseate spoonbill, whose conservation story inspired this dinner series.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their creative work and helped make this contest our largest so far! We sincerely appreciate every artist who participated. The imaginative ways you brought this year’s featured species to life are truly inspiring.

Winning Entry

About the winning image:

Because I work from photos, half the challenge is to be in the right place at the right time to capture an image that I can transform into a painting. The other half of the challenge is also the fun part. Painting often takes me right back to those precious encounters with birds and nature. My love of birds began when I was in the 8th grade and first experienced bird watching with my science teacher. I am especially fond of Canada Geese because they remind me of childhood trips to Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin to view the geese in migration.

When it comes to painting, I am fascinated by reflections and inspired by textures. In my “real life” job, I teach art at our state school for the blind, and much of my work involves using tactile materials that enable my students to experience art through their sense of touch. When I paint, I like to challenge myself to represent textures such as water, feathers, wood, and rocks simply through brushstrokes and layers of color. The common ground between my career as a teacher and my ambitions as an artist is my love of learning. Each new painting offers me another opportunity to grow, and this contest provided a challenge to consider the bird images as part of a design apart from their natural habitat. In this case, I chose to represent them gathered around a plate.

Our top selections are featured below.

 

Banner image credit: Roseate Spoonbill by Gretchen Locy.

9-year-old tells SC lawmakers that prothonotary warbler should be state’s official migratory bird

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Published by the Post and Courier – https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/prothonotary-warbler-sc-migratory-bird/article_6d26f31c-28ad-4724-ae9f-285943d8628f.html 

February 11, 2026

By Anna Wilder awilder@postandcourier.com

COLUMBIA — Jack Ragley has always been interested in birds. The 9-year-old’s favorite is the blue jay.

But on Feb. 10, Jack stood inside the S.C. Statehouse to talk about another bird he cares deeply about and argue that lawmakers should officially recognize it as South Carolina’s migratory bird.

After all, the beautiful, bright yellow prothonotary warbler that lives in swamps and wetlands travels “really far” during its annual migration, he said.

Also, South Carolina is “one of the places it needs the most” to live and thrive, he told the lawmakers.

“This bird chooses South Carolina every year, and I think South Carolina should choose this bird, too,” Jack said.

State lawmakers are considering adding the prothonotary warbler to South Carolina’s list of official symbols, which would make it the state’s first officially designated migratory bird.

The prothonotary warbler is a “strikingly beautiful, golden-yellow” songbird that migrates annually between South Carolina and its wintering grounds in Central and South America, according to the bill’s text.

South Carolina does not currently have an official migratory bird. The Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) has been the state bird since 1948, when the designation was signed into law by then-Gov. Strom Thurmond.

Jack, a fourth grader from Columbia, wore his Scout uniform as he testified before the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs House Subcommittee.

“I like birds because they’re beautiful to the eyes and to the ears,” Jack told the lawmakers. “They make being outside more fun and watching birds makes me feel relaxed.”

He is a Webelos, meaning “we will be loyal scouts,” in Pack 37 and has been an active member for five years. He said studying the local habitat at his school, Heathwood Hall Episcopal, has made him love nature “even more.”

“When you start noticing birds, you start noticing a lot more about what’s outside,” Jack said.

South Carolina provides critical breeding grounds and a stopover habitat during the bird’s annual life cycle, particularly in the state’s hardwood forests, swamps and wetlands.

 

Jay Keck, a naturalist with South Carolina Wildlife Federation, said the bird is easy to spot if you know where to look.

The bird has short legs and a short tail and is slightly larger than other warblers. Its song sounds like “sweet sweet sweet,” Keck said.

“This will help us ensure the sweet sound of the warbler is a sound our swamps, forests and wetlands will have for generations to come,” Keck said.

The prothonotary warbler has been experiencing a population decline, with numbers dropping by approximately 40 percent since the 1960s.

Sponsor of the bill, Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, wrote via text that designating it as the official state migratory bird draws attention to the role in conserving “interconnected ecosystems and promotes awareness and responsible land and water management practices.”

It’s also a “really cool-looking golden-yellow songbird,” Davis wrote.

Audubon, a nonprofit conservation organization that manages more than 30,000 acres of critical bird habitat statewide, helps maintain essential habitat for the birds by preserving tree cavities for nesting and ensuring an abundant supply of insects for food. This is all critical as the species travels thousands of miles.

Jack learned about the bill from his parents, Jay and Connelly-Anne Ragley, who both work in government. He also attended an Audubon-hosted event where he spoke with staff and learned more about the bird.

Connelly-Anne Ragley emailed just about everyone — Jack’s teacher, former teacher, head of school, science director and more — so the entire fourth grade knew he was headed to the Statehouse to talk about why the bird was important.

Lawmakers voted to advance the bill out of subcommittee, sending it to a full committee.

“I thought it was kind of heart-touching to me, because I kind of worked hard to do this,” Jack said of lawmakers’ response to his testimony.

He said designating the bird would help kids like him learn more about the state and “feel proud of it.”

“Designating a state migratory bird like the prothonotary warbler allows us to bring more awareness to our feathered friends, including what all South Carolinians can do to help birds,” Jen Tyrrell, community science and research manager at Audubon.

Jack hopes the bill will be signed by Gov. Henry McMaster this year.

After his speech, he celebrated with a lunch outing with his mom before heading back to his fourth-grade classroom for “peak,” an outdoor education program where students paddleboard on a pond and learn about the environment.

Lawmakers on the panel told Jack that Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, the full committee’s chair, would write him a school excuse note.

When asked if he would return if the bill reached McMaster for signing, Jack smiled.

“I’ll try.”

Published by the Post and Courier – https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/prothonotary-warbler-sc-migratory-bird/article_6d26f31c-28ad-4724-ae9f-285943d8628f.html 

SC agency chose not to protect rivers because of industry pressure, ex-official says

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SC agency chose not to protect rivers because ofindustry pressure, ex-official says

By Sammy Fretwell.

Published in The State on February 3, 2026 3:37 PM.

South Carolina’s environmental agency has known for years state oversight of rivers is so weak that industrial-scale farms can suck rivers dry, but the department has done little to protect waterways from overuse because of political pressure, thedepartment’s former water division chief says.

Mike Marcus, who retired as director of Department of Health and EnvironmentalControl’s water bureau in 2021, has written a report outlining flaws he says exist inthe rules and how that allows big farms to siphon away water others may need. His report is being used as evidence in a lawsuit by environmentalists against the agency that replaced DHEC, the S.C. Department of Environmental Services.

Documents filed as part of the lawsuit also include sworn testimony by an environmental services staffer supporting the Marcus report. The state rules allow rivers to be depleted of water for months, according to a deposition from DES staffmember Leigh Anne Monroe. No river in South Carolina is known to have been completely dried up because of a lack of oversight, but environmentalists say some waterways have been lowered in areas with large withdrawals — and the threat of losing all water in a river at somepoint is nothing to dismiss.

Both the Marcus report and Monroe’s testimony are the latest in a long-running effort by environmental groups to tighten rules that were approved years ago toprotect rivers, but in fact, are riddled with loopholes that favor industrial scale-farming. Environmentalists say the state’s 2010 water withdrawal law isn’t strong enough, and the regulations that accompany it are even weaker.

Having an adequate amount of water in rivers helps protect fish and wildlife,provides recreational opportunities for boaters and allows others who need water toget their share.

In his report, dated Oct, 16, 2025, Marcus said DHEC/DES staff told upper levelmanagement about flaws in the water regulations, but high-level officials didn’t do anything about it.

“Internally, staff explained to management that the regulation, as written, would yield unintended outcomes’’ and would not protect rivers, Marcus wrote. “I was informed that such staff concerns were not considered to be important by management and that changes … likely would not be supported by the various user groups who had authored much of the text.’’

Marcus, water bureau director from 2018 to 2021, went on to say in the report that “there were industry and political obstacles to approving a regulation’’ that better protected rivers.

The Marcus report did not name which members of upper level management failed to act to improve the river protection rules. DHEC/DES has had six full-time directors, and several interim directors, since the Legislature passed South Carolina’s first surface water withdrawal law 16 years ago. The current director is Myra Reece, a longtime agency staff member. The agency also had one previous high-level water bureau employee with ties to industry.

Laura Renwick, a spokeswoman for the environmental department, did not directly address the criticism in the Marcus report, but said in an email that changing the regulations would “not result in significant improvement in the evaluation and decision-making process.’’

Renwick’s email also said the state is planning a comprehensive review of policy, rules and regulations affecting rivers, groundwater and drought.

An attempt to gain comment from the S.C. Farm Bureau, a powerful lobbying force for agriculture, was unsuccessful. The Farm Bureau supports a variety of agricultural interests, including mega farms that withdraw large amounts of water for irrigation. Tommy Lavender, a lawyer who often represents industry and was involved in talks about changing the regulations, had no immediate comment.

But others said the Marcus report is accurate. Lowcountry resident J.J. Jowers, who was involved in 2020 discussions on whether to improve the regulations, said it never seemed to him that DHEC wanted to tighten the rules.

“They look at you straight in your face and won’t talk to you — It’s obvious political pressure,’’ Jowers said. “I can’t blame them because, if they spoke out too much, they’d be gone.’’

Carl Brzorad, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said Dnvironmental Services should have done more because it’s obvious the state rules are inadequate and favor big agricultural interests over the general public. He said it is significant that a former top level water official and a current staffer say the rules are inadequate.

The lawsuit says industry drafted the regulations and DHEC accepted that. The department ‘’took the industry’s version and just put it in the code of regulations,’’ Brzorad said. “It is a total blank check for industrial agriculture to take all the water out of rivers.’’

Brzorad said the department’s failure to consider changes to the regulations aren’t surprising. The department has failed in other cases to seek improvements in laws or regulations to protect the environment, including with the discharge of forever chemicals in rivers, limits on those chemicals in sludge, and the discharge of other pollutants into waterways, he said.

“We certainly see the agency bending over backwards to protect industrial polluters in other areas,’’ he said. “I don’t know if it’s an inability or an unwillingness to do what needs to be done to protect public health and the environment.’’

Because of concerns about the water regulations, the law center asked a court Monday to declare part of the rules in violation of the law and to prohibit Dnvironmental Services+ from using the rules in examining large water withdrawals.

At issue are regulations that were supposed to provide detail on how to administer the 2010 water law.

The lawsuit Brzorad’s organization filed two years ago said the regulations do not follow the water withdrawal law. Regulations often accompany state laws to provide guidance on how the law should be administered.

The suit followed criticism in 2022 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that South Carolina’s water law and regulations are not scientifically sound, do not protect fish and wildlife and could allow rivers to be dried up by excessive use during certain times of the year. The EPA said at the time that South Carolina’s rules are inconsistent with the federal Clean Water Act.

Questions about both the 2010 law and the regulations have come up regularly since the law passed. A major concern is over provisions that allow huge farms to take all the water they want without public notice or permits, both of which are required of industries that seek to withdraw water.

All the large farms need to do is to register the amount they want to take. State regulators must approve that as long as the withdrawals are within what’s known as “safe yield,’’ or the amount of water that can be withdrawn without hurting the environment.

The problem is that the safe yield formula is a mathematical calculation that doesn’t take into account seasonal differences in river levels, critics say. As a result, rivers could be dried up for as much as half a year by withdrawals, critics say. That would occur during the times of year when they are naturally the lowest, often in the summer and fall, critics say.

Monroe, the DES program manager of water quantity permitting, said in a deposition that the regulations do not mirror the law and do not protect rivers from being depleted.

Asked if the agency has failed to use a safe yield formula that adequately protects rivers, she said: “Yeah. I mean, that’s what it seems like to me at this point.’’

Already, the capacity of some rivers has been completely allocated to some entities or people, meaning others could not withdraw water — and the rivers could be dried up at certain times of the year if all the water were withdrawn, court records show.

Among them are streams in the Edisto River basin, a farming rich area about an hour’s drive west of Columbia. Monroe answered “yes’’ when asked in her deposition if her agency has authorized interests to “completely dewater” the Edisto River basin for more than half a year.

In addition to those concerns, excessive withdrawals could be a particular problem for streams, such as the Reedy in the Greenville area; the Black and Pee Dee rivers in eastern South Carolina; and the Tyger River near Spartanburg, court records show.

Questions about large farm withdrawals began to arise in 2013, when residents of Aiken and Barnwell counties learned that a massive potato farm was planning to open near the Edisto’s south fork.

The state did not issue a public notice about plans to withdraw billions of gallons of water by the farm and a permit was not required under the law since agricultural withdrawals are exempt. Many people were outraged that the farm was opening with little public input. People questioned whether the withdrawals would dry up the south fork at times during the year.

The State newspaper chronicled the issue in a 2017 series of stories, including an investigative package on the impact mega farms were having on the Edisto River basin.

Help us protect the Cainhoy peninsula

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We need your help to protect one of Charleston’s last undeveloped parcels from a harmful development plan.

Developers are building houses and filling wetlands on one of Charleston’s most ecologically important and vulnerable tracts. Located about 20 miles north of Charleston, the Cainhoy peninsula is a virtually untouched landscape that currently provides habitat for endangered and threatened wildlife, has thousands of acres of wetlands and creeks, and borders the Francis Marion National Forest.

The development would be the size of a small new city and include at least 12,000 residential and commercial units, 700-900 docks, and tens of thousands of people, adding to the traffic issues already clogging up roads in Charleston. To build this, developers will fill nearly 200 acres of wetlands and place 45% of the homes in the floodplain.

The Cainhoy development site is already in a low-lying and flood-prone area, and filling wetlands that absorb water and putting homes in harm’s way only makes a bad situation worse. There are responsible ways to build, and the current plan is not one of them.

To stop this ill-advised plan, we’re urging Charleston City Council and the Mayor to protect Cainhoy by updating the development agreement they signed with the property’s landowners 30 years ago.

Join the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Charleston Waterkeeper, and the Coastal Conservation League in urging Charleston leaders to protect this special place.

Sign the petition

 

All photos by: ©Stephanie Gross/SELC

2025 South Carolina Songbird Art Contest

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We are delighted to celebrate the talented students who participated in the 2025 South Carolina Songbird Art Contest, presented in partnership with Wildlife Forever. Congratulations to this year’s winners, and thank you to everyone who participated! This statewide contest invited K–12 students to explore South Carolina’s native songbirds through art, encouraging creativity while deepening students’ understanding of local wildlife and the habitats on which the birds depend.

By blending art with environmental education, the Songbird Art Contest helps students learn about bird identification, migration, and habitat conservation while fostering a sense of stewardship for South Carolina’s natural resources. These early connections to nature play a crucial role in building the next generation of conservationists and informed environmental leaders.

With 163 incredible submissions, selecting the winners was no easy task. Each piece reflected a unique perspective and a shared appreciation for South Carolina’s songbirds. We are grateful to every student, teacher, and family member who helped make this contest possible and  joined us in advancing our mission to conserve and restore South Carolina’s wildlife and their habitats through education and advocacy.

Selected artwork will be featured throughout the year on our website and social media channels. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SCWildlifeFederation to see these incredible works and help us celebrate the next generation of conservation-minded artists. 

Grade Winners: Kindergarten – Third

 

Grade Winners: Fourth – Sixth

Grade Winners: Seventh – Ninth

 

Grade Winners: Tenth – Twelfth

 

 

We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Dominion Energy for their generous support of the 2025 South Carolina Songbird Art Contest. Their commitment to education and environmental stewardship made this program possible, and helped connect students across South Carolina with wildlife conservation in a meaningful and creative way.

 

 

 

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Governor McMaster prioritizes land conservation

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Thank you to Governor Henry McMaster for his dedication to preserving land in South Carolina!

Below is section of the transcript of his State of the State Address given January 28, 2026 which relates to land conservation. Read the full transcript here.

 

“South Carolina’s future prosperity requires us to enhance our efforts to respect and protect our land, our history, our culture and our natural environment.  It is not a coincidence that previous years of economic growth have followed our efforts to conserve, preserve, and display our unique gifts of nature’s abundance.

These are not opposing objectives which must be balanced as in a competition, one against the other. Instead, they are complementary, intertwined, and inseparable, each dependent on the other. Each can be accomplished to the fullest if we plan now and be bold.

In recent years, we have provided funds, time, and attention for identifying significant properties for preservation and conservation and for flood mitigation.

We created the Floodwater Commission. Its purposes included measuring our strengths and weaknesses concerning flooding, erosion and the conditions of our rivers, coast and barrier islands; and to make recommendations for the State to act upon.  From the commission’s recommendations came the creation of a new cabinet agency, the Office of Resilience, and a Chief Resilience Officer for the state.

Their mission: To develop plans and studies to identify and understand flooding issues, to deploy mitigation projects, to provide grants for flood reduction, to conduct the voluntary buyout of homes in flood-prone areas, to protect and preserve endangered lands and wetlands, and to take on special environmental protection projects, as was done with the remarkable cleanup of over a million and a half gallons of hazardous toxins, tainted ballast and old diesel fuel inside the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor.

After the state’s official Water Plan languished without update or consensus for over twenty years, we created the WaterSC working group, led by the new cabinet agency, the Department of Environmental Services.  We tasked this cadre of stakeholders to quickly complete the plan and provide an inventory of how much surface and ground water we have, and how much we will need in the future.  Like the old saying goes, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”  I am pleased to report that the new State Water Plan was completed and published just last month.

Today we have a veritable army of people, farmers, public and private organizations, as well as local governments, dedicated to these endeavors, including the Conservation Land Bank, the Department of Natural Resources, the Office of Resilience, the Forestry Commission, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, the Nature Conservancy, the Open Space Institute, the Darla Moore Foundation, the Audubon Society and Francis Marion University.

In less than 10 years, we have preserved almost 400,000 acres of historically or environmentally significant lands, including the State’s largest conservation easement in history, which last year permanently protected 62,000 acres in the Pee Dee.

We have protected our most important historic and cultural sites, including Snow’s Island, where General Francis Marion’s Revolutionary War camp is somewhere located, and the colonial era Blessing Plantation, on the Cooper River. These properties are protected and in the future will become publicly owned, welcoming visitors to enjoy and learn about key aspects of South Carolina’s landscape and history.

Also included in this newly conserved acreage are African American historic sites, working farms and forests, and new areas for outdoor recreation, from the mountains to the sea.

Over the decade we have created new state parks, such as Ramsey Grove on the Black River and expanded existing parks in the midlands and the upstate. Among these is the Glendale Nature Park, in Spartanburg, one of the largest urban parks in the Upstate.

A significant portion of this land was protected with funding from the South Carolina Conservation Land Bank – just over $250 million. The investment from the Bank has brought in other funding from federal, local and private sources, exhibiting an unprecedented level of efficiency and effectiveness that has been the hallmark of South Carolina land conservation for many years.

Importantly, local governments have stepped up on land conservation, collectively investing many millions of dollars to conserve land and create new parks.  But, of the forty-six counties in the state, only a few have conservation funding programs. I urge all of our counties to join this effort.

Protecting our land is a gift for all our people.  With insight and continued hard work, we can achieve the goal helping private and public property owners with preserving half their lands for future generations, and making our South Carolina recognizable as the closest thing we have to heaven on earth.“

 

Banner photo by Melanie Gallant.

WAIT Partner Update: GE Vernova

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GE Vernova in Greenville, SC, is one of our newest Wildlife And Industry Together or WAIT partners, and they have gone above and beyond to support wildlife on their campus, educate their employees about wildlife and wildlife conservation, as well as connect with their community through quarterly litter sweeps with Adopt-A-Highway.

 

Habitat creation began during Earth Week in 2023 when they installed a pollinator garden with native plants – increasing the insect biodiversity on the property. In addition to the garden, they have installed 105 native trees like; sourwood, persimmons, oak, tupelo, maples, and several other native trees and shrubs. These plants will have a dramatic effect on increasing the biodiversity of insects, birds, and some reptiles like the anole.

 

They have also installed bird boxes for multiple cavity nesting species, and have allowed unused outdoor areas to grow wild, which again, increases the diversity of both the flora and fauna on site.

GE Vernova has also done a great job opening up employees eyes to the amazing world around us. They host a quarterly lunch and learns with respected naturalists and organizations around the state. Topics have ranged from birds of prey and invasive species, to conservation through native plant habitat creation. They also take employees on quarterly nature hikes, which included walks at yellow branch falls in Sumter National Forest and Paris Mountain State Park in 2025. A fun addition to educating their staff is the Earth Week Photo contest where they encourage employees to take pictures of things that represent their sustainability impact, community connection, and creativity.

SCWF applauds the efforts at GE Vernova for taking steps to increase biodiversity on campus, educating its employees, and making their community a cleaner place to live for both people and wildlife!

 

Why WAIT?

SCWF partners with conservation-minded businesses throughout the state who want to help wildlife thrive by enhancing their properties and providing educational opportunities for their employees and communities. Read more about the WAIT Program and how to join here.