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.
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.
Image credit: Prothonotary warbler at Congaree National Park by John Martin.
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.
Image credit: Prothonotary warbler and chicks by David Ramage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.“
I recently opened the door to my garden shed and encountered a squirrel, busily chewing away on a support beam. We were both quite surprised to see each other, and she panicked and started zigzagging all over the shed, knocking things over everywhere she went. I opened the door wider for an escape route, but she eventually escaped through the hole that she had made that morning to gain entry. As I was picking up all of the tools now strewn about, I thought about her trying to find a warm safe shelter and how all wildlife are constantly dealing with new threats while just trying to survive.
Clear-cutting with noisy machinery causes wildlife to have to venture away from their normal range, crossing dangerous roadways, with no guarantee they will find another suitable habitat. Waterways carry runoff chemicals, sediments and litter across our state. Wetlands are being filled in and built upon, and many amphibians and reptiles aren’t able to move to another area as easily as birds and mammals. Meanwhile, regulations meant to protect habitat are being dismantled.
It all seems overwhelming, but we constantly meet people who are very passionate about making a positive impact for wildlife. People like you who join with us to continue working hard to increase our impact. It might be planting native plants in your backyard, picking up litter, participating in citizen science activities, calling your representatives at the state or national level, drinking shade-grown bird-friendly coffee, using reusable grocery bags and water bottles, or other small actions which are amplified when we all work together. Of course, donating to SCWF helps us continue upholding protective regulations and working to conserve lands and waterways for wildlife habitat.
Please consider a donation now to help us continue our mission to conserve and restore South Carolina’s wildlife and their habitat through education and advocacy.
All donations stay in South Carolina, are tax-deductible and fully support our mission.
For 94 years, SCWF has offered many ways for you to connect with nature, learn new skills, and take action in your community. We hope you will join us in the coming year to increase our impact for wildlife together.
Sara Green Executive Director
Our Impact
5,000 packets of free native milkweed seeds distributed to SC households for monarch butterfly habitat conservation!
3,040+ learners reached through educational classes and trainings.
100,000+ people reached when we presented our conservation message at large-scale events such as the Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic and other outreach events.
500 newly certified habitats in our state, which enhance wildlife habitat and increase connectivity, making our state #2 in the nation per capita.
142 volunteers showed up and helped with hands-on conservation projects, planting native plants, and litter sweeps.
100 high school students reached at Camp Wildwood, a summer camp that inspires the next generation of environmental stewards with its steadfast legacy in conservation and jobs in the field.
94 women acquired outdoor skills through our Palmetto Outdoors Women Retreat (POWR) series.
48 scholarship applications were received in 2025. With the help of generous donors, four were awarded to very deserving students.
49,000+ followers reached through our eNewsletter, communications, and social media posts.
6 demonstration pollinator gardens installed this year through grant funding.
Conservation
To ensure that future generations can enjoy our state’s wildlife and their habitat, every program, event, and class is imbued with our conservation message. We completed the fourth year of our Plishing Challenge, our conservation initiative designed to encourage anglers to help keep our waterways clean and use best fishing practices. This year’s challenge featured several in-person surf fishing events and litter sweeps that helped amplify our conservation message. Thanks to this increased participation, we achieved our highest fish total yet: 1,525 fish were caught (with most released for bonus points!). Participants also removed 307 bags of litter from local waterways, creating a cleaner, healthier environment for both fish and people.
2025 Plishing Challenge.
Advocacy
SCWF works with state legislators to conserve, restore, and protect land, water, and wildlife habitat from the mountains to the sea. With our support, bills were passed this year that will safeguard shorebird habitat, protect birds migrating through urban areas, and greatly increase the use of native plants for landscaping. With partner organizations, we’ve challenged developers wanting to fill in wetlands, and also challenged policy-makers to use scientific data to update regulations. We also partner with the National Wildlife Federation on issues of national significance, and are currently working together to defend the Endangered Species Act from significant changes which would strip away critical habitat protections.
Red-cockaded woodpecker by Savannah Jordan.
Restoration
SCWF helps to enhance wildlife habitat and connectivity through our habitat restoration programs, which are increasingly vital as human development expands. We support those needs through our Certified Wildlife Habitat® programs, where individuals, schools, businesses, and communities enhance their properties by planting native plants, installing nesting boxes, and making other habitat improvements to help wildlife thrive. South Carolina has 15 certified communities, 12,479 certified backyard habitats, and 27 industry habitats. Please consider creating your own to increase habitat for wildlife!
A demonstration pollinator garden was installed at the Lancaster County Library this year!
Education
To encourage outdoor recreation and a deeper appreciation of South Carolina’s incredible natural resources, SCWF proudly offers a wide range of educational programs across the state. This year, we added new statewide habitat workshops to our impressive array of naturalist courses, Palmetto Pro Birder classes, and hands-on youth education experiences. Our first Families Exploring Nature Day introduced fishing basics, birding, and nature walks to those who may be newer to outdoor experiences. This spring, we hosted our popular Palmetto Outdoors Women’s Retreat (POWR) near Clemson and continued to offer POWR+ classes statewide to build on acquired skills.
Palmetto Pro Birders at Huntington Beach State Park.
The Colleton County Zoning Board of Appeals will be considering a request this Thursday to allow a new data center on an 850+ acre property south of Walterboro off of Green Pond Highway in the ACE Basin Project Area.
SCWF, along with our partners at the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and other conservation organizations, are opposed to this request due to the impact it will have on sensitive wildlife habitat on the site as well as in the surrounding waterways.
The ACE Basin is one of the East Coast’s largest undeveloped wetland estuaries and it serves as vital habitat for migratory birds, sea turtles, and other wildlife, and offers opportunities for birding, hunting, fishing, and exploring unique natural beauty. This proposed data center, and other similar projects which may be proposed in the future, would drastically change the landscape and available habitat in the ACE Basin due to its potential water and electricity usage.
SCWF and our conservation partners are encouraging Walterboro area residents to attend the public meeting on Thursday, December 18th at 5:30 PM at the Colleton County Civic Center. The Civic Center is located at 494 Hampton Street in Walterboro.
The Zoning Board of Appeals needs to see the large number of residents who are paying attention to these decisions, and hear comments about how this project would impact your community. Please feel free to share these materials with your neighbors and encourage them to attend as well!
It will take all of us working together to protect habitat for wildlife as they face more and more threats every day across our beautiful state. Thank you for considering how you can protect wildlife and their habitat in your own community!
SCWF and other conservation groups are working to ensure that new housing developments conserve critical wildlife habitat and protect residents from increased flooding. The commentary below by Coastal Conservation League founder, Dana Beach, describes the almost 10,000-acre proposed Cainhoy development in Charleston, near the Francis Marion National Forest. Not only will it significantly increase traffic headaches, it will destroy nearly 200 acres of wetlands which offer critical habitat as well as protection from flooding.
One of my first experiences visiting the Cainhoy community was in the mid-1980s when I drove out to eat supper at a Cajun restaurant called La Tasha’s. The trip took more than an hour from downtown Charleston — across the old Cooper River Bridge, through Mount Pleasant, up Highway 41, across the Wando River, and then down Cainhoy Road to a modest white building beside a peaceful road in the forest.
At the time, I could not have imagined that within a few decades the Cainhoy peninsula would be practically destroyed — paved over by sprawling development enabled by the city of Charleston.
Thirty-five years ago, this peninsula, just to the northeast of historic Charleston, was a remote, authentic and beautiful place: Its people and culture were carefully documented by Charleston journalist and author Herb Frazier in “Behind God’s Back,” a collection of historical notes and personal interviews. Picture majestic live oaks and longleaf pine forests, farm fields, marshes and creeks, interspersed with historic Gullah communities such as Yellow House, St. Thomas and Jack Primus.
For more than a century, Cainhoy residents had made their living mostly from the land and water, farming and raising livestock, or fishing and oystering in the creeks and marshes of the Cooper and Wando rivers. Despite the challenges of life in those days, Cainhoy residents built strong families and resilient communities that have contributed to the Charleston area in countless ways.
Sadly, Charleston has not repaid the favor. Today’s Cainhoy peninsula would be unrecognizable to anyone whose last visit was in 1990. The historic Clements Ferry Road is now a five-lane highway lined with strip malls, gas stations and subdivisions.
Instead of navigating rivers, creeks and familiar roads, residents wade through immobilizing traffic congestion every weekday morning and afternoon.
If today’s traffic problems on the Cainhoy peninsula seem almost intolerable, they don’t begin to approximate the disruption that will plague the area in the coming years. As development progresses on Cainhoy Plantation — now called Point Hope — it will add 9,000 more houses to the peninsula. Clements Ferry Road and Highway 41 will be further burdened by 45,000 to 60,000 additional vehicle trips daily, tripling the number of cars on these roads now.
The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments transportation model of the road system is bleak and unequivocal: When Point Hope is built out, these roads will operate at what transportation planners call “Level of Service F.” In lay terms, this means gridlock.
It didn’t have to turn out this way.
In 1991, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley moved to annex Daniel Island into the city. Five years later, the owners agreed to let the city annex the considerably larger Cainhoy Plantation, extending to the border of the Francis Marion National Forest.
The owners were enticed with lavish public subsidies. According to a spokesperson from Daniel Island, “In excess of $250 million has been committed (in the area) by city, county and the state in terms of schools here, the roads, the bridges, water and sewer, public safety and all of those things.”
Perhaps most importantly, Charleston signed a contract with the Guggenheims that restricted the city from substantially modifying the Cainhoy Plantation plan for 50 years. The agreement included the right to build 18,000 houses and condominiums on the property. Thus, the stage was set for the wholesale transformation of one of the most beautiful and historic places in the Southeast.
While the future of Daniel Island was the subject of years of public hearings and benefited from the expertise of some of the nation’s most talented land planners, Cainhoy was afforded no such careful attention. Unlike Daniel Island, the Cainhoy owners began dismembering the property, selling it piecemeal to national tract homebuilders such as Pulte Homes.
For more than two decades conservation groups, along with courageous residents of the Cainhoy community, have advocated for improvements to the development plan that would reduce the crush of traffic and lessen some of the environmental and cultural damage.
The recent protection of Blessing plantation, just up the river, provides an inspirational example of land owners working collaboratively with the community, local government and environmental groups to secure a beautiful destination for centuries to come. In contrast, the Guggenheim family and their development company have consistently rejected virtually every conservation proposal.
It is critical that citizens understand that the unfolding Cainhoy catastrophe was not inevitable nor is it irreversible. There is still time for City Council to make substantial changes to the Cainhoy-Point Hope project — changes that are justified by the threat the development poses to public health, safety and welfare.
But time is of the essence. The fate of the Cainhoy peninsula hangs in the balance.
Dana Beach is a longtime conservation leader who lives in Charleston.
The Trump administration is seeking to rescind the definition of “harm” as it’s currently applied under the Endangered Species Act. Conservation groups worry the move could spell trouble for endangered species near Charleston and across South Carolina’s rapidly developing coast.
The debate focuses on a central question: Does the term “take” in the Act mean a direct, intentional effort to injure or kill a specific animal, or does it also refer to activities that might indirectly affect wildlife populations?
Under the Endangered Species Act as it currently stands, “taking” includes killing, harassing, hunting, pursuing or harming a listed species. The Act’s current definition of “harm” includes habitat destruction or modification. As such, the law essentially forces developers and local governments building in a protected habitat area to look before they leap, and places restrictions on projects that could hurt federally threatened or endangered species.
The proposed revision would remove that prohibition from the federal law. Several federal wildlife agencies — including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — said that previous rule changes have improperly expanded the meanings of “take” and “harm” outside of their original, congressionally approved scope.
The rationale for the change, according to NOAA, is to clarify the definition of “take” and align it with “the plain text of the (Endangered Species Act), as informed by historical and legal interpretations as an affirmative act directly affecting wildlife.”
Catherine Wannamaker, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Charleston office, called the proposal a “sweeping change” that would turn the act “on its head.”
“In any area where endangered species overlap with rapid development this is going to have a big impact,” Wannamaker said. While some parts of the state are seeing rapid depopulation, many areas of South Carolina are seeing their population skyrocket.
South Carolina is adding about 90,000 new people every year, The Post and Courier previously reported. But the state still has a negative birth rate (more deaths than births), meaning all of the growth comes from transplants. As those new residents arrive, construction is booming to meet housing and commercial demand.
“South Carolina is one of the fastest growing states, and the new development is really just changing the landscape of our beautiful state — which is the reason a lot of people move here,” said Sara Green, the executive director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation. “The habitat protections that the Endangered Species Act currently provides are really critical to preserving that landscape.”
The Palmetto State is home to 43 federally threatened or endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — including migratory birds, flowers, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Charleston County is home to many of those vulnerable species.
Northern long-eared bats and red-cockaded woodpeckers sail through the canopy of the Francis Marion National Forest. The woodpeckers were downgraded from “endangered” to “threatened” last October, after decades of concerted habitat restoration work. Across the region’s barrier islands, three distinct species of sea turtles — all either threatened or endangered — arrive each spring to nest. Rufa red knots depend on the South Carolina coast as a critical stop-over point on their 19,000 mile voyage to the arctic circle.
Without the permitting process that comes with the harm rule, it’s possible that vulnerable habitats could be cleared and destroyed without the public ever receiving a full assessment of how a project could harm locally listed species, Wannamaker said.
“From woodpeckers and bats to turtles to red knots, keeping a space for these critters is really the only hope that they have of recovery,” she said. “This proposal is just a complete death knell to the Endangered Species Act as we know it.”
Many of those species are facing additional pressures from a changing climate. Sea turtle nesting sites are eroding away because of higher tides, more frequent severe weather events like hurricanes are threatening the coastal woodland habitats of bats and woodpeckers, and more turbulent winds could be throwing off the red knots’ epic migration.
The public comment period on the harm revision proposal rule change closed in May. But Green said South Carolina residents still can get involved in the process by sharing concerns with their representatives in Congress. The red-cockaded woodpecker is a resident of the nearby Francis Marion Forest.
If the proposed rule goes through, harming or killing federally listed species through hunting, trapping or other intentional pursuit methods still would be illegal.
South Carolina takes a huge step forward for wildlife habitat enhancement
Native plants have formed symbiotic relationships with native wildlife over thousands of years, and therefore offer the most sustainable habitat for wildlife. The South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) and several of our conservation partners drafted a concurrent resolution to “recognize the essential value and importance of South Carolina native plants to the state’s environment, landscape, agriculture, history, and economy, and to encourage State agencies, local governments, and private landowners to use native plants for landscaping, erosion control, and vegetation management whenever possible to promote the viability of migratory and nonmigratory pollinators and to help to preserve South Carolina’s unique flora and fauna.” This Resolution passed the SC Legislature on April 23, 2025.
“Passage of this resolution shows that SC leaders value the natural beauty of our state, and have a desire to preserve the essential habitats on which our wildlife depend,” said Sara Green, SCWF executive director. “This is a critical time to enhance habitat for wildlife – our state has more than twice as many species of concern as we did only 10 years ago. Our organization stands ready to assist anyone who needs additional information about native plants valuable to wildlife.”
A plant is considered native if it has occurred naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without human introduction. Exotic plants that evolved in other parts of the world or were cultivated by humans into forms that don’t exist in nature do not support wildlife as well as native plants. Occasionally, they can even escape into the wild and become invasive exotics that destroy natural habitat. Native plants help the environment the most when planted in places that match their growing requirements.
They will thrive in the soils, moisture and weather of your region. That means less supplemental watering, which can be wasteful, and less pest problems that require toxic chemicals. Native plants also assist in managing rainwater runoff and maintain healthy soil as their root systems are deep and keep soil from being compacted. Discovering the native plants where you live can also define a unique sense of place and heritage for your garden habitat while preserving the natural history of the flora and fauna of your region.
Native plants often provide food for wildlife in the form of berries, seeds, nuts or nectar. Some wildlife will eat the leaves too, including caterpillars. Native plants also provide shelter and nesting sites for wildlife.
There are a wide variety of native options for any landscaping need. To assist in using native plants for landscaping, the SCWF website’s Native Plant page has a long list of native plants which are valuable to wildlife, as well as a list of local plant nurseries which sell natives: https://www.scwf.org/native-plants/
Native oaks and maples are great options for large trees, as well as smaller trees like dogwoods, red bud, paw paw, and sassafras. Examples of native garden plants which are beautiful and also have value for wildlife include: coreopsis, black-eyed susans, joe-pye weed, yarrow, bee balm, columbine, and milkweeds.
To recognize the efforts of landowners who incorporate native plants for habitat, properties can become Certified Wildlife Habitats through the SCWF and the National Wildlife Federation. This designation ensures valuable habitat while also helping to educate neighbors and community members about the needs of wildlife. Even larger properties such as industrial sites can be certified through SCWF’s Wildlife And Industry Together (WAIT) program. Companies like BMW, Honda, Michelin, Duke Energy, and others have already converted their unused lands to wildlife habitat. If homeowners, business owners and local governments work together, the whole neighborhood or town can be certified through the Community Wildlife Habitat program. All of these programs focus on native plants and other habitat elements and sustainable gardening practices.
South Carolina’s new Native Plant Resolution furthers efforts by the General Assembly in the past. In 2017, a bill designated the third week of every October as Native Plant Week in SC. In 2018, the “Solar Habitat Bill” created guidelines for using native plants at large scale solar installations.
Here is the full text of the new Native Plant Resolution:
Whereas, South Carolina’s native plants provide iconic, economic, artistic, historical, and environmental values, unparalleled for beauty and unique to the history of the State and its future; and
Whereas, native plants are those which occur naturally in the specific regions in which they evolved, including our estuarine and tidal freshwater, maritime strand, freshwater wetlands, river and palustrine forested wetlands, and associated coastal uplands; and
Whereas, South Carolina contains over four thousand native plant species, subspecies, and varieties, making South Carolina home to a tremendously rich and diverse plant life, and twenty-one of those species are considered to be threatened or endangered; and
Whereas, maintaining and restoring the native plant habitat in South Carolina is vital to preserving South Carolina’s present and future biodiversity amid a changing environment; and
Whereas, native plants are more drought-tolerant, provide essential food sources for insects, birds, and wildlife, and require less water. They also act as natural pollinators and help filter out fertilizers and chemicals, promoting water conservation and improving the quality of stormwater runoff. Additionally, native plants enhance the resilience of ecosystems in South Carolina; and
Whereas, native plants provide high-quality food and shelter for more than three hundred resident and migratory bird species in South Carolina, one hundred sixty-one of which are species of greatest conservation need; and
Whereas, South Carolina currently contends with over ninety invasive and exotic plants, many of which compete with native plant species, degrade soil, facilitate erosion, require more fertilizers and chemicals, provide fewer food sources to native birds and other wildlife, and alter the state’s natural landscapes; and
Whereas, the state’s original Native American residents lived and thrived by knowledge of native plants which provided generations with food, clothing, shelter, dyes, tools, medicines, and fuel; and
Whereas, from the state’s earliest time, native flora and fauna have provided a rich landscape, inspiring and influencing notable literary and artistic works by internationally recognized figures and thereby securing South Carolina’s legacy in natural heritage; and
Whereas, South Carolina’s native plants and their derivatives have provided essential foods, medicines, and other products of global import since the colonial period, while native plants, such as sweet grass and Carolina yellow jessamine, play an important role in the state’s cultural heritage; and
Whereas, native plant horticulture contributes significantly to the state’s economy and employs thousands of South Carolinians, providing a thriving, vital, and ever-expanding industry, who do their part to preserve, protect, and restore precious native habitats by using South Carolina native plants whenever possible for landscaping, erosion control, and vegetation management; and
Whereas, the state’s native plants provide essential watershed protection, helping natural aquifers recharge, serving to filter water naturally flowing into rivers and estuaries, lessening erosion and flooding, and supporting rich biodiversity in birds and wildlife; and
Whereas, gardens and landscapes comprised of South Carolina’s native plants require far fewer fertilizers, soil amendments, or pesticides, and use significantly less water compared to nonnative plants; and
Whereas, pollinators such as birds, bees, and insects, including migratory butterflies, hummingbirds, and other threatened species, depend on the biodiversity of native plants for their survival; and
Whereas, many native South Carolina plants have played a vital role in state and national history, compelling the United States Congress, the State of South Carolina, and many local communities throughout the State to protect the beauty, power, and grandeur of our wild spaces; and
Whereas, planting, restoration, preservation, and cultivation of the state’s indigenous plants provides a natural link to wild land areas present and past, while presenting beauty and benefit and instilling a greater appreciation for South Carolina’s natural heritage; and
Whereas, this resolution is not state law. It is merely intended to encourage the people of South Carolina to plant and foster the growth of plants native to South Carolina.
Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize the essential value and importance of South Carolina’s native plants to the state’s environment, landscape, agriculture, history, and economy and encourage all state agencies, local governments, and private landowners to use native plants for landscaping, erosion, and vegetation management whenever possible to promote the viability of migratory and nonmigratory pollinators and to help to preserve South Carolina’s unique flora and fauna.
Be it further resolved, that the Department of Administration is urged to circulate this concurrent resolution to all state agencies and state governmental units engaged in or overseeing the landscaping or grounds maintenance of properties so that they are made aware of the General Assembly’s interest in this matter.
“Passage of this resolution shows that SC leaders value the natural beauty of our state, and have a desire to preserve the essential habitats on which our wildlife depend,” said Sara Green, SCWF executive director. “This is a critical time to enhance habitat for wildlife – our state has more than twice as many species of concern as we did only 10 years ago. Our organization stands ready to assist anyone who needs additional information about native plants valuable to wildlife.”
Native oaks and maples are great options for large trees, as well as smaller trees like dogwoods, red bud, paw paw, and sassafras. Examples of native garden plants which are beautiful and also have value for wildlife include: coreopsis, black-eyed susans, joe-pye weed, yarrow, bee balm, columbine, and milkweeds.