Keep South Carolina Wild
This year’s auction raised $92,280 in support of our education and conservation programs, making it our most sucessful auction to date. We are grateful to all our bidders and those who helped spread the word by sharing our social media posts, emails, or by telling a friend.
By Payton Potter, Fundraising Assistant.
I recently had the incredible opportunity to work on the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s (SCWF) Wild Summer Nights Online Auction, held from July 19th to July 21st, 2024. This annual event has become a beloved tradition, raising essential funds to support SCWF’s diverse array of programs and initiatives. This year, we were able to offer an exciting array of items, from unique outdoor experiences to beautiful handcrafted goods. Seeing the community come together to support our cause was truly heartwarming.
Working on the Wild Summer Nights Online Auction was an incredibly rewarding experience! As the fundraising assistant, I had the unique opportunity to connect with many of our donors and hear their stories. One particular highlight was how enthusiastic many of our returning donors were and their willingness to contribute to our wildlife conservation mission. It was moments like this that allowed me to see firsthand the dedication and passion of our supporters. It gave me a backstage view of how much work it takes from our staff, donors, and members to help preserve South Carolina’s beautiful outdoors!
Image Caption: Payton Payton is working toward her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies at the University of South Carolina.
Image Caption: The Whistlers by Larissa Lord.
It takes a lot to organize such a large auction especially in a big state like South Carolina. There were a lot of color coded spreadsheets, emailing, phone calls, and item sorting this summer. It sounds a little silly but one of the highlights was receiving donations in the mail addressed to me and adding them to the collection. We were lucky enough to receive over 130 items from donors all over the state! Fundraising for a nonprofit is not for the faint of heart, but it was extremely rewarding to see all the hard work pay off to raise nearly $92,000!
Overall, it takes a village and it was wonderful to be a part of SCWF’s network for the summer. I feel incredibly lucky for all the opportunities this summer as a fundraising assistant and to have worked closely under strong women here at SCWF.
To view the list of auction item donors, click here.
Haig Point was recently certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat! As the 15th Certified Community Wildlife Habitat in our state, Haig Point has joined over 300 other communities across the nation making a difference for wildlife. Located on the southernmost sea island of South Carolina, the Haig Point Community is set amongst the majestic moss-draped live oaks and pristine beaches of Daufuskie Island. Residents and visitors enjoy the uninterrupted sounds of nature as they travel around the island by electric golf-carts instead of cars, far from the noise of motors, horns, and traffic. This bridgeless island is a unique coastal ecosystem, and once you arrive by boat or ferry, you instantly find out why.
The island is home to a large rookery of nesting egrets and wood storks, and you can spot fox squirrels and white-tailed deer munching on acorns. As a threatened species, loggerhead sea turtles nest along the shores during the summer months. Supporting an abundant diversity of wildlife, insects, plants, and marine life, the wooded areas, lush marshes, and beaches are critical habitats that residents of the island are dedicated to protecting.
Volunteers and community members joined together with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources SCORE (South Carolina Oyster Recycling Enhancement Program) to complete the island’s first oyster reef build in 2017. These living reefs protect the salt marsh and estuaries, while also helping to naturally reverse beach erosion, improve water quality, and create habitat for marine life. After a second build in 2022, healthy waves of spartina grass have established and become a living shoreline, supporting hundreds of species from small invertebrates to blue crabs and redfish.
South Carolina contains half a million acres of salt marsh, more than any of the other Atlantic states, but many coastal residents are concerned about the heavy amount of erosion as tides rise higher with more intense storms. Oyster reefs act as natural barriers against these threats, reducing the amount of shoreline that gets washed away and creating a more resilient coast. The community of Haig Point has constructed three oyster reefs on the island and plans to install more.
About 4 miles long, Daufuskie Island’s beach provides nesting habitat for loggerhead sea turtles. The Daufuskie Turtle Patrol staff must check the tide each morning before venturing onto the beach because at high tide, some areas are impassable. Having experienced heavy erosion, many nesting areas have washed away. Abandoned beach homes have succumbed to the rising tides, and exposed roots from large, dead oak trees make navigating the beach difficult.
The island currently has around 60 nests and several of them started hatching in July. Led by volunteers, the many tasks of the turtle patrol team include documenting turtle tracks seen in the sand, marking nests, and placing protective covering over nests to prevent predators like ghost crabs, racoons, and armadillos from eating the eggs.
The community held a celebration at the Haig Point Beach Club on July 12th with residents and many other stakeholders who were involved with the certification process. Haig Point earned this impressive certification by certifying properties including homes, parks, farms, businesses, and government buildings on the island as Certified Wildlife Habitats. SCWF staff were honored to be a part of the ceremony, and Sara Green, SCWF Executive Director, spoke at the reception. SCWF’s Habitat Education Manager, Savannah Jordan, also spoke and presented the community’s certificate to Don Hunter, CEO of Haig Point. Lauren Hunt, the Brand Manager for Haig Point, oversees communication to its residents through the publishing of community newsletters and posting to social media. Lauren has been integral in the community’s certification, having digitized huge stacks of paper notes written by former habitat team members and promoting events that bring the whole community together to help wildlife. In partnership with the Daufuskie Island Conservancy, Haig Point hosts a biannual Beach Sweep in the spring and fall to help keep litter under control. Free educational events are available to the island’s residents and visitors that engage the community in creating wildlife habitat and protecting special species, including recent presentations on loggerhead sea turtles, salt marsh habitats, manatees, and butterflies.
Haig Point earned the name “Guardian of the Sea” by the Palmetto Ocean Conservancy in 2018 due to the Beach Club’s efforts to eliminate plastic straws, incorporate recyclable and reusable cups, change lights on buildings to LED lighting, and these other “Green Initiatives”:
Wood duck and Eastern bluebird boxes placed throughout the community, with annual maintenance and monitoring of bluebird boxes
Installation of a demonstration rain garden to encourage the use of native plants in our landscapes and water conservation
Nature Trail educational signage throughout in several key areas throughout the property
Butterfly gardens and the Welcome Center, Mansion, Beach Club, and Clubhouse
Educational table in the Mansion to promote Environmental Committee events as well as educating Members on green practices
Recycling receptacles in all areas of property
By Ari Hippensteal, SCWF Community Outreach Manager
Camp Wildwood, a conservation camp founded in 1954, continues through another year of inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards with its steadfast legacy in conservation and associated jobs. This resident-camp provides a vast variety of ways high school students can learn how to engage with the environment- whether that is continuing on with a job through affiliates of the camp such as SCDNR and the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, or simply becoming an advocate for nature in their everyday lives.
Camp Wildwood employs the best staff and counselors and allows its campers to experience a wide range of activities and career roles in ways that inspire an adventurous spirit as they explore the outdoors. From shooting to boating to wildlife, navigation and fisheries, this is a week that serves as a treasured and memorable experience. The activities, while still being incredibly fun to participate in, demonstrate real-life skills and knowledge in topics like Wildlife, Fisheries, Forestry, and Hunter Education.
The camp can be somewhat daunting in the beginning, especially for the first year campers who are in an unfamiliar setting, meeting new people, learning new skills, and navigating some of the longstanding traditions of the camp like singing Taps and kitchen duty for the first time. Campers are assigned to Niches- or assigned groups that become like families, and the bonds and friendships that are made here often carry far beyond the camp. Regardless of whether you are attending as a camper, counselor, or staff; excellence, teamwork, and a passion to be here drives actions.
“It was a privilege to be able to attend this camp and to personally get to know the next generation of environmental advocates as someone that is currently in the field. It was an opportunity I will always appreciate and will continue to hold close to my heart and gather inspiration from as I continue working. There is so much hope for the future. Places like Camp Wildwood show me that things are going to get better, and that there are so many more people across different generations who all care and are working for the same thing.
— Ari Hippensteal, SCWF Community Outreach Manager
The South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) is a proud sponsor of Camp Wildwood. In addition to SCWF, other sponsors include the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Garden Club of South Carolina, the Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, and South Carolina Parks and Recreation. Camp Wildwood is held annually in June at Kings Mountain State Park and you can find out more information about it by visiting https://www.campwildwoodsc.com/.
The town of Chapin was recently certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat! Chapin is now the 13th Certified Wildlife Habitat in our state and has joined over 300 other communities across the nation making a difference for wildlife. Chapin earned this impressive achievement by certifying over 180 homes, 3 parks, 4 schools, 3 places of of worship, and 5 businesses as Certified Wildlife Habitats.
This certification effort was led by Cindy Chin and the Chapin Garden Club, who named the project “Chapin Goes Green” when they registered their community back in June of 2021. These are just a few of their many accomplishments that have created healthier wildlife habitat and a healthier community:
Worked with local schools to install bluebird nesting boxes, which now make up several bluebird trails that are maintained and monitored for nesting activity.
Held programs on a variety of topics at the Chapin library, which included migratory birds, snakes, owls, and tips for creating colorful wildlife habitat.
Installed a 70-foot Carolina Fence pollinator garden at Chapin Town Hall, providing a sanctuary for bees, butterflies, and other wildlife.
The community held a celebration at Chapin Town Hall on June 18th with the Chapin Garden Club and many other stakeholders who were involved with the process. The Mayor of Chapin made a proclamation in support of Chapin’s enrollment in the Certified Community Wildlife Habitat Program and recognized the outstanding efforts of the community’s commitment to becoming more wildlife-friendly. Kelly Long, Wildlife Habitat Chair of the Garden Club of SC and leader of the Greer Community Wildlife Habitat also gave remarks, along with David Stoudenmire, Jr., President of the Garden Club of SC and William Slaunwhite, Treasurer of the SC Bluebird Society. The Eaglets Making an Impact Club presented a video created by students at Chapin Elementary School showing the steps to certifying your wildlife habitat.
SCWF staff were honored to be a part of the ceremony and certification process. SCWF’s Industry Habitat Manager Jay Keck helped with the certification by installing nesting boxes, presenting on wildlife topics, and installing native plants at Chapin Town Hall’s lush pollinator fence garden. Both he and Sara Green, SCWF’s Executive Director, spoke at the reception.
By Angela Viney
Published by Spartanburg Herald-Journal, September 21, 2021
Over 100 years ago, hunters and anglers were the earliest and most vocal supporters of conservation and scientific wildlife management. They were the first to recognize that rapid development and unregulated uses of wildlife were threatening the future of many species.
Led by fellow sportsman President Theodore Roosevelt, these early conservationists called for the first laws restricting the commercial slaughter of wildlife, urged sustainable use of fish and game, created hunting and fishing licenses, and lobbied for taxes on sporting equipment to provide funds for state conservation agencies. Populations of white-tailed deer, elk, antelope, wild turkey, wood ducks and other species began to recover from decades of unregulated exploitation.
In South Carolina, the Game and Fish Association organized in 1931, the forerunner of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation that is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The concern at that time was that fish and game violations were threatening the bounty of South Carolina’s woods and waters.
The State’s Harry Hampton wrote in his columns urging sportsmen in the state to organize to press for amended laws. Harry spoke to the Sumter Rotary Club in June 1931 and the members endorsed the idea of sportsmen’s clubs in every county. The Sumter chapter of The SC Game and Fish Association was born that day.
The SC Game and Fish Association met formally in Columbia to organize in October, 1931, with 150 sportsmen attending from 25 counties. In 1946, the SC Fish and Game Association reorganized as the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.
Eighth Annual Convention, SC Game & Fish Association, Sept. 15, 1938
By the following year, the Federation focused its efforts on creating a South Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission for the purpose of establishing and enforcing game laws in the state. The Federation’s battle was hard-fought, and the Commission was finally created in 1952 which evolved into the SC Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) in 1994.
The excise taxes on sporting equipment that the early conservationists called for was made possible by the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act in 1937, commonly called the “Pittman-Robertson Act” after its Congressional sponsors. It provides federal aid to states for the management and restoration of wildlife, and its funding comes from an 11 percent excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition.
The disbursement of these funds, generated through excise taxes on hunting, shooting and fishing equipment and boat fuel to all 50 states and U.S. territories, is distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2020, South Carolina received sportfish and wildlife restoration grants totaling $12,675,815.
To date, the Service has distributed more than $22.9 billion in apportionments for state conservation and recreation projects.
In an effort to honor hunters and anglers and their contributions to conservation, on May 2, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed the first proclamation of National Hunting and Fishing Day to be celebrated on the fourth Saturday of September. By late summer, all 50 governors and more than 600 mayors had joined in by proclaiming state and local versions of National Hunting and Fishing Day (NHF). The response was dramatic.
Upstate South Carolina is hosting a NHF Day celebration at Oconee County’s South Cove Park near Seneca. This free, fun, family adventure is open to the public and will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25.
The 13th Upstate celebration of National Hunting and Fishing Day will include activities such as archery, air rifles, camouflage games, fly tying and casting, kayaking, fishing on Lake Keowee and much more. All activities are free, and all gear is provided.
National Hunting and Fishing Day is made possible by partnerships with the SCDNR, Oconee County Parks and Recreation, Trout Unlimited, Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service, South Carolina 4-H Shooting Sports and Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund.
National Hunting and Fishing Day is the most effective grassroots effort ever undertaken to promote outdoor sports and conservation. We look forward to this event every year. It is a great opportunity for the community to enjoy the great outdoors in a safe, educational environment with family and friends.
For directions and information, call South Cove County Park at 864-882-5250 or visit its Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/southcovecountypark
Angela Viney is the Chair of National Hunting and Fishing Day.
Published by Spartanburg Herald-Journal, September 21, 2021
