Keep South Carolina Wild
To continue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, meet our next species of the month, the frosted flatwoods salamander. This species was listed as threatened in 1999 under the Endangered Species Act. They are endemic to the historically fire-adapted longleaf pine ecosystem and require open canopy pine savannas with wiregrass. In 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 22,970 acres of protected critical habitat for the frosted flatwoods salamander.
Alex Killman is a guest writer for SCWF sharing his experiences of connecting with nature, enjoying the outdoors, and advocating for conservation – all through hunting.
A Different Perspective
There are some things in this life that just can’t be understood without experiencing them firsthand. Being married, having a child, witnessing the Northern Lights – all things that hold so much weight that they often change one’s view of the world indefinitely. On the surface, hunting doesn’t seem to be on such a level. Those outside the hunting community often see the harvesting of an animal as nothing more than the pull of a trigger, high fives, and a rack on the wall. And to be honest, you can’t really blame them. After all, the hunting industry doesn’t market towards non-hunters. It markets toward those who are most apt to make a purchase. And those individuals love to see highlights of a hunt, followed by pictures of a proud hunter holding up a big rack. For non-hunters, this can be off-putting. But for hunters, the joy we feel stems from the full picture of our own similar experiences.
The Effects of Nature
For most hunters, the harvest is just a small part of the hunting experience. Though it truly is the end goal, the reward of hunting is in the pursuit itself. If hunting was boiled down to the simple act of walking to a stand with the certainty of seeing an animal, followed by a trip to the processor, hunting would have died off not long after the Agricultural Revolution took root. It’s not the act of harvesting an animal that’s so alluring. And it’s not always just about the meat, either. Although there are many hunters who feed themselves and their families on wild game all year long, it’s the entire experience that draws us in. It’s being immersed in nature. It’s being at the mercy of something bigger than ourselves – a feeling akin to a spiritual experience. For many, it’s the only time when all our cares seem to pause, even if just for a few hours. It’s a time when our God-given senses take over. When we’re completely focused on every sound for hundreds of yards – the squirrels jumping from acorn to acorn, the wind whipping over the wings of a hawk, the distant gobble of a turkey. There’s a peace that seems to only be available in a natural environment. Because our short lives can feel so long, and modern life is all we’ve ever known, we often forget that concrete and sheetrock are new. When we take a big-picture view of our world, 99% of human history has seen us living in nature, not a county over from it. Because of this, there’s something that comes alive in us when we step back into the wild places we were designed for. It’s something that can be almost impossible to put words to, but it’s what drives so much emotion when someone sees an image of a majestic animal in front of a breathtaking natural backdrop. I believe there’s some switch inside us all that we’ve flipped off through the constant removal of nature from our lives, and hunting has been found by many to be the method for flipping it back on.
To Feel Human
For most people, it can be easy to understand the merits of spending time in nature, but there’s another piece of the hunting experience that can be hard to understand, and even harder to explain – the act of harvesting an animal. To some, it seems completely unnecessary to take an animal’s life when we can simply purchase our meat from the grocery store. But what that notion neglects, is the fact that a life was already taken to make that grocery store meat available. Hunters are simply choosing to be a willing participant in the process. There’s an overwhelming sense of realism that hunters enjoy when we confront the reality of where our food comes from. When we harvest an animal, we remove the farm and the butcher from the equation and add a little piece of realism back into our lives. And when we sit down at the table with the fruits of our labor in front of us, we feel something more real than this virtual, computer-driven world can offer. We feel human. To a hunter like myself, hunting isn’t just a way of life. It is life. It’s the full embodiment of what it means to be alive on this planet.
Now, I feel that I should wrap this up by saying I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with not hunting. I also don’t believe there’s anything wrong with not eating meat. We all have our convictions, and everyone’s convictions should be respected. For the non-hunters, I hope I gave you a better understanding of why we as hunters do what we do. If you find yourself having questions, or feeling the pull to learn more, the hunting community is here to help. There are countless online resources available, and I consistently post articles at https://southeasternbowhunting.com/. I’m always available to chat, and can be reached via Instagram or Facebook @southeasternbowhunting.
SCWF Executive Director, Sara Green, had the opportunity to speak on behalf of the SC Conservation Coalition about land conservation at the recent “Conversations with Conservationists” Senate Briefing.
You can find the recording from this event in the State House website’s video archives through the button below – it’s titled “Conversation with Conservationists”:
Here is a transcript of Sara’s remarks:
Good morning, I thank each of you for being here today. I am Sara Green, Executive Director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation – the oldest conservation organization in the state just recently having celebrated our 90th year as a trusted voice on conservation issues.
I’m here this morning to ask for your support for the Conservation Enhancement Act – S.280.
This bill would reinstate the initial funding source for the South Carolina Conservation Bank and significantly increase this agency’s ability to conserve private land. The Bank is the single most important tool the state has to ensure South Carolina’s most iconic and precious natural resources are preserved and protected for future generations.
From the scenic vistas of the Blue Ridge, rolling piedmont and sandhills, giant towering trees of the coastal plain, productive marshes and expansive beaches – we all know that South Carolina is blessed with an incredible diversity of natural resources that are both beautiful and accessible.
Photo Credits: Inlet Point Marsh on Pawley’s Island by Carl Beard; Lake Jocassee by Ellen Haynes; Reedy River by Adam Roberto.
But this treasure trove of land and water is not immune from destruction or neglect; we must be vigilant to protect these amazing places and the wildlife they sustain. It is our duty to protect, nurture, and safeguard these irreplaceable ecosystems so that they may be enjoyed for generations to come. And South Carolinians from all walks of life have spoken; they want their fishing holes, hiking trails, vista views, lakes and streams protected from unwanted and ever-increasing development.
Originally established by the General Assembly in 2002 and funded in 2004, the SC Conservation Bank has helped preserve more than 300,000 acres of threatened lands in our state since its inception by providing funding for fee simple land purchases and conservation easements. And we’re talking mostly about private land conservation. Since 90% of our state’s land is privately held, the Conservation Bank is uniquely qualified to lead the state in private land conservation because it’s grants process was specifically designed for the protection of private lands. The Bank has financially supported some of the largest conservation easement deals in South Carolina’s history.
The Bank was due to sunset in June 2018. The re-authorization bill which extended the life of the Bank, made it a permanent state agency for the first time ever, and also removed the historically dedicated deed stamp funding for the Bank in favor of an annual appropriations through the legislative state budgeting process.
While we sincerely appreciate the General Assembly’s work to make the Bank a permanent agency, in the course of doing so, the dedicated, reliable funding from the deep stamp was repealed. Last session, the Conservation Enhancement Act was introduced in the House and Senate to reinstate that funding mechanism. That bill was introduced late in the session and ultimately did not pass either body before adjournment.
The Senate version of the bill last year also included language directing revenues from the state sales tax on outdoor recreational equipment to be set aside for use by the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, the Forestry Commission and the Department of Natural Resources, to enhance lands owned or managed by those agencies.
This year, these two aspects have been introduced by Senator Campsen and Senator Davis separately – the Public Lands Enhancement Act (S.281) deals with setting aside the tax on outdoor recreational equipment, while the Conservation Enhancement Act focuses on reinstatement of the deed stamp funding. Just yesterday, Representative Phil Lowe, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced a companion bill to the Conservation Enhancement Act and we anticipate early movement in the House on this measure.
Over the years, the General Assembly has been very conservation-minded. Last year, the General Assembly appropriated $40M to DNR for land acquisition, which was incredibly helpful for public lands in our state. And the Conservation Bank received $25M of non-recurring funds to help with private land conservation. We are very appreciative of your leadership in providing such funding and hope you will continue to allocate more financial resources as growth in our state continues to explode.
Also last year, the Green Space Sales Tax bill passed the General Assembly which enabled Counties to approve by referendum an up-to 1% sales tax dedicated to land acquisition for green space, so we greatly thank the legislature for passing that bill as well. Beaufort County has already enacted and passed this measure. Counties that take advantage of this can then leverage their funds with Conservation Bank funds to get more bang for their buck and have a greater impact for their communities.
The SC Conservation Bank has been incredibly effective with the funds available to them so far – The Bank has conserved over 329,000 acres of significant lands statewide at an average price of $527 per acre, while the appraised value of their land conservation grants up to this point is $1.15 billion. That represents a 7 to 1 rate of return on the investment as a ratio of what the Bank expended, as compared to the fair market value of the property.
Passing the Conservation Enhancement Act, S.280, and reinstating the deed stamp funding is the best way to sustain these efforts and significantly increase private land conservation in our beautiful state.
I thank you for your time and consideration. I hope the Senate will advance the Conservation Enhancement Act and other measures that may come up that will promote public and private land conservation, and protect our beautiful state.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. Join us as we highlight species throughout the year that have benefited from this landmark legislation.
The Bald eagle is not only a national symbol of the United States, but also represents one of the greatest success stories of the Endangered Species Act. Bald eagle populations have increased from just 417 breeding pairs in 1963 to over 71,400 pairs documented in 2019. Their success can be attributed to this important law that established greater habitat protection, banned the use of a harmful chemical in insecticide known as DDT, and established conservation actions through captive breeding programs, reintroduction efforts, and nest monitoring programs. In fact, Bald eagles can be seen nesting this time of year in South Carolina!
This past week, SCWF staff worked with residents in the Keowee Key community to install nesting boxes for Wood Ducks and Eastern Screech-Owls as part of SCWF’s Upstate Nest Box Program.
Through this program, which is a partnership with Duke Energy, our staff and volunteers will install 40 nesting boxes for each species prior to the start of the 2023 nesting season. This is a collaborative project which aims to engage the community in long-term and sustained conservation actions. Read more about the project here.
Did you know it’s important to clean out bird boxes so Eastern Bluebirds and other cavity nesters, like the Carolina Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse, will return the following year to build a new nest?
On Tuesday, January 17, SCWF staff members, Jay Keck, Angi Fuller Wildt, and Bev Roberts, were joined by 9 volunteers as well as a group of home school kids, who cleaned out and collected data from over 30 bird boxes at Camp Discovery in Blythewood, SC.
Camp Discovery’s mission is engaging and inspiring through discovery in science and nature. This 116-acre outdoor learning environment is a perfect home for Eastern bluebirds, woodpeckers, and other cavity nesters!
SCWF’s volunteers removed old nests from last year to make space for the creation of new nests for this year’s breeding season. In addition to cleaning out dormant wasp nests and other debris, volunteers determined which boxes needed to be replaced. They also collected data about the contents of each box, which will be used to help educate the hundreds of students that will visit Camp Discovery in 2023.
If you would like a bluebird box for your yard, they are available to purchase in SCWF’s office.
Published in Post & Courier 12/29/2022
Published in Post & Courier 12/29/2022
By Clare Fieseler cfieseler@postandcourier.com
This week marks 49 years since President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act. He made the poster child for the law the bald eagle. But among the 160 lesser-known species that became America’s first federally protected endangered species was the red-cockaded woodpecker, a bird once common in South Carolina.
In 1973 when Nixon signed the act, there were about 10,000 such woodpeckers and fewer than 1,000 bald eagles left in the Lower 48 states. After nearly a half-century of protection, both the eagles and woodpeckers have made a comeback. But where bald eagles have beneftted from 20th century pollution regulation and have adapted to living on the edges of human development, red-cockaded woodpeckers continue to struggle against modern threats.
A massive 9,000-acre development planned for the Cainhoy peninsula, wedged between Daniel Island and the Francis Marion National Forest, is ground zero for the threats that the species faces: development, climate change and politics.
The city-sized mixed-use development once called Cainhoy Plantation, now Point Hope, received federal permits last spring from the Army Corps of Engineers to destroy over 200 acres of wetland. The permit also allows the “take” — which includes displacement and likely death — of over 100 red-cockaded woodpeckers.
Environmental groups have been voicing concerns about the destructive nature of the development plan, which is in the city of Charleston and Berkeley County. In August, four groups filed a lawsuit in Charleston’s District Court claiming that the plan violates the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, while ignoring better alternatives.
“There are development alternatives we presented, but they didn’t express interest,” said Chris DeScherer, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Charleston office. He said the groups are not against development in the region. In consultation with the planning firm Dover, Kohl and Partners, they found development alternatives that accommodated almost the same number of residential homes while minimizing impacts to water quality, wetland birds and the endangered woodpeckers.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Southern Environmental Law Center, Coastal Conservation League, South Carolina Wildlife Federation and Charleston Waterkeeper.
Wetlands provide habitat for waterbirds, like great egrets and wood storks. While not endangered, these birds play a critical role in maintaining healthy marshes. The adjacent longleaf pine forest hosts endangered woodpeckers. Both state and federal agencies use fire management to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the birds. Longleaf pine forest depend on fire to thrive. This woodpecker-focused fire management in the nearby national forest also supports other critical wildlife there, like long-eared bats and frosted salamanders.
State agencies recognize the value of preserving the two habitats adjacent to each other — wetlands and longleaf pine forest — in order to offset the loss of coastal habitats on nearby Daniel Island. In a comment provided to the Army Corps, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources said it “continues to find the best use for this property, based on the ecological functions and unique resources located there, would be conservation.”
Historically, red-cockaded woodpeckers could be found in longleaf pine forests from New Jersey to Texas in numbers well over 1.5 million. Today the number of woodpeckers has reached 14,000. The permitted number of birds that the developers can “take” represents about 1 percent of the bird’s current population.
A critical number of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers can now be displaced near a national forest in the process of building a new 45,000-occupant mixed-use development on the Cainhoy peninsula. By destroying 2,850 acres of longleaf pine trees that the birds depend on for survival, many will likely die. The birds are territorial, and carving out a new tree cavity can take up to two years. Once a woodpecker family is displaced from its tree home, successful relocation is rare.
“The most questionable decision is that no environmental impact statement was conducted,” said Michelle Nowlin, a clinical professor of law at Duke University.
Nowlin, who is not involved in the lawsuit, has worked on previous cases involving the protection of red-cockaded woodpeckers. Upon hearing that no impact statement was conducted, as is required by the National Environmental Policy Act, Nowlin was stunned.
“Oh my God … the presence of an endangered species … that is when NEPA should be triggered,” she said. “Then you look at how significant the action is and what are the likely environmental impacts.”
The lack of a formal environmental impact statement for the Cainhoy development and the Francis Marion National Forest is a key argument of the ongoing lawsuit.
Richard Porcher is a local naturalist and former professor at The Citadel. He has written books on the flora and fauna of South Carolina’s forests, including Francis Marion.
Porcher said he has been “fighting” for the recovery of wildlife in the forest for decades. When told about the permit granted to Cainhoy builders that allowed for the deaths of over a hundred woodpeckers, Porcher sighed: “It’s a total tragedy.”
Another argument brought by the lawsuit is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t fully take climate-driven threats into account, as also is required by law. In its opinion to the Army Corps, which ultimately resulted in the permitted “take” of over 100 birds granted to land developers, the site-specific threat of climate-worsening hurricanes to Berkeley County is barely mentioned.
“Francis Marion National Forest’s (red-cockaded woodpeckers) population is very healthy… but it’s only one good hurricane away from being very unhealthy,” said Tim Evans, director of land conservation at Audubon South Carolina, the state office of the National Audubon Society.
Climate change is one of the issues that Audubon stresses when trying to help the public understand what Berkley County will look like in 30 years. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo destroyed two-thirds of the wookpecker-hosting trees in the national forest. In 1996, a similar hurricane slammed a North Carolina forest, wiping out almost half of the woodpecker-hosting trees with one storm.
Presidential biographer Douglas Brinkley called the Endangered Species Act the “least controversial” legislation of Nixon’s presidency. The bill passed the U.S. Senate by 92-0, and the House, 355-4, before arriving to Nixon’s desk on Dec. 28, 1973. Even the National Rifle Association supported it at the time. But in the 20th century, the act has become highly politicized. How it is applied to red-cockaded woodpecker protection may be no exception.
The Trump administration proposed to delist or downgrading over 40 species — from “endangered” to “threatened” — including the grey wolf and the red-cockaded woodpecker. A species loses protections when its status changes like this. South Carolina’s local Audubon group took a stand against downgrading the red-cockaded woodpecker. Environmental groups and wildlife officials in North Carolina have also come out against the proposed down-listing, claiming it’s too soon.
North Carolina Public Radio reported in 2021 that the Southern Environmental Law Center had obtained documents indicating that the wildlife service internally debated delisting the woodpeckers completely, not just downgrading their ranking on the list to “threatened.” This raised eyebrows over scientific integrity. According to the act, any proposal to change the status of an endangered animal must be scientifically vetted and predetermined population recovery goals must be met.
In South Carolina, red-cockaded woodpecker populations are growing at an annual rate of 4 percent, faster than any other state in the birds’ range. The target growth rate set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the species recovery is 5 percent. According to the Endangered Species Act, an endangered species should not be “delisted” unless it has reached the goals set in its recovery plan. Taking an animal of the endangered species list is not always a political act. The bald eagle is a prime example.
In 2007, conservation and industry groups alike celebrated the delisting of the bald eagle, marking a remarkable recovery for America’s most famous bird, whose populations now exceeds 300,000. Breeding pairs can even be found in the green spaces of the nation’s capital.
To some, the death of any endangered species is a tragedy. To others, development in Berkeley County is a good thing that carries environmental trade-offs.
“Berkley County has to really think about why people are moving there … the beauty, the natural habitat, the coast of South Carolina,” Evans said. “How do you hold onto those things and love those things without destroying them?”
Joe Riley, Charleston’s former mayor, led the annexation of the Cainhoy peninsula into the city’s urban growth boundary in 1996. In the wake of this year’s litigation over the Cainhoy development, Riley defended these actions in a column in The Post and Courier, calling the decadeslong planning for the 9,000-acre property “responsible smart growth.” Riley likened the future development on Cainhoy peninsula as following in the same patterns of sustainable, suburban growth that played out on Daniel Island during his tenure as mayor. Conservationists view the carelessness for local endangered species as something very different.
“People are loving the Lowcountry to death,” Evans said. “We have to get our heads around how we do these things sustainably. … Saying we’re going to take 11 woodpecker colonies is not how we do things sustainably.”
In the meantime, construction continues for services and roads that will serve the 45,000 new occupants of Point Hope. The transportation corridor at the center of it all, Clement’s Ferry Road, has already been widened in some sections, adding two lanes to alleviate congestion of the 15,000 cars and trucks that traverse it daily. Road construction is ongoing. For now, no construction has reached the sections of forest where the woodpeckers live. But, said Nowlin, it’s only a matter of time.
Nowlin, who worked at the Southern Environmental Law Center prior to her tenure at Duke, has worked on other endangered species cases in which the incidental take permits were ultimately revoked, ruling in favor of environmentalists trying to protect an endangered animal from development. In some cases, the critical habitat had already been destroyed during the long slog of litigation.
“There’s no way to undo that damage once it’s done,” Nowlin said.
The current lawsuit challenging the destruction of wetlands and displacement of woodpeckers on the Cainhoy peninsula won’t be resolved anytime soon. Environmental groups are hoping it will be resolved by the end of 2023, with the courts ruling in their favor, marking a win for red-cockaded woodpeckers and the 50th anniversary of the very bill that saved them.
Red-cockaded woodpeckers nest exclusively in longleaf pine trees, making their homes by way of “cavities” carved into the trunks of old-growth trees. Cavities take years to construct. South Carolina was the first state to pioneer the use of artificial cavities to accelerate the bird’s recovery. It was first used as a stop-gap solution when Hurricane Hugo felled large swaths of longleaf pine trees in Francis Marion National Forest.
Less than 5% of the country’s original longleaf pine habitat remain. Much of that is now fragmented, creating small forest islands that isolate the woodpeckers and weaken their gene pool. Francis Marion National Forest on the Cainhoy peninsula is one of the last remaining large tracts of protected longleaf forest. It’s one of six critical population hubs for the species.
Red-cockaded woodpeckers have complex social lives, living in family units called “clusters” that often include a breeding pair and several non-breeding relatives. In South Carolina, the number of family clusters have increased from about 680 in 1993 to more than 1,450 today. In the 1990s, the presence of five woodpeckers clusters on a Berkeley County property held up plans for a new Mercedes-Benz plant. The plant was eventually built in Alabama instead.
Riley: Charleston should support responsible smart growth on Cainhoy peninsula
SC’s Francis Marion forest is set aflame on purpose, but some worry about methods
Balancing history and building in a forest: How development is reshaping Cainhoy peninsula
Clare Fieseler, PhD is the climate and environment reporter at The Post and Courier. Fieseler previously served as a reporting fellow at The Washington Post. She earned a PhD in ecology from UNC Chapel Hill and holds a research appointment at the Smithsonian Institution.
Published in Columbia Star – December 22, 2022
By Mike Cox
On October 28, 1931, a group of 150 sportsmen gathered to establish the South Carolina Game and Fish Association. This meeting was the result of several conversations between two men. Local writer Harry Hampton with The State newspaper in Columbia and Zan Hayward of the Game Conservation Dept. of E.I. duPont de Nemours in Columbia.
Hampton wrote a weekly column for his newspaper called “Woods and Water.” From June to October in 1931 he focused primarily on encouraging sportsmen in the state to demand amended laws that would fundamentally change natural resources and game management policies.
After these two dedicated sportsmen travelled the state preaching the gospel of game and fish conservation, the organization’s membership swelled to 2,000. Laws to protect the state’s abundant wildlife and natural spaces were soon moving through the state governing body.
The purpose of the statewide organization was defined as protection and propagation of the game, fish, and forests of the state. The goal adopted at the meeting was to ensure decisions regarding game management in South Carolina were based on science and to remove corruption from the process. In 1946, after World War II, the South Carolina Fish and Game Association reorganized as the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF). While SCWF is affiliated with the National Wildlife Federation, it is a separate organization, focusing on efforts to exclusively benefit South Carolina wildlife.
Those efforts featured a fight to develop the South Carolina Resources Coalition to establish and enforce game laws in the state, which were finally deemed successful when that coalition was established in 1952. This was the forerunner to today’s S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
The current version of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation has worked for land conservation and habitat protection since becoming an organization. Early hero Harry Hampton’s lasting legacy was the preservation of the Congaree Swamp and getting 15,000 acres designated as a National Monument. That fight was controversial at the time but now, with the Congaree a National Park, controversy seems unbelievable.
Protecting the Colleton River and associated salt marshes, stopping installation of the Russell Dam on the Savannah River, saving the Wando River from ports development, preventing the dredging of Savannah Harbor, and stopping floodplain building are all accomplishments of the SCWF.
In addition to advocating for wildlife throughout the state, the federation has also worked tirelessly to educate South Carolinians about the state’s wildlife and its habitat, outdoor recreation, and conservation practices.
Executive director Sara Green explains, “During the pandemic, we experienced significant demand for information about wildlife in backyards and communities. We began offering webinars on a variety of wildlife topics from backyard birds and butterflies to oysters and sea turtles. All these webinars are now available on our YouTube channel, and more webinars are still being offered on new topics. Upcoming webinars can be found on our website, scwf.org/events.”
One of the best things everyone can do to protect and support wildlife is enhance the habitat in their own backyards and communities. Through SCWF’s Gardening for Wildlife program, even a small yard can be certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Providing food, water, cover, and places to raise offspring makes a big difference for wildlife and gives residents the opportunity to educate neighbors and spread the word about conservation. Habitat gardens also can be created at parks, libraries, churches, schools, and private businesses.
Sara Green adds, “A new initiative we started this year is called “Plishing” which is a combination of the Swedish phrase “plocka upp”, meaning litter pick up, and fishing. Individuals and families across the state joined our summer challenge and logged fish caught as well as litter picked up and disposed of properly. Each fish caught, fish released, and bag of litter collected counts for points toward some great prizes (in addition to enjoying the outdoors and practicing conservation). Stay tuned for the 2023 Plishing Challenge!”
South Carolina Wildlife Federation is a member of the South Carolina Conservation Coalition (SCCC), a collection of 40 conservation minded groups working together to make sure the state legislative body is aware and concerned about conservation issues. Among the issues SCCC has focused on:
For more information, visit the www.scwf.org.
Published December 9th in Post & Courier – https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/commentary-graham-backed-bold-bipartisan-wildlife-bill-is-running-out-of-time/article_1fc0d968-765f-11ed-a393-f73b9744ca17.html
From brook trout to bobwhites, wildlife is part of what defines South Carolina. Unfortunately, more than 800 local species of concern have been identified by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. It’s part of a larger national trend where more than one-third of America’s wildlife are edging toward extinction.
Right now, Congress still has a chance to help protect our wildlife heritage. A bold, bipartisan bill called the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would dedicate $1.4 billion to proactive, collaborative efforts to help species at risk. It is a solution that matches the magnitude of the crisis.
The U.S. House passed the bill on a bipartisan basis in June. The Senate version has more than 40 cosponsors, from both parties, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina among them. This bill would give the S.C. Department of Natural Resources $15 million a year to help at-risk species in the Palmetto State.
This makes sense: Natural Resources has decades of experience using the fees and taxes paid by hunters and anglers to ensure that the state has bountiful fish and game populations. The agency also has the know-how and the desire to help other wildlife species, but lacks the funding.
The plight of prothonotary warblers, or “swamp canaries,” illustrates the problem. During the summer breeding season, South Carolina hosts 20% of the global population of these small migratory birds — recognizable by their bright yellow heads and blue-gray wings. But the loss of cypress swamps and other forested wetlands have reduced prothonotary warbler numbers by nearly half over the past five decades.
When wildlife like warblers are in trouble, the resources simply aren’t there to do much about it. Nevertheless, the Department of Natural Resources and nonprofits like ours have stepped in where we can, protecting habitat and building nest boxes. The new State of the Birds report found that these kinds of efforts are slowing the decline of swamp canaries and other birds in eastern forests, but restoration at the scale that is necessary remains out of reach.
This is where the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act comes in. It would give the Natural Resources Department the funds needed to work with landowners, universities and other partners as soon as a species such as the prothonotary warbler starts to struggle, rather than waiting for it to be on the brink of extinction to take action. It is the ounce of prevention that prevents a pound of cure.
The $15 million annually would unleash a new era of conservation for South Carolina wildlife including bobwhite quail, diamondback terrapins, black ducks and northern long-eared bats. The voluntary habitat restoration on private lands will help rural parts of the state, boost South Carolina’s $5.7 billion outdoor recreation economy and help sustain cultural traditions, from subsistence fishing on the coast to Lowcountry sweetgrass basket making. We are grateful for Sen. Graham’s steadfast support.
Unfortunately, inaction is the ally of extinction — and this bill is running out of time. We hope that Sen. Graham and Sen. Tim Scott will do everything they can to ensure this commonsense, cost-effective proposal to save wildlife with collaborative conservation is part of the end-of-the-year package.
Sara Green is the executive director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.
Published December 9th in Post & Courier – https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/commentary-graham-backed-bold-bipartisan-wildlife-bill-is-running-out-of-time/article_1fc0d968-765f-11ed-a393-f73b9744ca17.html
Top photo credit: Andrea Wiley
Published December 9th in Post & Courier:
https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/commentary-we-can-do-better-with-sustainable-development-in-the-lowcountry-heres-how/article_06cf79c6-771f-11ed-a71c-03364e1187ff.html
Reviewing several new large developments in the Charleston area, I have become convinced that it is far past time for developers to shift development practices in order to achieve new sustainable development in light of higher flooding potentials and large losses of valuable ecosystem elements.
Two large recently proposed developments (and likely many more I have not reviewed) have been planned with problematic design standard practices. These practices include attempting to fit unrealistically high numbers of dwellings including placing residential dwellings in the 100-year floodplain (which these days is probably now closer to a 50-year floodplain). In addition, these practices result in destruction of large acreages (approximately 200+ acres at each site) of onsite wetlands that provide wildlife habitat and naturally detain, retain and filter runoff destined for our streams and rivers. They also often result in loss of valuable forested habitat, natural drainage and carbon storage patterns and attempt to control onsite flooding by building large retention ponds in areas with a high-water table.
To achieve sustainable development, avoid future flooding in new developments, loss of important habitats, and harmful discharges to our state waters, we must shift our development strategies in many ways.
We can not continue to fill large acreages of wetlands and replace them with retention ponds especially in areas like the Lowcountry that have a high- water table that is often not adequately considered when sizing retention ponds. We also need to have developments utilize pervious surfaces for roads and driveways, elevate houses for water movement where appropriate, consider using constructed wetlands instead of retention ponds when necessary, leave more large trees and wetlands for carbon sequestration and reject building in our floodplains.
Steve Gilbert, of Charleston, is the Special Project Manager for the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.
Published December 9th in Post & Courier:
https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/commentary-we-can-do-better-with-sustainable-development-in-the-lowcountry-heres-how/article_06cf79c6-771f-11ed-a71c-03364e1187ff.html
Banner photo by Carl Beard.
