Keep South Carolina Wild

Category: Uncategorized

SCWF To Partner With Recreational Anglers to Reduce Fish Mortality.

Posted on by admin

South Carolina Wildlife Federation was recently awarded a federal grant to work with recreational anglers in four states. We will be partnering closely with the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council in its efforts to decrease mortality of snapper and grouper. This project is particularly important for the health of red snapper as regulators are in the early stages of re-opening the red snapper fishery for recreationists.


Mortality is due largely to a condition known as barotrauma (swim bladder expansion with pressure change) that affects hooked deep-water fish as they are reeled in to the surface. Fish released in this condition have a very poor chance or survival. Best practices to reduce such mortality include use of a descending device that allows a controlled return to the bottom and release once the fish equalizes to bottom pressure.

SCWF will focus on education and outreach for recreational anglers through developing and posting an online tutorial; making presentations to anglers and distributing 500 SeaQualizer devices. Our marine biologist, Steve Gilbert, will be coordinating these important efforts.

Click here to access the tutorial now!

Keowee Key Certified as Community Wildlife Habitat

Posted on by admin
Keowee Key Becomes the 112th Certified Community Wildlife Habitat in the Nation

Leading a nationwide trend in community concern for habitat loss, Keowee Key has been officially designated an NWF Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). A Community Wildlife Habitat project creates multiple habitat areas in backyards, schoolyards, corporate properties, community gardens, parkland and other spaces. Keowee Key is the 112th community in the country and the 5th community in South Carolina to receive this honor.  The other certified communities in SC are: Callawassie Island & Fripp Island in Beaufort County, Kiawah Island in Charleston County, and Briarcliffe Acres in Myrtle Beach.

NWF commends the dedicated residents of Keowee Key and the Lake and Hills Garden Club team for their wildlife conservation efforts and for coming together for a common purpose – to create a community where people and wildlife can flourish.  At a time when communities are faced with the problems of losing habitat to development, Keowee Key stands out as a model for other communities to emulate.

Keowee Key certified 88 individual – owned properties and 4 common areas to complete the required points for certification.

“We are so proud to be the only certified community in the Upstate of South Carolina!  This award shows the dedication of individuals in our community to conservation and preservation of their natural surroundings,” said Alice Guzick, Keowee Key Garden Club member and community property owner.

A Community Wildlife Habitat benefits the entire community of plants, wildlife, and people through the creation of sustainable landscapes that require little or no pesticides, fertilizers, and excess watering. These landscapes help keep water and air resources clean. They are healthier for people and the environment, and they are less resource-dependent than conventional landscapes. Habitat landscapes can serve to beautify our urban areas and give residents pride in their neighborhoods.

Sara Green, SCWF Director of Education, presents the certificate to Alice Guzick who spearheaded the application for the community.

Keowee Key held a Certification Celebration on October 3, 2018, when Sara Green, Director of Education of the SC Wildlife Federation, presented the certificate to Alice and the Habitat Team. “The team at Keowee Key has sparked great momentum in creating Certified Wildlife Habitats, with more than 45 individual habitats certified since starting the program,” said Green during the celebration. “But one of the most impressive things about this community is the longevity of certified habitats – more than 20 residents had created Certified Wildlife Habitats over 15 years ago, and still maintain them! This longstanding love of wildlife throughout the community has helped Keowee Key certify much more quickly than other communities, in only 8 months!”

Click here for more information on Gardening for Wildlife and Certified Wildlife Habitats.





Alice Guzick with members of the Garden Club.







The National Wildlife Federation sent NWF Field Guide books for each member of the project’s Habitat Team.

Increasing Focus on Wildlife Habitats

Posted on by admin

The South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) has named Jay Keck as their new Habitat Education Manager. In this role, he will plan, coordinate, implement and oversee education programs designed to encourage the creation or enhancement of wildlife habitat in backyards, parks, schoolyards, and business property.


Growing up on Lake Murray, Jay has always enjoyed wildlife and the outdoors. After graduating from the College of Charleston in 2000, he worked in the private sector but always maintained a connection to the outdoors. His life took an unexpected turn in the summer of 2012 when he saw a Baltimore oriole for the first time. Since then, he spends most of his free time birding, learning about birds, and studying their various habitat needs. During the spring of 2014, he attended his first SCWF event. Being inspired by SCWF’s mission, he earned his Palmetto Pro Birder certification, and has led bird walks for SCWF as well as Saluda Shoals Park, Columbia Audubon, and private organizations. He has a passion and love for wildlife and hopes to inspire others to take a look at the life within our amazing planet.

Jay will be working with homeowners to enhance wildlife habitat, as well as partners at other places throughout SC communities including schools, churches, libraries, parks and businesses. There are four basic ingredients to turn any landscape into a productive wildlife habitat: year-round food source; water, especially during periods of droughts and hard freezes; cover where animals can hide from weather and predators; and safe places to raise young. The SCWF has certified more than 8,500 Certified Wildlife Habitats in South Carolina making it one of the top states in the nation in the number of certified sites per capita.

Jay has a special interest in expanding the SCWF’s Wildlife And Industry Together (WAIT) program. WAIT is designed to encourage corporate landowners to integrate wildlife habitat needs into corporate land management decisions. As South Carolina becomes increasingly developed, there is less land available for wildlife. Corporate landowners can offset habitat loss by devoting their under-utilized lands to wildlife. Lonza-Capsugel in Greenwood recently joined the SCWF’s list of WAIT partners, which also includes industries such as BMW Manufacturing, Michelin, Honda South Carolina, 3M, and many others. In total, there are 30 WAIT certified properties across the state that are benefiting wildlife in SC – that’s 30 sites providing a habitat for birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles, while at the same time producing oxygen and stabilizing the soil! Our focus on promoting the use of native plants on these properties will help create a network of areas that can be used by pollinators, including butterflies, and many other insects that support the ecosystem and biodiversity of the property.

“Jay’s experience and passion will be a great asset to our team,” said Sara Green, SCWF Director of Education. “He looks forward to connecting people of all ages with SC’s wildlife and finding ways we can all work together for wildlife conservation.”

You can contact Jay to find out more about how you can attract birds, butterflies, and other wildlife to your yard and your community, at: mail@scwf.org or (803) 256-0670.

16th Annual Photo Contest Open

Posted on by admin

COLUMBIA – Calling all amateur photographers! The SCWF is holding their 16th Annual Wildlife Photography Contest. Send us your best pictures capturing the beauty of South Carolina’s nature – in your own backyard or our backyard – that being South Carolina’s natural landscapes and creatures.

You may submit entries in three categories:

Carolina Critters:

Did you catch that bird sifting through the upstate snow to find its meal on film? How about the shy deer venturing out in the Pee Dee field to graze? A turkey? Or that Great Blue Heron wading through the swamps of the Lowcountry? Enter any of these pictures (or something of the sort) in the Carolina Critters category.

Scenes of South Carolina:

Maybe you’re more into capturing those gorgeous SC sunrises on the ocean or sunsets in the mountains? Or perhaps you find the early morning dew on an open field worth photographing. You might find the placement of rocks in one of SC’s many rivers to be the best photographic moment you’ve ever seen. These scenes (and many others) found in the beauty of SC’s landscapes can be entered in the Scenes of South Carolina category.

Backyard Habitat:

Some of the most beautiful and unique wildlife in South Carolina can be found in your own backyard. Now’s your chance to show off the hard work you’ve put into turning your backyard into a haven for wildlife. No two habitats are created equally, and we want to see photos of the various habitats, native plants, and wildlife that enjoy all the fruits of your labor. You put in the work to provide the food, water, cover, and places to raise young in your own backyard, and we want to see your creations.

Entry fee is $15, and the deadline for entries is October 31st. Click here for more information, contest rules and to submit your photos.

Help Support Shorebird Nesting

Posted on by admin

SCWF is one of many organizations supporting a new SCDNR S.C. Coastal Bird Conservation Program to protect and restore rapidly disappearing coastal bird habitat.  The pilot project is to raise approximately $2 million for the cost share needed for the restoration of Crab Bank with dredged material from the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project. Crab Bank, an island created in Charleston Harbor with dredged material and former home to thousands of nesting coastal birds, has eroded to the point that it is unsuitable for bird use.  For more information on this effort and/or to make a donation for coastal bird habitat please go to this site: https://www.sccoastalbirds.org/crab-bank-project

A short explanatory video on Crab Bank is available at:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4kW55CfRQEk

SCWF Wood Duck Box Program

Posted on by admin

Once threatened with near extinction from habitat destruction and overharvesting, wood duck populations are now steady or increasing. The South Carolina Wildlife Federation is partnering with Duke Energy, SCDNR and the Lake Wateree Association to increase wood duck populations by constructing and erecting 80 wood duck nesting boxes in the on the shorelines of Lake Wateree, Fishing Creek Reservoir, Rocky Creek, Cedar Creek Reservoirs, the Wateree River, and smaller ponds in between.

SCWF will coordinate with property owners, volunteers, biologists, and rangers to determine suitable sites for wood ducks. The goal is to install boxes prior to the start of the 2019 nesting season. Wood ducks begin to pair with each other starting mid-October. Once a nest box is used, it will likely help raise many broods over the years to come. Boxes will be placed in locations that are convenient for monitoring and maintenance.

Volunteer involvement is integral in helping to foster community-wide awareness and appreciation for the project. The wood duck project aims to engage the community in long-term and sustained conservation actions. This project is great for people of all ages. SCWF is actively searching to recruit volunteers to assist in all facets of the project, including nest monitoring, data recording, and witnessing first hand the life cycle of the wood duck.

Photo by Richard Sasnett

Update on Public Lands

Posted on by admin

A year ago this week, War was declared on America’s lands when President Trump signed Executive Order 13792. This unprecedented action put 26 National Monuments on the chopping block for review and possible reduction in size. The President had already appointed Ryan Zinke as Interior Department Secretary, and he became the point person for carrying out the executive order. Over the past year, Secretary Zinke has expanded the war on numerous fronts through his political appointments, his department re-organization fumbling, his shunning of wildlife management and sound science and his devotion to energy conglomerates and large-scale agriculture.

And we haven’t even mentioned the Secretary’s  personal ethical challenges and his oversized ego.  Try this on for size: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/03/19/6ba3b4e4-2bba-11e8-8ad6-fbc50284fce8_story.html?utm_term=.bfa3c8c3bb31.

The principal “party line” for executing the executive order was that past presidents named these national monuments without public input: an Interior press release justifying the Order stated: “Secretary Zinke and President Trump both strongly believe that local input is a critical component of federal land management.”

And there was more about how important the public is: “The Department of the Interior is the steward of America’s greatest treasures and the manager of one-fifth of our land. Part of being a good steward is being a good neighbor and listening to the American people who we represent,” said Secretary Zinke. “Today’s action, initiating a formal public comment process finally gives a voice to local communities and states when it comes to Antiquities Act monument designations.”

So for 60 days, local communities, outdoor businesses and citizens responded, and at the end of the day there were almost 3 million comments and over 99% opposed changing any of the National Monument boundaries. National Parks and Monuments are often called “America’s Best Idea”, and almost unanimously millions of Americans from across the nation agreed.

Although Zinke and his closest political aides had no doubt intended to make large rollbacks in most if not all of the 26 monuments, the only opening they saw to take action was in Utah where some of that state’s federal and state officials were marching to a different drum than the vast majority (time will tell at the ballot box whether Utah voters were in lockstep with those officials). Large parts of Grand Escalante and Bears Ears Monuments were named for development by Interior, but lawsuits closely followed alleging the executive order and the reductions in Utah are against the law.

And thanks to recent Freedom of Information requests, we now know the real motivation for the ill-fated executive order – internal documents confirm the potential for oil, gas and uranium development within the monument borders was paramount (as if we didn’t intuitively know before!).

Americans want to be a part of these lands that belong to them, and after the beauty and amazing geology of the Utah monuments received glowing reviews in numerous articles last year, thousands more Americans are now vacationing in Utah to see Escalante and Bears Ears.

Meanwhile, the executive order was the first volley in a war that continues on numerous fronts led by Zinke and his newly-appointed Interior officials who are fresh from lobbying and lawyering for fossil fuel, petrochemical and mining interests.  Conflict of interest is a forgotten prohibition these days.  Meanwhile, a majority of Congress simply provides a nod and a blink during committee hearings when these matters are raised.  For more details check out this from the Wilderness Society: https://wilderness.org/zinke-year-one-14-misdeeds-show-why-hes-worst-interior-secretary-ever.

This War pits lots of money and generals against an overwhelming super-majority of citizens. It’s David vs. Goliath, and I believe from the bottom of my heart that David will be victorious.

The good news is Americans now realize they can’t take their own public outdoor experiences for granted any longer. More and more folks in South Carolina and around the nation are seeking out public lands for inspiration, refuge, health and pure enjoyment in U.S. parks, forests, monuments and wildlife refuges. Can you believe that over 2% of the entire US economy is from the out-of-doors? And guess what – that figure is larger than the entire US mining industry and it’s growing by leaps and bounds!

We will continue to keep you posted.

Ben Gregg, SCWF Executive Director

Horseshoe Crabs & Shorebirds

Posted on by admin

SCWF had a wonderful event at Harbor Island on April 29 & 30, 2018 to observe and learn about Horseshoe Crabs & their spawning cycles, and the shorebirds that depend on the Horseshoe Crabs! HUGE THANK YOU to Dr. Al Segars (retired veterinarian & wildlife biologist with South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) and Nick Wallover (veteran shorebird biologist with SCDNR) for sharing their expertise with our group!



Photo by Ben Gregg



Photo by Ben Gregg



Photo by Ben Gregg



Photo by Ben Gregg

A note from Ben Gregg about the Sunday evening portion of the class: “We had a four-ring circus about 7:45. Sun setting in the West, moon rising in the east, hundreds of red knots grouped on a sand bar for the night and Al Segars tagging and measuring horseshoe crabs with assistance from his followers!”

Here’s a slow-motion video of the Red Knots flying over our group Monday morning…video taken by Dennis Sellers.

Now is the time to support Wildlife in South Carolina!

Posted on by admin
Join or Renew Today!

Our Spring Membership Drive is in full swing. With the end of April approaching, we are turning it up a notch and writing to ask you to re-up for 2018 now if you have not already.

You may have already begun to receive a flood of emails from different groups as the May 1 Giving Day approaches. This is a worthwhile effort by a number of worthy causes, but we are not participating this year. We prefer to communicate directly with our supporters, and we are proud that every dime you give goes straight to the Federation.

We are also sending out by U.S. Mail the following letter as we work to make involvement in the outdoors the highest ever in 2018:

Click here to read

Action Alert: Plastics are harmful to wildlife

Posted on by admin
Photo by Laurie Walden

Dr. Al Segars just retired from SC Department of Natural Resources.  He has seen up close the tremendous toll plastics have taken on marine mammals, sea turtles and fisheries.  On behalf of SCWF he wrote this letter to legislators last week as they consider tying the hands of local governments and prohibiting them from placing restrictions on plastic debris.  It is an extremely serious problem and gets worse by the day since plastics do not biodegrade.

Please contact your state senator and ask that he or she vote against the legislation that would tie the hands of cities, town and counties from doing what is best for their local citizens.

Thanks.

Ben Gregg