Keep South Carolina Wild
December 19, 2018
Greetings SCWF Wildlifer:
Hope the cooler weather is to your liking. We at SCWF were ready for some relief from the heat in September, but it never happened. We have noticed that fall colors are behind, but they should be coming on strong in the next two weeks. We also have noticed that there are a number of birds that have delayed migration. I had kept my feeders out in the mountains and saw a hummingbird on October 28th – latest ever!
2018 has been an extremely busy and fulfilling year for the Federation. On the habitat front, we are bringing in more and more manufacturing sites to our Wildlife and Industry (WAIT) program. Industries around the state are maximizing their commitment to wildlife management on lands that are wildlife-friendly.
In addition, we are in the middle of a campaign to increase wood duck boxes and osprey platforms in the Wateree River area. We also now have Jay Keck coordinating more and more activities around improving habitat for monarchs, pollinators and other insects as agriculture activities have diminished the building blocks for wildlife in a significant way.
With education our annual Midlands Master Naturalist certifications and Women’s Outdoor Retreats were better and bigger than ever. The Palmetto Pro Birder classes are selling out quickly, and more and more people are participating. Let us know if you are not on our email list because the best way to keep up with the schedule and sign up early is through our regular email blasts.
On the advocacy side, we had a huge success this year with passage of a new Conservation Bank law that makes the Bank a permanent state agency. We are now making plans to ask the state legislature for increased Bank funding as the number of people participating in outdoor activities increases and wildlife is being pushed out of prime habitat through commercial and residential development.
We are blessed to have such wonderful conservation partners in our various coalition efforts as we fight to keep seismic blasting and oil/gas development out of the South Atlantic. We also are blessed by our hundreds of loyal individual supporters, and we hope you will continue to be a part of South Carolina’s first conservation group. Still growing stronger after 88 years.
Ben Gregg
Executive Director

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