$1 million preserves land along local river
Last Updated on 2/9/2010
Published on 3/22/2009
By Tommy Howard
thoward@gtowntimes.com
Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge near Georgetown will soon grow by 580 acres, thanks to a million-dollar grant.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) received the grant from the Migratory Bird Commission.
The land will protect some 3.6 miles of waterfront along the Waccamaw River.
"The greater community will benefit from this protection effort which lends to the natural beauty of the Waccamaw, creates habitat for game and non-game species, and provides opportunities for recreational activities like hunting, fishing, boating, and kayaking," said Maria Whitehead, The Nature Conservancy's Project Director for the Winyah Bay and Pee Dee River Basin Project Area.
Grant funds will be used to acquire two tracts along the Waccamaw River which will subsequently be transferred to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be included in the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).
The tracts link other jewels within the Refuge, Whitehead said, including TNC's Sandy Island Preserve and Brookgreen Gardens.
Established in December 1997, the Waccamaw NWR protects river systems and wetlands in Georgetown and Horry counties.
A new education center and refuge headquarters is to open this spring at Yauhannah Bluff. That's along U.S. Highway 701 North in Georgetown County, near the Horry County line.
"The Nature Conservancy appreciates the support of our federal delegation for protecting our natural resources, particularly Senator Lindsey Graham, Congressman Henry Brown, and Congressman James Clyburn," said Mark Robertson, State Director for The Nature Conservancy.
"In such a competitive environment for limited financial resources, it speaks volumes to make these investments to help improve our water, forests, and quality of life in South Carolina," Robertson said.
The grant scored second highest in the country prior to being awarded. Scoring is based on the proposal's benefit to migratory waterfowl and other wetland species, demonstrated protection of declining wetlands, and match provided by conservation partners.
Since the refuge was established more than 11 years ago, the acquisition area has grown through a variety of partnerships.
The goal of the refuge is to protect wildlife and wetlands.
The Winyah Bay river system, the third largest on the Atlantic coast, supports the most extensive intact wetland complexes in the southeastern United States and offers important habitat for migratory birds, fish, and resident wildlife.
Along with the Waccamaw, other rivers feeding into Winyah Bay at Georgetown include the Great Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee, Black and Sampit.
The properties that will be acquired through the grant consist primarily of bottomland hardwood forests (a declining wetland type), including bald cypress, cypress tupelo, red maple and a diversity of oak species.
This grant was made possible through the broad conservation partnership represented in the Winyah Bay Task Force.
Conservation partners offering match for the grant, in the form of donated and bargain-purchased conservation easements, include Ducks Unlimited, Pee Dee Land Trust, SC Conservation Bank, and the Lowcountry Open Land Trust.
In total, the project protects 7 parcels in the Winyah River Basin, totaling 3,436 acres, including 2,264 wetland acres and 1,228 acres of associated uplands to benefit breeding, migrating, and wintering birds. Other supporting Winyah Bay Task Force members and partners include: the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
This acquisition will expand the protected land under the Refuge's ownership/management from 22,289 acres to 22,931 and will serve to consolidate ownership and management within the Refuge.
The Refuge was established to protect a biologically diverse system of wetland and upland habitats for the benefit of numerous plants and animals that form an integral part of the ecological functions and productivity of Winyah Bay.
Waccamaw NWR is also managed to provide public access to traditional, wildlife-dependent outdoor recreational activities.
This acquisition represents an ongoing partnership between the Conservancy and the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge to protect ecologically significant lands in and around the Refuge.
"The Nature Conservancy has played a valuable role in ensuring the conservation of lands both within and adjacent to the Refuge," said Craig Sasser, Refuge Manager.
"This year has been especially rewarding because we have added several key tracts that offer a diversity of public use opportunities while also protecting buffers and habitat corridors within the protected landscape. We sincerely appreciate the efforts of The Nature Conservancy."
The NAWCA project coincides with a big year for the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, which is opening its doors to the public this spring in the form of its new visitor's center on U.S. Highway 701 near Yauhannah.
The Georgetown Times ran a story on the education center at the end of December. Visit the newspaper's Web site [http://www.gtowntimes.com/story/wacacmaw-refuge] to read about "Miracle shapes up in the woods."
Located within the Conservancy's Winyah Bay and Pee Dee River Basin project area, the newly protected tracts complement the 50,700 acres previously protected by the Conservancy through public and private partnerships. A 525,000-acre project area, the boundary includes Sandy Island Preserve, Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge and DNR's Woodbury Tract.
Brookgreen Gardens and its 9,000 acres of privately-owned and protected lands are adjacent to Sandy Island and the Waccamaw NWR.
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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.
Visit the group on the Web at nature.org/southcarolina.
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Way to go SC! Things like this are becoming rare in this country. Congratulations! Posted by on 3/24/2009 |
