Greetings!

May in the Lowcountry is a great time to get out on the water and catch America’s most popular gamefish — the largemouth bass! It is also one of last cool months for camping and stargazing, so get out with your telescope and peer into the cosmos before the heat of the summer arrives! Stick around to learn how the Conservation League’s advocacy relates to my favorite early summer activities.

Enjoy!

Grant

South Coast Fishing Report

Growing up in the Lowcountry, I always looked forward to early summer, the best time to fly fish for bass on my family’s farm pond outside Furman, South Carolina, and near the Hampton and Jasper County line.

In the evenings and until dark, my dad and I paddled around our six-acre pond in a small aluminum boat, swatting mosquitos and casting our lines along the bank, anticipating the next strike from our opportunistic quarry.

My favorite fly to use for bass is a popping bug, a type of fly which skirts across the surface of the water, mimicking a waking insect, spider, frog, or even a mouse or baby bird! Largemouth Bass are veracious predators, foraging on almost anything that swims – or falls into – the warm and slow-moving rivers and ponds they call home.

Largemouth Bass and other predatory fish are stocked by anglers across the world. But did you know that stocking fish in wetland environments can decimate populations of dragonflies and amphibians?

Research by Hecnar & M’Closky (1997) found that presence of predatory fish across 178 ponds in Canada significantly reduced amphibian species richness. Likewise, Witmer et. al (2010) sampled 24 lakes in Sweden and found that predatory fish abundance correlated to fewer dragonflies and damselflies in lakes and ponds.

Wetland Policy Reform Needed

Because they are dry for part of the year and cannot support predatory fish, “ephemeral” wetlands are great places to find amphibians and invertebrates. Unfortunately, these areas are not protected under current federal or state wetland regulations, are not well understood, and are difficult to locate when dry.

In the wake of the Sackett vs. EPA decision, embracing new local wetland policies designed to safeguard isolated wetland habitats will be paramount to ensure that the Lowcountry’s amphibians and dragonflies aren’t extirpated in the future. As members of the South Carolina Conservation Coalition, the Conservation League will continue to push for state legislation to create new protections for Carolina Bays and other isolated wetlands.

Preserving our Dark Night Skies

I recall camping by the family’s pond as a kid and craning my neck toward the spectacle of the Milky Way. Looking up at the vast spiral of stars, dust, and gas which comprise our home galaxy, it’s hard not to feel a sense of wonder.

Unfortunately, spotting the Milky Way in the night sky is an increasingly rare sight. According to the Light Pollution Atlas, over 80% of North Americans are no longer able to witness this glowing band of our galaxy due to light pollution. Light pollution can also impact wildlife, disrupting migration routes for birds and endangering sea turtles on our beaches.

Protecting large tracts of land and working farms in the Lowcountry from rapid development is a key strategy to ensure we don’t lose our dark night skies forever. That is just one reason why we celebrated the signage of House Bill 3951, the Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act, into law by Governor McMaster on April 23. Agriculture is one of South Carolina’s biggest industries, and the passage of the bill comes at a critical time for investing in the protection of the state’s farmland as projections of loss continue to increase.

House Bill 3951 creates a funding tool to help landowners preserve working agricultural lands through conservation easements, providing additional financial assistance for qualifying farmers. Farmers may receive a matching payment up to 50% of the value of the qualified interest in land. The Conservation League is proud to have played a role in getting this legislation passed, which will help maintain local food production, and protect the ecosystem and keep our skies dark!

Continuing a Legacy of Land Stewardship

By safeguarding our open spaces and working farms, we hold onto our coastal heritage and traditions that are tied to the land. I am proud that my family has held onto our property in Hampton and Jasper County. We enjoy the peace and solitude of this rural landscape. Amongst the swaying loblolly stands and longleaf pines, time seems to move at a slower pace.

I aspire to be a good steward to my family’s land in the future so that – absent the light pollution and hustle and bustle of overdevelopment – the next generation of my family can look up at the stars and experience the same sense of wonderment and awe, pondering the vastness of the universe after a day of bass fishing.