Faith's Focus: Spring 2025 - Coastal Conservation League

We’ve had quite the cold spell this winter and as we enter into April, the Lowcountry stirs back to life. As an organization dedicated to our open space and wildlife, we celebrate the spring by getting outside (join us for some of our events!), welcoming the birds for nesting season and getting out to our beaches.

Our calendars are full of Earth Month activities, council meetings, community gatherings and time spent in Columbia as we wrap up the legislative session. Read on to hear about what we’ve been up to these last few months.

Thank you for your continued support,

Faith Rivers James

Our Merch Store is Live!

Represent the Conservation League and GrowFood Carolina this Earth Month with some new swag! Find t-shirts, fishing shirts, hats, bags and more in our new online merch store! Buy merch here.

Deveaux Bank Closed for the Birds

In mid-March, the South Carolina legislature officially approved a change to state regulation that closes Deveaux Bank to public access from March 15 to October 15 annually to protect nesting and migratory coastal birds. This change serves as an example of a sensible solution to help address the challenges facing our coastal birds, striking a balance between wildlife and recreation.

Deveaux Bank is a critically important seabird sanctuary managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and this effort brings Deveaux Bank in line with the protections afforded to other SCDNR seabird sanctuaries, like Bird Key and Crab Bank.

Deveaux Bank / SCDNR

We are grateful to Senator Campsen (R – Charleston) and Representative Bradley (R – Beaufort) for their leadership and efforts to ensure this necessary conservation measure is in place in time for the 2025 nesting season. Read more about what this victory means for the birds and check out this clip of its significance recognized on CBS Sunday Morning.

Recognizing the Critical Role of Prescribed Fire

March is Prescribed Fire Awareness Month in South Carolina, and with the recent wildfires in the Myrtle Beach area, they are top of mind.

Prescribed burning is the carefully planned practice of setting fires in a controlled manner under precise and favorable weather conditions. Resource managers like the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, South Carolina Forestry Commission, and private landowners use prescribed fires to maintain or restore the health of a forest, grassland or agricultural field.

Lewis Ocean Bay after a prescribed burn / Emmi Palenbaum

Many important landscapes across our state – including Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve – require this management practice to maintain forest ecosystems and natural resources, protect wildlife habitats, and decrease the risk of wildfires.

Learn more and watch how Lewis Ocean Bay comes back to life after a prescribed burn.

Out & About so far in 2025

In early February, we came together at the Mushroom Gathering: Sunday Supper in the spirit of GrowFood Carolina’s mission and supporting the Soil to Sustenance food access program. Connecting over an impressive five-course meal showcasing the endless possibilities of culinary mushrooms, we joined in community at Jackrabbit Filly’s new restaurant location. Charleston’s best chefs created dishes with morels and chanterelles front and center and shared GrowFood Carolina’s impact of putting local food on local tables.

Mushroom Gathering participating chefs / Emmi Palenbaum

A special thank you to our gracious hosts at Jackrabbit Filly and to the wonderful chefs who created the delicious food:

Mike Lata of FIG and The Ordinary
Jacques Larson of The Obstinate Daughter and Wild Olive
Bintou N’Daw of Bintü Atelier
Shuai Wang of Jackrabbit Filly and King BBQ
Hannah and Zachary Welton of Weltons Tiny Bakeshop

See more photos from the evening here.

Photos by J Henry Fair on display at the open house in February / Emmi Palenbaum

Later in the month, we hosted an evening of art and community at our office in downtown Charleston for an open house with photographer J Henry Fair. A longtime partner of the Conservation League and a strong storyteller for endangered places, J. Henry Fair displayed his prints of beautiful aerial images taken across South Carolina with the help from pilots at SouthWings.

Mary Edna Fraser shares stories behind her collection in Myrtle Beach / Lily Abromeit

As we look ahead to more opportunities to get out in the community, we hope you’ll join us in Myrtle Beach this month at Gallery Hour, a celebration of art activist Mary Edna Fraser’s collection. Mary Edna has advocated alongside the Conservation League for many years, using her paintings as a voice for natural resources under threat.

Join us on Sunday, April 13, to meet Mary Edna, see her expansive plein air collection on display and for purchase, and talk with the Conservation League team about our efforts to protect the landscapes we love in the North Coast. RSVP for Gallery Hour here.

Energy in the Legislature

The 2025 legislative session is underway, and much like last year, bills related to energy have emerged as focal points. House Bill 3309 is nearly identical to House Bill 5118, which we strongly opposed last year. This bill to seeks to roll back important regulatory oversight of electric utilities and authorize a joint venture between Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy for the construction of a major new gas plant, among other provisions.

If built, at the site of Dominion’s retired Canadys coal plant, it would be one of the biggest gas-fired plants in the country, and it would require significant pipeline construction that would threaten property rights and critical wetland habitats.

The omnibus energy bill H.3309 was recently passed by the by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is currently ready for debate by the full Senate. The Conservation League is working to encourage senators to ensure the bill is as balanced as possible, with amendments that could help unlock the valuable cost-saving potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Add your voice and let your senator know you support clean energy by filling out this form letter.

This month we’re back out in the salt marsh building oyster reefs to restore our shorelines and packing food boxes at our GrowFood warehouse. You can also catch us at Earth Day activities happening up and down the coast all month long. We hope to see you out there!