Captain Sams Spit, a beautiful sandy inlet at the southern end of Kiawah Island, is a highly mobile piece of land. Eroding and accreting regularly, this property is vital to important endangered and threatened wildlife species — including the piping plover, diamondback terrapin, and bottlenose dolphins — for nesting and/or feeding.

This valuable coastal gem is at risk. Kiawah Partners (KP), based in Charlotte and backed by a New York hedge fund, wants to develop the Spit into a community of 50 houses. By doing so, they stand to profit $200 million dollars just for the undeveloped lots alone. To do so, they need state permits for walls, bulkheads, and sand nourishment. Their mission is to stabilize a spit of land that only obeys mother nature. KP has applied to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for five permits that would facilitate their irresponsible development.

The Conservation League is working to protect Captain Sams by challenging the legality of four of these permit requests, and advancing state laws that protect the coast and taxpayers from risky development threats like this. We are also working with empowered citizens like you who are passionate about protecting this pristine barrier resource. Together, we can Save the Spit.

Click here to learn about our efforts over the last decade in litigation and at the legislature. And below, check out the drastic erosion that’s taken place on Captain Sams over the last few decades: