Conservation Leadership Spotlight: Protection of Waties Island in Horry County Provides Much-Needed Coastal Resilience
Just north of Myrtle Beach, where the Little River meets the Atlantic, sits one of the last undeveloped barrier islands in South Carolina: Waties Island. The Open Space Institute (OSI) has supported a years-long effort with partners and the Boyce family to save land on and around Waties for wildlife and to buffer the impacts of extreme weather on inland communities. OSI’s most recent acquisition adds another 115 acres to the nearly 600 acres of OSI-protected lands across this one-of-a-kind area.
As South Carolina continues to attract throngs of new residents each year, it is also grappling with the devastating, costly, and ever-increasing impacts of extreme weather. To safeguard communities and preserve the natural beauty that makes the state so desirable, it is vital to balance economic development with the protection of natural resources.
CVSC thanks Representatives Case Brittain (R, District 107) and Val Guest (R, District 106) for their support of the South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) and the South Carolina Conservation Bank (SCCB) funding that helps make land protection efforts such as this possible. With strong leadership from Representatives Brittain and Guest in the statehouse, South Carolina can continue making strides toward protecting 10 million acres across the state.
Barrier islands such as Waties provide crucial environmental benefits for people and wildlife. Not only do these slender islands provide high-quality habitat for migratory birds and seasonal visitors such as nesting loggerhead sea turtles, they also form a powerful line of defense against coastal storms and flooding. Barrier islands act as sponges, absorbing the brunt of damaging waves and floodwaters associated with coastal storms, lessening the impact on inland communities.
CVSC applauds the Boyce family for their generosity in preserving Waties for future generations, and OSI for their fierce commitment to the conservation of South Carolina’s critical barrier islands and wetlands. OSI’s work at Waties was the result of true partnership, with funding coming from SCOR, SCCB, and private donors, and management of the land to be a shared responsibility among the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Carolina University, and the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism.
Portions of the land conserved by OSI and the Boyce family will become a new state park; others will become a new Heritage Trust Reserve—a designation signaling Waties’ significance to the state’s history and culture. These areas will be appropriately accessible to the public, giving residents and visitors a new gateway to experience nature while also ensuring proper stewardship of a rare and fragile coastal ecosystem.
Thanks to conservation-minded landowners, OSI’s expertise, partnerships with state agencies, and statehouse support from Horry County representatives, Waties Island will remain unspoiled and pristine for generations to come, allowing ample opportunity for education, research, passive recreation, and natural resource management. Make sure to get outside and enjoy all this unique barrier island has to offer, and support your Horry County representatives who support land and water conservation in South Carolina.
Learn more about OSI and this exciting project here: https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/news/waties-3