Safe Harbor Program Benefitting Endangered Species And Private Landowners Announced In South Carolina

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources today unveiled a statewide “safe harbor” program designed to benefit private landowners, the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and its preferred habitat — mature southern pine forests. Through safe harbor agreements with the Department of Natural Resources, landowners voluntarily commit to create, restore, or enhance habitat for endangered species without the risk of incurring legal liability if, as a result of their efforts, endangered species appear or increase in number on their land.

The Westvaco Corporation will be among the first landowners to join the program. The company will enroll a 10,600 acre property adjacent to the Francis Marion National Forest. Also, enrolling is Mepkin Abbey, a 3,128 acre property (two thirds of which is forested) that is home to a group of Trappist monks and is renowned for its natural beauty and landscaped gardens. Safe harbor agreements have been used successfully to enhance and restore endangered species habitat in North Carolina and Texas.

“Prior to safe harbor, many private landowners feared that if they managed their land to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker, they would be subject to increased regulation under the Endangered Species Act,” said Michael Bean, an attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “As a result, many landowners prematurely harvested pine trees or refused to use prescribed fire in their woods for fear that woodpeckers might colonize the property. Safe harbor removes this disincentive by assuring landowners who protect and enhance woodpecker habitat that their legal responsibilities will not increase.”

The plan was developed jointly by the Department of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the South Carolina Red-cockaded Woodpecker Conservation Coalition, Westvaco Corporation, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and EDF. The South Carolina safe harbor program is based on a plan first developed in the Sandhills region of North Carolina for the endangered woodpecker. There, over 25 landowners have enrolled more than 23,000 acres in the program.

“This program demonstrates that solutions do exist to reconcile endangered species conservation with the needs of private landowners,” said Robert Bonnie, an EDF economist. “This plan will benefit landowners and endangered species while helping to protect and restore a forest that is an important part of South Carolina’s natural heritage.”

EDF’s Bonnie and Westvaco’s Robert Fledderman were recently honored with conservation awards from the South Carolina Wildlife Federation for their roles in developing the statewide agreement.

The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker inhabits mature, fire-maintained pine forests of the southern coastal plain from southern Virginia south to Florida and east to Texas. This woodpecker has declined over the last century due to loss of habitat and fire suppression. In 1970, the bird was listed as an endangered species.

Support for EDF’s work on both the South Carolina program and the original Sandhills program was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.