CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – The federal government is looking to add thousands of acres to the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge and get rid of developed land within its boundaries to support flood mitigation and wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to conserve 6,638 acres by putting that land within the Waccamaw NWR borders. The refuge is in Horry, Georgetown and Marion counties.
The pieces of land that would be added are near Conway, Bucksport, Carvers Bay and Plantersville. That includes hundreds of acres along the southern shore of the Waccamaw River in Conway near U.S. Highway 501. Part of that is Westmoreland Preserve, which the city bought earlier this year.
About 6,849-hundred acres, much of that developed land, would be taken out of the refuge’s boundaries. Those parcels of land are in places like Woodbury, south of Conway, Bucksport and Burgess.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife says the proposal would decrease the effects of climate change by protecting the ability of the tidal wetlands along the Waccamaw to store carbon. It also says the lands subtracted from Waccamaw NWR no longer fit with the mission of the refuge.
The federal government is accepting comments about the plan until September 23. You can email comments to refuge manager Craig Sasser to marshall_sasser@fws.gov or you can mail them to P.O. Box 1439, Georgetown, SC 29440.
For more information, visit the USFWS website or call 823-547-8069.
