Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge

United States National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina

34°35′01″N 80°13′59″W / 34.58348°N 80.23312°W / 34.58348; -80.23312^[1]Area45,348 acres (183.52 km²)Established1939Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceWebsitewww.fws.gov/refuge/Carolina_Sandhills/

The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge is a 45,348-acre (183.52 km²) national wildlife refuge (NWR) located in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from a headquarters located in McBee, South Carolina. The refuge is served by U.S. Highway 1, which passes through it.^[2]

Geology

With respect to geologic setting, the Carolina Sandhills NWR consists of Quaternary sands of eolian (wind-blown) origin that were active episodically from ~75,000 to 6,000 years ago, but the sands are stabilized by vegetation under modern climate conditions.^[3] These Quaternary sands, which are mapped as the Pinehurst Formation, overlie Cretaceous units of sand, sandstone, conglomerate, and mud of fluvial (river) origin that are mapped collectively as the Middendorf Formation.^[4]^[5]

Ecology

The Carolina Sandhills NWR is dedicated to the preservation of a portion of the Carolina Sandhills, a distinct ecosystem characterized by inland sand dunes,^[3] thin or absent topsoil, and frequent brush fires.

Recurrent, noncatastrophic fires tend to remove invasive shrubs and maximize the health of fire-tolerant species such as the longleaf pine. Pine-friendly birds and migratory birds, such as the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, wild turkey, and bald eagle also thrive in the Sandhills.^[2] Mammals have also showing recoveries; recent species include red fox, eastern fox squirrel, beaver, white-tailed deer, otter, bobcat, opossum, raccoon, cottontail rabbit.^[6]

Current refuge management practices at the Carolina Sandhills NWR include a program of prescribed burnings.^[7]

Human history

After attempts to farm this portion of the Sandhills were unsuccessful during the Great Depression, the region was consolidated by New Deal federal managers into the current National Wildlife Refuge in 1939.

References

^ "Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ ^a ^b "Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge". United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ ^a ^b Swezey, C. S.; Fitzwater, B. A.; Whittecar, G. R.; Mahan, S. A.; Garrity, C. P.; Aleman Gonzalez, W. B. & Dobbs, K. M. (2016). "The Carolina Sandhills: Quaternary eolian sand sheets and dunes along the updip margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, southeastern United States". Quaternary Research. 86: 271–286.
^ Swezey, C. S.; Fitzwater, B. A.; & Whittecar, G. R. (2016). "Geology and geomorphology of the Carolina Sandhills, Chesterfield County, South Carolina". in: Gold, Structures, and Landforms in Central South Carolina (W. R. Doar III, ed.): Geological Society of America Field Guide 42, pp. 9-36.
^ Swezey, C.S., Fitzwater, B.A., and Whittecar, G.R., 2021, Geologic map of the Middendorf quadrangle, Chesterfield County, South Carolina: South Carolina Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQM-56, 1:24:000 scale, 2 sheets. https://www.dnr.sc.gov/geology/publications.html
^ "Carolina Sandhills NWR Brochure" (PDF). National Park Service History eLibrary. April 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 February 2024.
^ "Refuge to Begin Conducting Prescribed Burns in February" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2011-12-14.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

External links

Carolina Sandhills NWR

Protected areas of South Carolina

Federal

National Parks	Congaree
National Historic Sites and Historical Parks	Charles Pinckney NHS Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie NHP Ninety Six NHS Reconstruction Era NHP
National Military Parks and Battlefields	Cowpens NB Kings Mountain NMP
National Historic Trail	Overmountain Victory
National Forests	Francis Marion Sumter
National Wildlife Refuges	Cape Romain Carolina Sandhills Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin Pinckney Island Santee Savannah Tybee Waccamaw
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Ashepoo Combahee Edisto Basin North Inlet-Winyah Bay
Wilderness Areas	Cape Romain Congaree Ellicott Rock Hell Hole Swamp Little Wambaw Swamp Wambaw Creek Wambaw Swamp
Wild and Scenic River	Chattooga River

State

State Parks	Aiken Andrew Jackson Baker Creek Barnwell Caesars Head Calhoun Falls Cheraw Chester Colleton Croft Devils Fork Dreher Island Edisto Beach Givhans Ferry Goodale H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area Hamilton Branch Hickory Knob Hunting Island Huntington Beach Jones Gap Keowee-Toxaway Kings Mountain Lake Greenwood Lake Hartwell Lake Warren Lake Wateree Landsford Canal Lee Little Pee Dee Myrtle Beach Oconee Paris Mountain Poinsett Sadlers Creek Santee Sesquicentennial Table Rock Woods Bay
State Historic Sites	Charles Towne Landing Colonial Dorchester Hampton Plantation Musgrove Mill Oconee Station Redcliffe Plantation Rivers Bridge Rose Hill Plantation
State Forests	Harbison Manchester Poe Creek Sand Hills Wee Tee
Heritage Preserves	Aiken Gopher Tortoise Altamaha Towne Ashmore Bald Rock Bear Branch Belvue Springs Bennett's Bay Blackwell Botany Bay Plantation Brasstown Creek Bunched Arrowhead Buzzard Island Buzzard Roost Capers Island Cartwheel Bay Cathedral Bay Chestnut Ridge Childsbury Towne Clear Creek Congaree Bluffs Congaree Creek Crosby Oxypolis Daws Island Ditch Pond Dungannon Plantation Eastatoe Creek Eva Russell Chandler Fort Frederick Fort Lamar Forty Acre Rock Glassy Mountain Gopher Branch Great Pee Dee River Green's Shell Enclosure Henderson Janet Harrison High Pond Laurel Fork Lewis Ocean Bay Lighthouse Inlet Little Pee Dee Little Pee Dee State Park Bay Long Branch Bay Longleaf Pine Lynchburg Savanna Nipper Creek Old Island Pacolet River Peachtree Rock Peters Creek Poinsett Bridge Rock Hill Blackjacks Savage Bay Savannah River Bluffs Segars-McKinnon Shealy's Pond South Bluff St. Helena Sound Stevens Creek Stoney Creek Battery Stumphouse Mountain Tillman Sand Ridge Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve Waccamaw River Wadakoe Mountain Wateree Watson-Cooper Woods Bay
Wildlife Management Areas	Bear Island Belfast Bonneau Ferry Campbell's Crossroads Canal Causey Tract Cliff Pitts Clinton Reservoir Tract Crackerneck Donnelley Draper Edisto River Fant's Grove Gray Court Tract Hamilton Ridge Hatchery Herbert Kirsh Hickory Top James L. Mason James Ross Jim Timmerman Keowee Landsford Canal Forest Liberty Hill Marsh McBee McCalla McConnells Tract Moultrie Hunt Unit Nine Times Oak Lea Palachucola Pee Dee Station Samworth Santee Coastal Reserve Santee Cooper Santee Cooper Tract Santee Dam Santee-Delta Thurmond Tract Turtle Island Webb Wild Turkey Woodbury Worth Mountain
Seabird Sanctuaries	Bay Point Shoal Bird Key - Stono Crab Bank Deveaux Bank Joiner Bank North Santee Bar

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National Wildlife Refuges of the United States