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This year's 2,000-acre Horry County wildfire — together with the 19,000-acre wildfire that destroyed 76 homes, damaged 97 others and did $25 million in damage in the same area in 2009 — highlights South Carolina's need get our coastal land use policies right. Urban sprawl, shaped by both annexation policy and inappropriate zoning, has led to more risk in our urban-wildland interface zones, precisely where the most serious wildland fire threats are found. Meanwhile, our changing climate is leading to extended droughts and potentially extreme variations in wind patterns and relative humidity as well as more fuel on the forest floor after stronger and more frequent coastal storms.
And South Carolina also has seen a dramatic increase in its coastal population. All that taken together has created a volatile nexus for enhanced wildland fires the likes of which I haven't seen in my 45 years of experience in land management and conservation. The situation threatens not only our beloved coastal landscapes but also our historic rural communities and regional economies.
And while attention is now fixed on the Upstate fires — and the downed trees and storm damage from Hurricane Helene that are worsening the fire situation on the other side of the state — it's every bit as much a problem along the coast. Michael Prevost In the Awendaw community, we face the potential of future catastrophic wildfires similar to those of Horry County, driven by proposed, inappropriate high-density development. The town of Awendaw has granted preliminary approval of three large-scale residential developments for some 1,500 homes on about 1,900 acres, excluding freshwater wetlands.
Additionally, other high-density development is being planned on neighboring tracts within Awendaw. All of these developments are within the acquisition boundary of the Francis Marion National Forest, with the largest development tracts sharing significant adjacent boundaries. Were it not for the town's disregard of Charleston County’s agricultural zoning — which limits building to one unit to either 10 acres or 25 acres — this threat would not exist.
It's also worth noting that all this development is six miles beyond the county’s designated Urban Growth Boundary. In 2022, residents overwhelmingly spoke up to urge the Awendaw Planning Commission to reject Pulte Homes' request to build 200 residential units on 180 acres. All 16 speakers opposed it for both ecological and community reasons.
Not only is the plan incompatible with the region’s rural character; it's also located within both the Francis Marion and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge acquisition boundaries, representing high-priority habitat. The Pulte development shares 1,800 feet of common boundary with existing refuge lands. A staff member of the Awendaw-McClellanville Rural Fire Department expressed concern that his department does not have adequate capacity to protect the proposed high-density development from either residential or wildland fires.
Others expressed concerns about a lack of EMS capacity, increased traffic congestion and public safety along Bull Island Road, the only public access to Garris Landing, the gateway to Cape Romain. Who bears these significant public liabilities? Is it the residents of Awendaw, Charleston County and the state of South Carolina? Certainly not Pulte Homes or other developers. It's important to note that Awendaw’s planning director has said the town has no development impact fees for such essential community services.
South Carolina has seen several major wildfires this year. Fortunately, none has been as damaging as the 2009 Horry County fire. Above, Adam Cumbo takes a break after searching his father-in-law's home site.
The timely March 14 Post and Courier editorial recounts many factors that exacerbate our wildfire dangers and their associated costs. It noted that as the coastal population is growing in the wildland-urban interface, the U.S.
Forest Service is reducing staff. In that same edition, a commentary from Grace Lynch Gasper , executive director of Friends of Coastal South Carolina, points out that the Francis Marion National Forest's staff is operating at 50% capacity at the very time that rural sprawl is threatening communities and the ecological integrity of the forest. All this begs the question: Can we avoid this absurd land use fiasco in an enlightened 21st century? The answer is yes.
On many occasions when inappropriate rezoning requests have threatened the Francis Marion National Forest or Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, Charleston County residents and others have risen to tell municipal, county and state leaders such egregious land use decisions must not stand. About $20 million from Charleston County's Greenbelt program, the State Conservation Bank and the private sector have been spent to conserve the rural East Cooper region as one the largest expanses of continuously protected landscapes on the Atlantic Coast. The magnitude of this financial commitment demonstrates the degree of both public and private support to conserve the region.
We are fortunate to have the extraordinary expertise of our local nonprofit conservation community that collaborates with landowners and public agencies to address our land use challenges. Let's get to work. Michael Prevost grew up in Georgetown and has worked for the U.
S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the S.C.
Department of Health and Environmental Control, the S.C. Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, the ACE Basin Task Force, The Nature Conservancy and White Oak Forestry Corporation, a subsidiary of Evening Post Industries.
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