South Carolina Field Office

10/01/2025

Due to the federal government shutdown, this account is not being actively updated.
For more information, please visit:

Operations in the Absence of Appropriations

10/01/2025

Due to the federal government shutdown, this account is not being actively updated.

For more information, please visit:

Operations in the Absence of Appropriations

02/14/2023

Happy Valentine’s Day to all our FB friends!

11/02/2022

What a great weekend for partnerships! Our office was part of a two-day workshop for landowners where landowners from South Carolina and North Carolina could learn about managing natural resources on their property and opportunities for financial assistance to do so. South Carolina biologists representing the USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and USFWS Coastal Program talked about the great restoration work we are leading in the state and shared their expertise on a field trip. We love being part of a great team working to empower and inform private landowners to manage their land in a sustainable way. Shout outs to the organizers and other presenters: Center for Heirs' Property Preservation, The Nature Conservancy South Carolina, NRCS, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor National Heritage Area, The Longleaf Alliance , Sabine & Waters and American Forest Foundation, as well as the families and landowners who let us show off their land. Days like this inspire us to get out and do good things for the land.

10/28/2022

Need a last-minute Halloween costume for the kids? Try one of our DIY bat masks. 🎃

Just print and follow the instructions: https://www.fws.gov/media/bat-masks-facts

📷: USFWS

10/28/2022

10/26/2022

Some facts about a friend. Well, this friend doesn’t have 2 or even 4 legs…in fact, this friend has no legs at all. Nevertheless, it is our friend! Spanish moss. Yes, that’s right, Spanish moss is our friend! Home and habitat for so many critters (bats, birds, spiders, lizards), this epiphyte -a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic- is a mystery, intrigue, and allure here in the Southeastern United States!


Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is not a moss at all, and it is not native to Spain but is a flowering plant in the bromeliad family that includes pineapples! It has been used over the decades as stuffing for furniture, packing material, and mulch, but as we know better, we do better! Spanish moss is now revered as home to some essential “wild things” so it’s best to leave this incredibly unique plant where it is best appreciated…in its natural habitat, thriving and providing homes for other WILD THINGS!

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10/25/2022

Do you want to attract bats to your property?
As trees are cut down, bat boxes are needed for bats to survive, especially from April to August when females look for safe and quiet places to give birth and raise their pups. You’ll be setting up an alternative maternity roosting site by installing a bat box. About 100 bats can live in this particular model. https://www.fws.gov/media/beneficial-bats

07/05/2022

Thanks to Endangered Species Act-inspired partnerships, we’re happy to downlist this rare native wildflower from endangered to threatened.

Progress is success 👍 but we are not done, yet. The quest continues to ensure management for all protected, resilient populations endures. Once we reach full recovery, the species will likely be considered for delisting.

Smooth coneflower (Echinacea laevigata) is a perennial herb that lives in open grasslands in VA, NC, SC and GA. It is not to be confused with its close relative and commercially available purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. Species profile at http://ow.ly/xeJo50JOQtT

http://ow.ly/yfBH50JOQtR
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06/25/2022

Check out these two skippers foraging on a smooth coneflower. Look closely. See the butterflies' proboscis? The tubular, elongated mouthpart is like a built-in straw that rolls out like those blowout party favors that whistle.

As the skippers slurp nectar, they become accidental pollinators of the plant, brushing against pollen and transferring it between flowers. This ecological service is very important for the smooth coneflower's survival because this endangered plant depends on cross pollination to reproduce.

Want to know more? Go to https://bit.ly/3xLrxuQ and https://bit.ly/3QKZfte

Photo by Dale Suiter, Endangered Species Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service