Staff reports
Bull Point in northern Beaufort County recently became the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s (SCWF) 12th certified Community Wildlife Habitat.
Members of the Bull Point Community’s Sustainability Committee hosted the Federation earlier this month at the Bull Point Clubhouse during which time the official certification as the organization’s 12th Certified Wildlife Habitat was presented. SCWF’s Habitat Education Manager, Savannah Jordan, spoke during the ceremony’s opening remarks and presented Jane Hearn of the Bull Point Sustainability Committee with the community’s framed certificate.
Community Wildlife Habitat team leader, Ellen Morton recognized each resident in the community whose yard qualified as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Bull Point’s first residents, Bob and Leigh Wolfson, were also in attendance and spoke about his vision, as one of the initial developers, to “keep nature as it was.” This founding principle is what led the Bull Point Sustainability Committee to their goal of “keeping it wild.”
As a certified Community Wildlife Habitat, Bull Point joins more than 300 other communities across the nation making a difference for wildlife. The National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program was created to encourage communities to become more wildlife-friendly using native plants and sustainable land management.
This program partners with cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of all kinds to become healthier and sustainable as well as wildlife friendly. Communities earn community-wide certification by certifying individual properties like homes, parks, schools, businesses, and others in their community as Certified Wildlife Habitats and by doing education and outreach in their community.
To earn eligibility as a Community Wildlife Habitat, the Bull Point Sustainability Committee worked systematically to create wildlife habitat by ensuring residential properties provide elements that all wildlife need to thrive and survive. The committee held educational wildlife demonstrations and workshops about South Carolina’s local wildlife and how to protect their habitat.
The community members also installed nesting boxes for Eastern bluebirds and wood ducks and other species including eastern screech owls and various songbirds.
The Sustainability Committee also has plans to enhance nature trails and bird sanctuaries by removing invasive species and installing educational signage.
Bull Point was originally a part of the historic Tomotley Barony land grant of 1698 and used as a hunting and fishing preserve for hundreds of years. In the 1990’s, developer Bob Wolfson and his partner, Stan Kirkland designed a community on the tributaries of the Huspah Creek and located at the north end of the Port Royal Sound.
Individuals or communities who are interested in learning more about certifying a space as wildlife habitat should visit https://www.scwf.org/habitats. For more information on Community Wildlife Habitats, contact Savannah Jordan, Habitat Education Manager for the South Carolina Wildlife Federation at savannah@scwf.org.
