Nearest city McBee, South Carolina Phone +1 843-335-8350 | Area 183.5 km² Established 1939 | |
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Location Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge Address 23734 U.S. Hwy 1, McBee, SC 29101, USA Management United States Fish and Wildlife Service Similar Sand Hills State Forest Off, McLeod Farms Main Office, Mc Bee High School, Sandhills Medical Foundati, Powderk Wildlife Preserve | ||
Carolina sandhills national wildlife refuge
The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge is a 45,348-acre (183.52 km2) national wildlife refuge 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.
Contents
Young male red cockaded woodpecker in carolina sandhills national wildlife refuge
Ecology and historyEdit
The Carolina Sandhills NWR, as its name suggests, is dedicated to the preservation of a portion of the Carolina Sandhills, a distinct ecosystem characterized by inland sand dunes, thin or absent topsoil, and frequent brush fires.
Recurrent, noncatastrophic fires tended to remove invasive shrubs and maximize the health of fire-tolerant species such as the longleaf pine. Pine-friendly birds, such as the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, also thrived in the Sandhills.
After attempts to farm this portion of the Sandhills turned unsuccessful during the Great Depression, the region was consolidated by New Deal federal managers into the current National Wildlife Refuge in 1939.
Current Refuge management practices at the Carolina Sandhills NWR include a program of Sandhills prescribed burnings.