WHIP Helps Protect and Improve Thousands of Acres

(from left) NRCS Regional Assistant Chief for the East Richard Coombe, Indian Creek Initiative private landowner (holding award for his participation), and East Piedmont RC&D Coordinator Reginald Hall (NRCS image -- click to enlarge)

NRCS and other cooperative conservation partners of the Indian Creek Wildlife Habitat Restoration Initiative recently hosted a guided tour of the project in Newberry County, South Carolina. The event highlighted partnership efforts among Federal, State, and local agencies/organizations which are in the process of restoring and improving habitat for declining species that depend on grasslands and similar habitats. The project was made possible through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) that has provided landowners with technical and financial assistance to develop habitat for upland wildlife, threatened and endangered species, fish, and other wildlife in South Carolina.

The cooperative conservation project started in October 2004 when representatives from the USDA Forest Service, NRCS, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources met to discuss a plan which would restore and improve wildlife habitat within Indian Creek.

The cooperating agencies initiated a landscape restoration project which sought to restore habitat for species that depend on grasslands, including bobwhite quail and songbirds such as prairie warbler, loggerhead shrike, and Bachman’s sparrow.

National forest properties and privately-owned lands within the 16,000- acre project boundary are being restored and improved with conservation practices including pine stand thinning, prescribed burning, native warm season grass establishment, and eradication of invasive species.  Bird monitoring is also helping to evaluate the effectiveness of the project.

South Carolina NRCS State Conservationist Niles Glasgow said, “WHIP has improved and protected over two million acres of important wildlife habitat since it began in 1998. Indian Creek is a great example of what can happen when people and agencies work together in the name of conservation — the impact is huge, and the benefits will be great for a number of different wildlife species.”

Regional Assistant Chief for the East Richard Coombe traveled to South Carolina to attend the tour and personally thank the private landowners and cooperating agencies that worked together to make the initiative a success.
Your contact is NRCS public affairs specialist Amy O. Maxwell at 803-765-5402.