Days after McMaster said USC won’t lose Pritchards Island to UGA, the university had a plan
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Less than two weeks after Gov. Henry McMaster vowed that a Beaufort County barrier island would stay in the University of South Carolina’s hands after the school hadn’t used it in over a decade, USC had a plan.
A two-page draft document drawn up in July by the USC-Beaufort marine biology faculty and its natural sciences department chair boast research plans for Pritchards Island that range from establishing a summer undergraduate research program to monitoring and characterizing the rich ecology of the island.
“We start with marine biology, but it doesn’t have to end there,” Anna Ponder, USCB Vice Chancellor for Advancement, said. “(Pritchards Island) is a rich environment of possibility for our students.”
Ponder, who physically produced the glossy document that was given to island donor Philip Rhodes’ family during a July 19 dinner with USC and USCB leadership, said draft proposals like these are typical to hand out when meeting with vital stakeholders.
The draft plans — including long-term goals, current and immediate action, long-range research plans and collaborative projects — are what Ponder called “Round One.” And it’s all in an effort to revive an island the school largely has not used since 2009, what they say was due to rapid erosion typical to a barrier island and lack of private, state and federal funding.
Only a sea turtle program, run through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, has remained up and running on the island.
Recently, in June, the Rhodes family said USC wasn’t fulfilling its obligations to the island as Philip Rhodes intended.
The obligations rest in decades-old deeds signed by Philip Rhodes and the then-Carolina Research and Development Foundation. They required USC to keep Pritchards Island in a wilderness state and to use it for scientific, educational, charitable and general public purposes. Stipulated within the 1980s deeds was a clause that said USC could lose control of the island to the University of Georgia or The Nature Conservancy if it doesn’t uphold its end of the bargain.
On July 6, McMaster left a message with the Rhodeses: “South Carolina will live up to every single thing that is in the agreement, which is between the … university and your grandfather.”
What’s in the draft proposal?
According the draft proposal, two marine biology faculty members and its natural sciences department chair “have met to consider with renewed focus how best to execute Philip Rhodes’ vision of conservation, public education, and research” since fall 2021.
Those meetings were informal and occurred after the university hired two new marine biology faculty, one in 2019 and the other in 2020.
“Our internal discussions focus on sustainable, consistent use of Pritchards to bring attention to its importance in coastal processes in the Lowcountry, the eastern seaboard, and coastal systems worldwide,” the two-page document said.
Now, with a draft proposal in hand, the future is becoming slightly clearer for Pritchards’ fate as a research and education island. Currently, a preliminary budget is still in development stages.
Long-term:
Create a summer undergraduate research experience with a focus on barrier island biology, ecology, chemistry and geomorphology.
Learn about biological shifts between pristine and impacted barrier islands.
Learn how environmental change, the warming ocean, acidification and sea level rise, will impact the ecosystems of the Lowcountry’s coast.
Current and immediate:
Assess shoreline variability in barrier islands over the last approximately 100 years.
Partner with Pritchards Turtle Patrol for USCB summer internships.
Create a natural lab experience for a handful of USCB departments.
Organize seasonal beach sweeps for removal of trash and debris.
Meanwhile, 10 long-range research plans span from monitoring horseshoe crab population density during breeding season to characterizing historical changes in plankton communities. The university also is interested in partnering with outside groups such as the Port Royal Sound Foundation.
