Your Voice will Make a Difference!

Now’s the time to speak. Here are three ways YOU can use your voice to help save the SI Maritime Forest.

Use all or some of these General Talking Points when you call regulators & lawmakers:

• I oppose severe cutting in the Sullivan’s Island Maritime Forest.
• I support the Town Management plan being led by the Town’s Director of Resilience and  Natural Resource Management, who is using science-based information to safeguard the island’s natural resources.
• The city of Charleston is spending $1.3 billion to build a sea wall to protect against rising sea levels, hurricanes and storm surge. The maritime forest provides this same protection — we must protect what protects us.
• Working with the naturalist, homeowners adjacent to the maritime forest obtained permits to remove more than 1,300 invasive popcorn trees, replacing them with native wildflower seeds to prevent re-establishment. These efforts demonstrate successful collaboration between the town and residents to maintain forest health and resilience.
• Seasonal permits allow adjacent homeowners to trim wax myrtles and eastern baccharis to five feet between their property and the ocean from Nov. 1 through Feb. 28.
• Land held in a public land trust should be managed for the benefit of the many, not the few, and the public deserves a voice.
• Add your own thoughts on why preserving the Maritime Forest is important to you.