newsletter into a full magazine, published twice a year,
led to a contest for its name. Avril Fenwick’s Naturally
Kiawah clearly won. Over the years we learned about
wading birds, marsh creatures, ducks, brown sedge,
sounds to hear in nature and more. In other publication
efforts, the Kiawah Conservancy worked with KICA to
update the Kiawh Island Guest Guide and Island Map
funded by ATAX. Conservation Matters, an entertaining
and educational lecture series, was implemented as a free
offering for the community.
As the organization grew in leadership,
participation and expertise, it faced a growing need to
revisit its long-range plans. In 2011, when Greg Brown
succeeded as chairman, he initiated a comprehensive
strategic plan professionally led by Dianne Culhane,
to extend through 2020. He directed the updating of
financial management control and reporting processes
and set up a new database/tracking program. The very
popular Naturally Kiawah Guest Edition was added as a
special edition to be distributed to all Resort guests, and
an Annual Report was published. In 2010, South Carolina
Secretary of State Mark Hammond added the Kiawah
Conservancy to his list of “angels” in recognition of its
using at least eighty percent of contributions to fulfill its
mission, not for overhead. In 2012, The South Carolina
Aquarium presented its Environmental Stewardship Award
to the Kiawah Conservancy. In 2014, the Conservancy
received 23 Communicator Awards from the Academy of
Interactive and Visual Arts for its publications and videos.
Current chairman Sue Corcoran is tasked with
successfully implementing the newly-developed strategic
plan while managing on-going property oversight.
Property preservation continues to be a priority for
the Kiawah Conservancy. In addition to one property
preserved in 2013, four properties totaling 14.8 acres are
being added to the Kiawah Conservancy’s collection of
January
20, 2009
February
15, 2011
preserved lands in 2014. This brings the total acreage
of conservation land on Kiawah to 345 acres. The
Kiawah Conservancy’s focus has expanded to include
education and encouragement of property owners on
habitat enhancement and restoration as well as property
acquisition for preservation. The Naturally Kiawah
Habitat Program highlights properties that conform
to the Kiawah Conservancy’s guidelines for creating
and maintaining effective areas of wildlife habitat in
the landscape. More than half of developed home sites
qualified at roll out in 2013. These habitat friendly
landscapes provide nesting areas for birds, resting areas
for mammals and travel corridors for a variety of wildlife.
The Naturally Kiawah Demonstration Garden in Night
Heron Park provides examples of attractive plantings that
serve as habitat. Feedback on the garden-as-classroom
continues to be so positive that expansion is underway.
With an ever-changing population of property
owners on Kiawah, communication efforts remain a
critical area of focus. The Kiawah Conservancy now
offers new videos and an E-newsletter, The Conservancy
Connection. We are on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
We have a significantly improved interactive website
underway. Q