What does wilderness do for you? n Georgetown U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Works as a filter, providing clean 21 Miles m Twin Ponds Francis Marion water and air Rifle National Forest Range Casino Creek n Maintains habitat for wildlife and Tibwin Trail Cape preserves biodiversity Oyster Romain Cape Romain Bay Bay Muddy Cape Little Papas Bay Horse Island n Provides a place for outdoor Creek Head Palmetto Papas Creek Trail recreational activities as well as !y Creek Buck Hall Long Set Santee Path Romain opportunities for solitude and Campground Creek Bull Creek Creek River Wilderness River Five Key Creek a place to experience nature’s Ion Swamp Fathom Trail Creek Lighthouse Raccoon Island beauty Sewee White Banks Shell Key Ring Bulls Bay Islands n Works as a dynamic “laboratory” for scientific and medical Legend Charleston Marsh Salt Pond CapeRomainBoundary 22 Miles Sewee Island research Visitor Creek k Center ClosedAreas n !@ Wilderness Area Promotes wilderness Headquarters Venning stewardship, and in turn, Office Creek Forest Garris Marsh ecosystem preservation Landing Anderson !y Creek Bulls k Sewee Visitor Center Essence of Wilderness Island Sewee !@ Refuge Headquarters Jacks Wilderness is a uniquely American Bay Bull Creek !5 Beach Road Trail idea and has always been a Creek ![ !_ !_ Restroom fundamental part of our American !5 !F !y Boat Landing Lower Summerhouse Pond story and heritage. In 1964, !F Turkey Walk Trail 01 2 4 Congress formally acknowledged Upper Summerhouse Pond ![ Wildlife Viewing Platform Price Miles the benefits of wild places by Creek passing the Wilderness Act, creating the National Wilderness n Bureau of Land Management: 6% Preservation System and a legal definition of wilderness: n National Forest Service: 33% “the most intact, undisturbed wild natural n Fish and Wildlife Service: 20% areas left on our planet, the last wild places n National Park Service: 41% where humans haven’t developed with roads, Other Wilderness Areas in South Carolina pipelines, or other industrial infrastructure.” Congaree National Park Wilderness Wilderness areas are places where people from all 21,700 acres www.nps.gov/cong/ “Something will have gone out of us walks of life can visit to experience solitude and spiritual Ellicott Rock Wilderness as a people if we ever let the remaining awakening through the enjoyment of awe inspiring, 8,274 acres www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=176 pristine landscapes. While visiting Wilderness, you can wilderness be destroyed” connect with your sense of wonder in a place of peace and Francis Marion National Forest Wilderness quiet, while experiencing wildlife in its natural habitat. 13,812 acres Wallace Stegner It is a place where you can hike, fish, bird-watch, or just Four areas: Hell Hole Bay, Wambaw Swamp, Wambaw Creek, reconnect with the land. Wilderness can also be described and Little Wambaw Swamp www.fs.usda.gov/scnfs/ as a living classroom, providing a unique setting for teaching wilderness stewardship as well as biology, history, or outdoor survivorship skills. Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge For more information, visit www.wilderness.net 5801 Highway 17 North Awendaw, SC 29429 Four federal agencies manage and provide stewardship for Phone: 843/928 3264 America’s 109 million acres of wilderness: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/cape_romain https://www.facebook.com/caperomain Left to right: Surf fishing/ Kristen Gardner; terns in flight/Billy Shaw; seaoats/ Kristen Gardner; Black skimmer/Ben Sumrell; “In every walk with Loggerhead hatchling/Laura Smith; Piping plover/ Tom nature one receives far Blagden more than he seeks.” John Muir Refuge Wilderness Wildlife Stewardship On January 3rd, 1975, 29,000 acres of Cape Romain’s Cape Romain Wilderness is a part of the Carolinian-South Everyone plays a vital role in ensuring that present and 66,306 acres was designated as Class 1 Wilderness. This Atlantic Biosphere Reserve and is designated one of four future generations enjoy the benefits of Wilderness. When distinction recognizes this area as having some of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites visiting the refuge Wilderness, please practice the Leave cleanest air on the east coast. The Class 1 Wilderness Air of International Importance on the Atlantic Coast. It No Trace (LNT) guidelines to help ensure this beautiful Quality designation provides protection from future air is a vital refuge for over 293 species of birds, including area is left healthy and intact. Wilderness areas were pollution under the Clean Air Act. seabirds, shorebirds, wading birds, and raptors. According designated for the “use and enjoyment of the American to the seasons you may see Black skimmers, Red knots, people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired All of Cape Romain is designated Wilderness, with the Least terns, Marbled godwits or the Wilson’s plover while for future use and enjoyment as wilderness” (Wilderness exception of Bulls Island, Garris Landing, and a band of visiting the Wilderness. Act of 1964). Together, visitors and refuge management marsh along the Intracoastal Waterway. The Wilderness work to create a balance that preserves the untrammeled is accessible only by boat, but don’t let this fact stop you. Cape Romain is host to the largest nesting rookery for quality of Wilderness, while also utilizing its many unique Many visitors make a day trip of kayaking, canoeing, Brown pelicans and terns on the South Carolina coast, attributes that make it worthwhile. We must rise to the sailing or motor boating out to this beautiful remote area and has the largest wintering population of American challenge of protecting our wilderness legacy, for the on the South Carolina coast. This wilderness ecosystem oystercatchers on the East coast. Additionally, the benefits these areas provide far exceed the mere acreage consists of emergent saltmarsh dominated by smooth cord threatened Piping plover calls the beaches of Cape Romain protected. grass and barrier islands with shell-strewn white sandy home during its migration in the spring and fall. beaches. You can enjoy a variety of activities within the For more info on LNT, visit www.lnt.org/programs refuge; such as beach combing, photography, surf fishing, Cape Romain’s barrier islands are the site of the largest observing wildlife, and much more. nesting population of the threatened Loggerhead sea turtle outside the state of Florida. The northern most islands of the Wilderness receive an average of 1000 Loggerhead nests annually. .