Protecting More than an Entrance
By Justin Core
As a result of the community-approved parcel trade agreement between the Kiawah Island Community Association( KICA) and the Kiawah Partners, the Kiawah Conservancy accepted land and conservation easement donations from the Kiawah Partners totaling over 740 acres on December 7, 2017.
Mingo North and Mingo South, the upland“ fingers” that form the eastern half of a hummock island that spans the Kiawah Island Parkway, are protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement held by the Conservancy. Ownership of these properties have been conveyed to KICA by Kiawah Partners. An additional conservation easement was assigned to the marshlands of the western half of the Kiawah River, protecting not only tidal wetlands and shrub thicket habitats but also a handful of small hummock islands, including Marsh Hawk Island and the Mink Islands. In addition to these areas, the Partners gifted an eight-acre hummock island on Bass Creek, at the eastern end of Kiawah to the Conservancy.
While the conservation of Mingo North and Mingo South will protect the“ entrance to Kiawah,” these areas and the adjacent marshlands and hummocks provide valuable benefits to a host of wildlife. The Town of Kiawah Island has documented Mingo North and Mingo South, as well as the upland edges of the marsh approaching Cougar Point Golf Course along the northern side of Oyster Rake, as important bobcat areas.
The maritime forest and shrub thickets found in these areas provide critical daytime resting habitat for bobcats, as indicated by Bobcat GPS Project data collected since 2007. Besides bobcats, Mingo North and Mingo South are used by a variety of birds, including painted buntings, cedar waxwings, Carolina chickadees, and red-bellied woodpeckers. The federally listed“ at risk” monarch butterfly finds a robust foraging area here, as the numerous groundsel trees provide a vital fall food source for migrating and overwintering butterflies.
In addition to the habitat afforded by the protection of Mingo North and Mingo South, the adjacent tidal salt marshes and hummock islands provide additional habitat for several unique species. MacGillivray’ s seaside sparrow,
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