Featured Guest Speaker | December 3

Profile photo of Ciarra McClintonFeatured Speaker: Ciarra McClinton, Community Engagement Fellow, Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex
 
Ciarra McClinton is the Community Engagement Fellow at the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex. She’s been in the low country and with the organization for only six months. Ciarra is originally from Dallas, TX and a recent graduate of Baylor University as a double major in Environmental Science and International Relations. She interacts with the community, participates in outreach events, environmental education and more. This young woman is an excellent speaker and passionate about her work!
Ciarra focused on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's mission of conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. She also explained the Savannah Coastal Refuge Complex: what they do, their management, habitat, and threatened and endangered species. They are part of the National Wildlife Refuge System that includes 571 refuges across the US and includes 7 complexes in the region, including Tybee, Pinckney, Wassaw, Blackbeard Island, Wolf Island and Harris Neck, but the most well-known and visited is the Savannah location (across the bridge into Hardeeville.)
 
Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex | FacebookThe Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex help with threatened and endangered species such as Loggerhead sea turtles, Piping Plover, the Wood Stork (recently delisted from endangered to threatened largely because of their work they have done for protection), and Flatwood Salamanders. They do this by way of having access to a variety of environments: salt marshes, flatlands, woodlands, coastal habitats, etc. They have many resources available to them, including maintenance, wilderness, habitat and law enforcement, as well as controlled burnings, water levels, and equipment work. 
 
For visitors, they offer fishing, hunting, environmental education, photography, trails, interpretation, and wildlife observation. The Savannah Coastal Refugees app provides self-guided tours you can take as well! Link for the iOS/Apple app 
 
One example of community engagement are their raised garden boxes. They’ve given over 100 to the community using Ipe wood from Brazil which was confiscated at the border. They are able to teach the schools and students about gardening. The refuge complex has plenty of volunteer, interns and youth opportunities as well; great for young people who are interested in learning more about conservation and paths to government work.
 
Recent Management/Activity:
  • Spraying of trees that are wildly invasive
  • Microplastics for alligators
  • Post Helene damage
  • Re-opening of wildlife drive from Irma damage (salt water flowing in/damage to their systems)
  • LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey plots
  • Manatee tagging
  • Visitation surveys
  • Daufuskie Ferry
  • Hog eradication (by one single man on Blackbeard Island!)
  • Caretta Sea Turtle project