Pine tree farming and endangered woodpeckers: a safe harbor for both in South Carolina

About a decade ago the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources developed a programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW), encouraging conservation on non-Federal lands through technical assistance, funding, and regulatory assurances. Still growing, the State’s program has 120 landowners and 110,000 acres. Created by the Service in 1995, Safe Harbor Agreements protect participating landowners from vulnerability to the “take” prohibitions of the Endangered Species Act in connection with their otherwise lawful activities.