NOTE: THIS SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION- CHECK OFTEN!
Embedded Files
Our mission is to educate, motivate and advocate for solutions that address climate and environmental issues
Environmental Club march General Meeting March 16 at the Lakehouse! 6:30!
Environmental Club march General Meeting March 16 at the Lakehouse! 6:30!
Join the Sun City Environmental Club on Monday March 16th in the Lakehouse Ballroom to hear Tim Evans, Director of Land Conservation at SC Audubon. He will be talking about Bottomland Hardwood forests, like longleaf pine, that once covered vast acreages of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Some 24 million acres were reduced to 4 million as a direct result of human settlement and clearing for agriculture, as well as continued draining and filling for development. He will also address federal regulations like "No Net Loss" and programs like Wetlands Mitigation, noting we have better tools and incentives for protection and restoration than ever before.
Tim joined the staff of Audubon South Carolina in 2018, having spent the previous 24 years as a Forester and Biologist for Anderson-Tully Company in the Bottomland Hardwood Forests of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Tim also worked as a wildlife biologist for North Carolina State Ag Extension and the Tennessee Valley Authority. He is a native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas and a graduate of both the University of Arkansas at Monticello and Clemson University where he received a Master of Science in Forest Resources. Tim is a TWS Certified Wildlife Biologist, a SC Certified Prescribed Fire Manager, and a Registered Licensed Forester in both MS and SC. He lives in the Dale community of North Beaufort County with his wife MaryBeth a yellow Lab named Doc and a cat named Piggy.
The meeting starts at 7:00 PM, but arrive early to meet our Board of Directors and Teams. Together, we can enhance our little corner of the Earth!
Sun City Environmental Club (SSEC) General Membership Meeting Summary
Meeting Date/Location: January 26, 2026/the Lakehouse Ballroom
Socializing and viewing exhibits provided by the SSEC Focus Teams started at 6:30 pm before the meeting began at 7:00 pm.
Attendance – Eighty people attended the meeting.
Bob Donelson, Club President, brought the meeting to order by noting the Club and its Group predecessor, Low Country Environmental Action, has been operating for eight years now. He said Club workshops are upcoming to help interested members become “environmental ambassadors” to their neighbors to continue to foster awareness about important environmental issues.
Featured Speaker: Laura Lee Rose, Certified Nursery Professional and President of the South Carolina Native Plant Society South Coast Chapter, presented “Native Plants for the Coast – Better for a Reason”. Laura’s goal is to help us get a better understanding of the term “native plant” and why they are to be preferred over other plants for our landscaping. She recommended native plant books by Doug Tallamy for great relevant insights and photographs. She shared one of her favorite quotes from Doug: “Garden like your life depends on it, because it does!”
She said native plants are interdependent with their surrounding animal communities and thus are part of an ecosystem that needs specific things to thrive. For example, some insects and birds depend on specific native plants to reproduce and survive. Even the decomposition products of native plant litter are important to survival of the ecosystem.
Local native plants mean those plant species that are “suited” to the area. They were here before European colonization and became endemic to the coastal region because of the soil properties, moisture, weather and native animals specific to the region. “Local” means the Coastal Zone that stretches along the coast from northern Florida to North Carolina. Some native plants also thrive in distinct smaller regions with the Zone.
Non-native plants were introduced into the Zone by importation as plants for landscaping, such as ornamentals and lawn grass, or as seeds. They can change the ecosystem because they are successful at reproducing and are thus invasive. They spread aggressively and crowd out or otherwise displace the native plants, for example by human infrastructure development. We should care about this because the populations of species that depend on the native plants in the ecosystem will suffer or be eliminated altogether.
Plants in the environment have a tiered, or layered hierarchy, with each layer providing something to the ecosystem, such as decomposition litter, shade, and protection from soil erosion and the weather. The layers, from ground level up, are grass and groundcovers, forbs, shrubs, large shrubs/small trees, and trees, which includes some palms.
October General Membership Meeting
October General Membership Meeting
We had a great meeting with BJWSA on October 20th. There are many ways we can help BJWSA keep plentiful water for our use. Never water on Mondays or daily 3 AM until 9 AM. The quickest way to kill your grass is to over water it. One inch of water a week is more than enough. Odd-numbered addresses are asked to irrigate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Even-numbered addresses are asked to irrigate on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Below is the presentation made to our club.
Community Stump Speech - Sun City Oct 20.2025.pdf
We had a wonderful Day on the May River with Captain Amber, Check the Field Trip tab at the top for what we learned!
We had a wonderful Day on the May River with Captain Amber, Check the Field Trip tab at the top for what we learned!
Our Field Trips around the Lowcountry Keep Us Informed of Sensitive Environmental Areas and Activities We Need to Protect!
We need your help with our teams!
CLICK ON "ACTION TEAMS" TO LEARN WHAT OUR TEAMS ARE DOING AND HOW YOU CAN HELP!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse