Habitat Highlight- Briarcliffe Acres – South Carolina’s Second Certified Community Wildlife Habitat!

On December 1, 2006, the Town of Briarcliffe Acres was certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat (CWH).

Briarcliff Acres is a small, coastal township located between the towns of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach.  The Atlantic Ocean borders the town on the east and Highway 17 borders on the west.    There are 240 homes on large, wooded lots amongst the 251 home sites.  Zoned for individual family residences, the township has four common areas, street medians, a small park on one of the lakes, a beach dunes walkover, and a cabana area on the beachfront. 

Briarcliffe Acres is rich in natural beauty.  The beach area includes 3,500 feet of undeveloped shoreline and dunes.  A marsh area, formed by the White Point Swash, separates the beach from the developed areas.  The town also has two freshwater lakes.  The variety in elevation levels of the town allows for a diversity of deciduous and evergreen trees.  The town has ordinances that limit clearing of trees to only those necessary for building.  Consequently, many of the tall pines, stately oaks, and wax myrtles of the original old forest remain. 

The woody environment is rich in wildlife, to include alligators, foxes, raccoons, opossum, deer and various speces of birds.  In 1973, the South Carolina General Assembly declared Briarcliffe Acres a bird sanctuary and a large section of land close to the beach is now permanently zoned a conservation area by the National Land Trust of North America.  The environment is further protected from the encroachment of development by the presence of a 500-acre spiritual retreat on the southern border of the town.  The Meher Spiritual Center is also a SC Wildlife Sanctuary and is host to more than 200 species of plants, 100 species of birds and 44 species of animals—including a number of federally-listed or endangered species such as: Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Bald Eagles, Wood Storks, Piping Plover, Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, Black Bear, and Least Tern.

In order to be certified as a CWH by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Briarcliffe Acres had to accumulate a certain number of points, which are based on the population of their community.  (See sidebar at right.)  In the Habitat category, they were required to certify 21 Backyard Wildlife Habitats.  By the time of certification, over 40 yards had been certified.  They also had 2 public parks within the community certified.

To educate the town residents about the project, a committee created an information kiosk with details about the project.  They also began writing columns in the community newsletter about habitats, certifications, and upcoming projects.  One of the team’s community projects was to construct a demonstration “riparian barrier” at the lakeside at a public park.  The team also began to work with homeowners on establishing their own riparian barriers friendly to wildlife on lakefronts.

After completing a series of projects and documenting everything in a project notebook, Briarcliffe Acres applied for CWH Certification from NWF.  At the December 1st ceremony, Sue Sturges of NWF presented the town of Briarcliffe with their certificate.  The ceremony was held at “Habitat Park” in the township.  SCWF Director of Education, Sara Green, also attended the ceremony. 

Congratulations to Briarcliffe Acres, the second certified CWH in SC!