Committee approves permanent seasonal closure of DeVoe Bank intertidal area to protect seabirds

The Regulations and Administrative Procedures Committee voted unanimously to move forward a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources regulation that will close intertidal access at DeVoe Bank from March 15 through Oct. 15 each year.

Assistant Chief of Wildlife Will Dillman told the committee the rule, filed as document 5,239, would put the emergency closure enacted in May 2024 into permanent regulation. "This is in order to protect birds during nesting and foraging," Dillman said, adding that the island has "been reduced in size from about 80 acres down to 18" after storm erosion.

Dillman said the area is already closed above the high tide line year-round as a seabird sanctuary and that the proposed seasonal closure covers the intertidal zone to prevent disturbance during sensitive periods. When asked how many people use the area, he said the agency does not have visitor counts and would try to find those numbers and follow up: "we don't have counts, I don't have those numbers I could try to find those for you and get back".

Dillman said DNR will reassess the area annually and could consider reopening portions if natural deposition increases the land area: "Should we see some additional deposition of material on there it's something we would continue to assess and should there be opportunities to to look at additional public recreation we'd be happy to look at that and file a regulation in the future to do that." The committee action moves the regulation to the next stage of review.