Committee advances airport wildlife-management policy covering Hilton Head and Beaufort Executive airports

The Beaufort County Public Facilities Committee on March 17 advanced a resolution to adopt an airport wildlife-management safety policy and forwarded it to county council without objection.

John (S5), who presented the policy, said it is designed to “protect human life as well as personal property” by reducing wildlife strikes and is consistent with practices at other airports. He told the committee the policy covers both Hilton Head Island Airport and Beaufort Executive Airport and is intended as an airport-wide safety policy, not to single out specific individuals or groups.

Committee members asked practical questions about nearby water features that attract birds and whether the county would provide guidance to municipalities and private developers. John said the county has provided input on site designs (for example, on a Walmart project near Beaufort Executive) and described mitigation options such as netting and floating deterrents for retention ponds. He also said airport leadership meets monthly with terminal tenants to coordinate construction and operational issues.

The presenter said recent national aviation incidents heightened attention to wildlife-management measures. He also reported that the airport has worked with the Federal Security Director in Charleston and has engaged with local caretakers and tenants to share priorities and reduce online tensions that followed earlier public comments.

Chair (S1) called for the motion; a committee member moved and another seconded, and with no objection the item was forwarded to county council for final action.

The committee did not set an implementation timeline during the meeting; staff said they will include supporting materials and hyperlinks with the county council submission. The council is expected to consider the resolution in the next one to two weeks.