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Edisto Marsh

Two tracts of beautiful salt marsh habitat on Edisto Island in Charleston County were donated to Audubon in the 1970s, creating the Cutler and Cecil Sanctuaries. Together they total 357 acres.

With tidal creeks flowing along their margins and supporting a wide diversity of marsh habitats on their interiors, these sanctuaries provide habitat for a vast array of wildlife species, including river otter, raccoon, marsh rabbit, Marsh Hawk, Clapper Rail, Long-billed Marsh Wren and numerous shore and wading birds.

Ownership of these pristine marshes on a rapidly developing coastal island provides Audubon both presence and standing to engage in important conservation issues in the region. Bird surveys at the sanctuaries can add to the body of baseline bird population data for South Carolina, enabling scientists to monitor changes. Because the Cecil Sanctuary joins a major highway serving Edisto Beach, the potential exists for a public contact facility in the future, should that be deemed important.