JACKSON, S.C. (Oct. 21, 2025) — Governor Henry McMaster will receive Audubon’s Conservation Champion Award during a special celebration marking the 50th anniversary of Silver Bluff Sanctuary on Saturday, November 1. The event will honor the Governor’s extraordinary record of conservation leadership and Silver Bluff’s legacy as one of South Carolina’s most storied landscapes.
“Governor McMaster has been a tireless champion for the lands and waters that make South Carolina so special,” said Rebecca Haynes, Executive Director of Audubon South Carolina. “His leadership has led to the protection of hundreds of thousands of acres of land, additional safeguards for our rivers, and historic investments in coastal resilience for future generations. Silver Bluff, with its storied conservation history, is the perfect place to honor that legacy.”
In just the last three years, Governor McMaster has worked with the General Assembly to invest $318 million in conservation. Thanks to his leadership over the course of his two terms in his office, more than 229,000 acres of historic and environmentally significant lands have been protected or are in the process of being protected. This includes landmark projects such as the largest conservation easement in state history (62,000 acres in the Pee Dee), conservation of the Snow’s Island Assemblage, and protections for barrier islands including Waties and Pritchards. He also created the Floodwater Commission, launched the Office of Resilience, and opposed offshore drilling to safeguard South Carolina’s coast.
A Living Landscape of History and Habitat
Spanning 3,400 acres along the Savannah River, Audubon’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary provides vital habitat for more than 200 bird species, from Bald Eagles to Wood Storks to Swallow-tailed Kites. The land’s cultural history is as rich as its natural heritage. Once the ancestral lands of the Yuchi (Euchee) people and a sacred gathering place for the Creek (Muscogee), it later became a British fort during the Revolutionary War, the home of South Carolina Governor and notorious enslaver James Henry Hammond, and the site of one of the nation’s oldest African American churches and cemeteries.
The sanctuary reached Audubon South Carolina in the 1970s when it was donated by conservationist Floyd Starr. Today, Silver Bluff has become a model of sustainable land management and ecological restoration. Its longleaf pine-wiregrass restoration project revives a nearly lost Southeastern ecosystem, supporting species like the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s Sparrow, and Northern Bobwhite Quail.
More than 300 landowners have trained at the sanctuary through Audubon’s Bird-Friendly Forestry program, helping spread wildlife-friendly land management across the state. As a large, forested tract, Silver Bluff also plays a vital role in filtering pollutants, protecting drinking water for over a million South Carolinians, and improving flood resilience across the Savannah River watershed.
The Nov. 1 celebration will feature Governor McMaster’s keynote remarks. Attendance is limited to 100–150 guests, and tickets are still available through the Silver Bluff event website.
Audubon South Carolina protects birds and the places they need, right here in South Carolina. We’re the state office of the National Audubon Society, which has more than one million members and a century-long track record of success. In South Carolina, we represent nearly 30,000 Audubon members and supporters, 10 Audubon chapters and bird club partners, two Audubon sanctuaries, one education center, and more than 30,000 acres of land that we own or manage using bird- and climate-friendly forestry. Learn more about what we do and how to help at sc.audubon.org. Follow us on Facebook at @scaudubon and Instagram at @audubon_sc.
Media Contact: Rebecca Haynes, 803.403.5470
