spectr17
09-05-2003, 08:46 PM
Sep. 02, 2003
Longest-serving wildlife manager retires
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. - George Garris could have retired years ago but seemed to always find new challenges.
But now, after a 44-year career and almost three decades at Cape Romain, the nation's longest serving national wildlife refuge manager is retiring.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service honored Garris for his work earlier this year. And Garris, 71, has seen a lot during his career.
Although Hurricane Hugo ravaged Cape Romain northeast of Charleston in 1989, it wasn't the most difficult time in Garris' career.
That was earlier when he was dealing with poachers in the Carolina Sandhills refuge in Chesterfield County. At the time, poachers threatened to burn the family home, recalls Garris' wife, Mary Lou Garris.
"He loves a challenge. George has excellent foresight. He sees 20 years down the road," she says.
Three decades ago, Garris envisioned a national refuge to help protect land in the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers' basin between Charleston and Beaufort. Now the ACE basin national refuge is 12,000 acres.
He also worked to save pristine wetlands by helping create a refuge north of Cape Romain, and the Waccamaw refuge now encompasses 9,000 acres.
Garris became manager of Cape Romain in 1974 and, 20 years later, the Fish and Wildlife Service named him complex manager adding the Santee, ACE Basin and Waccamaw refuges.
Garris felt he could not retire before completing the Sewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center off U.S. Highway 17 northeast of Charleston. The center opened in 1996 and last year attracted 58,000 visitors.
"To me, education may be the most valuable thing we can do," says Garris, who adds he "pestered" U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., for support.
"South Carolina's coasts and unique ecological treasures are all the better because of George's service," Hollings says. "We are all indebted to him for his passionate commitment to preserving South Carolina's natural beauty."
Garris also helped reintroduce endangered red wolves to the wild. "Most biologists had no doubts they could be brought back, but we had to prove it," he says.
In 1987, two wolves were reintroduced on Bulls Island and the pair had pups the next spring. Wolves have bred on the island almost yearly since.
"We have to do what's best for wildlife," says Garris, who considers the ACE Basin and Waccamaw refuges his most important accomplishments - areas that will be preserved for future generations.
When Garris took over at Cape Romain, loggerhead sea turtles were a threatened species. Seeing high tides and raccoons were wiping out the nests on Cape Island, Garris set up a hatchery in protected areas on high ground.
That allowed young turtles to be protected but head for the sea on their own in an area where 1,108 females nested this summer.
When hatchlings didn't follow a tunnel through dunes, Garris put a flashlight on the other side to simulate the moon and draw the turtles to the water.
"It takes a lot of perseverance, determination, being stubborn and knowing the right people," says Larry Davis, director of the Sewee Center and a ranger who has worked with Garris since 1987.
Davis says Garris' biggest accomplishment was helping the refuge recover from Hugo.
"We had lost everything we had. All the facilities, all the equipment, everything we used every day was gone, not to mention the wildlife and habitat," Davis says.
Longest-serving wildlife manager retires
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. - George Garris could have retired years ago but seemed to always find new challenges.
But now, after a 44-year career and almost three decades at Cape Romain, the nation's longest serving national wildlife refuge manager is retiring.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service honored Garris for his work earlier this year. And Garris, 71, has seen a lot during his career.
Although Hurricane Hugo ravaged Cape Romain northeast of Charleston in 1989, it wasn't the most difficult time in Garris' career.
That was earlier when he was dealing with poachers in the Carolina Sandhills refuge in Chesterfield County. At the time, poachers threatened to burn the family home, recalls Garris' wife, Mary Lou Garris.
"He loves a challenge. George has excellent foresight. He sees 20 years down the road," she says.
Three decades ago, Garris envisioned a national refuge to help protect land in the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers' basin between Charleston and Beaufort. Now the ACE basin national refuge is 12,000 acres.
He also worked to save pristine wetlands by helping create a refuge north of Cape Romain, and the Waccamaw refuge now encompasses 9,000 acres.
Garris became manager of Cape Romain in 1974 and, 20 years later, the Fish and Wildlife Service named him complex manager adding the Santee, ACE Basin and Waccamaw refuges.
Garris felt he could not retire before completing the Sewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center off U.S. Highway 17 northeast of Charleston. The center opened in 1996 and last year attracted 58,000 visitors.
"To me, education may be the most valuable thing we can do," says Garris, who adds he "pestered" U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., for support.
"South Carolina's coasts and unique ecological treasures are all the better because of George's service," Hollings says. "We are all indebted to him for his passionate commitment to preserving South Carolina's natural beauty."
Garris also helped reintroduce endangered red wolves to the wild. "Most biologists had no doubts they could be brought back, but we had to prove it," he says.
In 1987, two wolves were reintroduced on Bulls Island and the pair had pups the next spring. Wolves have bred on the island almost yearly since.
"We have to do what's best for wildlife," says Garris, who considers the ACE Basin and Waccamaw refuges his most important accomplishments - areas that will be preserved for future generations.
When Garris took over at Cape Romain, loggerhead sea turtles were a threatened species. Seeing high tides and raccoons were wiping out the nests on Cape Island, Garris set up a hatchery in protected areas on high ground.
That allowed young turtles to be protected but head for the sea on their own in an area where 1,108 females nested this summer.
When hatchlings didn't follow a tunnel through dunes, Garris put a flashlight on the other side to simulate the moon and draw the turtles to the water.
"It takes a lot of perseverance, determination, being stubborn and knowing the right people," says Larry Davis, director of the Sewee Center and a ranger who has worked with Garris since 1987.
Davis says Garris' biggest accomplishment was helping the refuge recover from Hugo.
"We had lost everything we had. All the facilities, all the equipment, everything we used every day was gone, not to mention the wildlife and habitat," Davis says.