State plans to block public access to locations of rare plants and animals

South Carolina leaders are moving to shut off public access to records that pinpoint the locations of rare plants and animals across the state, arguing that making the records secret will protect vulnerable species from poachers and others.

A bill to close the records is moving through the state Senate after passing the House in 2023. The legislation has support from the state Department of Natural Resources and environmental groups, although one open records advocate questions whether the bill will do any good.

As it stands, the Department of Natural Resources must provide the exact location of rare species to anyone who asks for the information, the agency has told state lawmakers. Poachers can then use that information, kept in a DNR database, to find and harvest scarce and unusual species, such as the Venus flytrap, DNR officials say.

“If you came and asked ‘I want to see all of your locations,’ we are compelled to share that,’’ DNR director Robert Boyles said in an interview with The State. “The primary concern is to allow us to withhold specific geolocated data.’’

“What we don’t want to do is create a situation, where by our oversharing information, (we) make the Venus flytrap on your property vulnerable.’’

The DNR says 23 states, including Georgia, have restrictions on the release of rare and at-risk species information. The South Carolina agency would still provide information about the general occurrence of these species across the state, just not pinpoint the locations, officials say. Those seeking the specific locations could do so for scientific, educational or conservation purposes.

Endangered and threatened species are plants and animals that have dwindled to such low numbers they could be wiped out without rules to protect them and help them recover. Some other animals not formally listed as endangered or threatened by the government are considered at risk.

The S.C. Wildlife Federation says South Carolina has more than 40 federally protected endangered and threatened species, including the bog turtle, flatwoods salamander, the wood stork and the red knot, a type of coastal bird. The state of South Carolina has more state-protected species and others that are candidates for protection.

While the Venus flytrap is uncommon, it is not listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But its locations in South Carolina would apparently be protected under the proposed state law.

The bill has language that includes “otherwise imperiled species’’ beyond those formally listed as threatened or endangered. The DNR says the plant is considered an at-risk species.

Venus flytraps are unusual plants because they are carnivorous, feasting on unsuspecting bugs that light on their well-camouflaged jaws. Flytraps occurs in the wild only in southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina.

Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, a Murrells Inlet area Republican, said there is an active black market for Venus flytraps. In 2019, federal authorities arrested a man for allegedly poaching 970 Venus flytraps in eastern North Carolina, even after federal penalties had been stiffened.

On Wednesday, the Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee unanimously approved the legislation to protect locations of rare species. The bill needs full Senate approval and Gov. Henry McMaster’s signature to become law. It passed the House last year on a 97-0 vote.

Despite widespread support for the bill, media attorney Jay Bender questioned whether the legislation will do much good. Bender said the measure is “consistent with the culture of secrecy that exists in South Carolina,’’ but he also said he understands why officials might want to shield the exact locations from the public.

“I am inclined to believe that the withholding of sensitive archaeological site and endangered species location records may serve a legitimate purpose, if it can be demonstrated that it is an effective way to stop looting and poaching,’’ Bender said in an email to The State. “My primary concern is that the looters and poachers already know where their targets are located and this legislation will be merely symbolic.’’

Concerns also surfaced last year about how the lack of access to the records could affect developers seeking to avoid rare species when they build on virgin land.

Republican Rep. Cal Forrest, who represents parts of Saluda and Lexington counties, has urged passage of the legislation, not only to protect plants, but to keep the public from going onto private property looking for rare species.

“It can be damaging if it is public knowledge,’’ Forrest said at a hearing last year. “This bill is simply just protection for the private citizen.’’