PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 76: Restoration Ecology I: Grasslands.
Presiding: A Grootjans
Thursday, August 7. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Meeting Room 101.
Assessing stakeholder views of sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes) management in the South Carolina lowcountry.
Hart, Zachary*,1, Halfacre, Angela 1, Burke, Marianne2, 1 College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, 294242 USDA Forest Service Center for Forested Wetlands, Charleston, SC, USA
ABSTRACT- Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes) is a non-timber forest resource found in coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas. The grass has special cultural and economic importance in coastal South Carolina where it is used by the local Gullah community in a specialized form of coiled basketry. Sales of these baskets provide a crucial source of income for many basket makers and are a major component of the Charleston Area's historical and cultural identity. The sweetgrass on which these basket makers depend, however, is becoming increasingly unavailable through habitat destruction, private property rights, and range limitation. Many basket makers must now buy the raw material from men who are able to travel outside the Charleston Area, sometimes as far as Georgia and Florida, to harvest the grass. Unless local sweetgrass supplies are restored, the art form may soon disappear. This study examines stakeholder opinions and perceptions of past, current, and future sweetgrass management. Twenty-three interviews were conducted with Charleston Area basket makers, and interview transcripts were analyzed for emergent themes using content analysis (a technique to objectively analyze text). Survey respondents indicated that buying grass rather than collecting it has become standard practice and that development is the primary reason for the difficulty in accessing the resource. Further, respondents indicated several potential solutions to the problem and expressed their willingness to contribute their time to restoration efforts. This study provides essential input for preserving the centuries-old art of sweetgrass basketry and offers valuable lessons for incorporating public and stakeholder participation in environmental decision-making processes.
Key words: stakeholder, sweetgrass, ecological restoration, muhlenbergia filipes