Pawleys Island is at the forefront of a Beach Vitex Eradication and Dune Restoration project through Clemson University, which is on track and slated for completion before spring. There are 42 houses at 10 different sites on Pawleys Island which have been selected by a team of scientists led by Dr. Chuck Gresham, an ecologist with Clemson’s Baruch Institute of Coastal and Forest Science who is in charge of the project.

“Overall, there are 22 sites, with a total of 74 lots,” Gresham said. “All of the sites are north of Charleston Harbor, but many of the sites are in Georgetown County.”

After receiving a $133,055 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation this summer to help with eradication, Gresham says he has received hundreds of calls from homeowners who either have vitex on their ocean-front property or would like to have their dunes checked for the invasive plant. The chosen sites were the ones which had vitex on the primary dunes where it could interfere with Loggerhead Sea Turtle nesting.

Beach vitex (or vitex rotundifolia) is a non-native invasive plant that was imported from Asia after Hurricane Hugo wiped out the dunes on the coast of South Carolina. Believing that the plant would help to build up the dunes, it was bought and planted in many areas, including Pawleys Island.

Several years ago, volunteers with the South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts (SCUTE) began noticing that the plant deterred Loggerhead Turtles from nesting on beaches in the areas where it grew. Soon afterwards, scientists found that beach vitex was killing off native species wherever it grew and they even became doubtful whether the plant strengthened dunes.

Out of this knowledge, the Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force, made up of scientists and volunteers, was born. In the past three years, they have educated the public and the scientific community about the dangers of this invasive plant. This knowledge eventually led to the plant being listed as a Federal Noxious Weed,

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which in turn made this project possible.

Gresham says he and others involved in the project have begun the process of eradicating these plants from the coast, and will work through December to kill all of the plants in the designated project sites. If the project is a success, they will know in the spring or early summer, when the plants usually flower.

“The first thing I did was to write each of the property owners and get their permission to kill the vitex and then replace it with native plant species,” Gresham said. “So far, everyone has been delighted to cooperate and we haven’t received any resistance.”

Sending two copies of these letters to property owners, Gresham asked that one of the copies be signed and returned so that each property owner could acknowledge that they know what is happening on their property.

The next step was to start the eradication process. Gresham says that the trained scientists working on the project are using the “hack and squirt” method of eradication. This is the method, which uses a powerful herbicide labeled for “aquatic use” by the Environmental Protection Agency, that has been proven to be most successful in killing the plant.

“We wound the plant and then inject the herbicide into the wound,” Gresham said. “Previous research has shown that this technique is very effective. We won’t know for sure until spring or early summer.”

When it is determined that the plants are dead, Gresham and his team will replant the dunes with native plants and grasses that naturally occur on the dunes. He says they will use 70 percent sea oats from a local seed source and 30 percent bitter panicum, which “does best on South Carolina beaches.”

“After we replant the dunes, we will give each property owner a report of what we’ve done,” Gresham said. “We will also provide tips on maintenance and perhaps supplemental planting.”

Gresham says he is very pleased with the enthusiasm he has found in the affected communities for this project.

“One land owner was so excited about what we are doing that he contributed to our cause with a monetary donation,” Gresham said. “We have received 100 percent cooperation and people have been very supportive.”

Pawleys Island Mayor Bill Otis says he is also glad that people are rallying to get rid of this invasive plant on the island. Town Council voted to pass an ordinance this summer which limited the spread of beach vitex on primary dunes and into other people’s property, but property owners have taken it even further, he said.

“I am delighted that property owners on Pawleys Island have realized the serious negative impact of beach vitex on the island,” Otis said. “For the most part, it appears they are anxious to eradicate it, as is shown in their particular interest in this project.”

For more information about beach vitex, visit the Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force website at www.northinlet.sc.edu/resource/task_force.htm.