Green Space Hero - Charley Moore
by Thad Peterson
If you’ve spent any time on Seabrook you’ve probably seen a smiling guy with a camera, wandering around the island shooting pictures of the birds and wildlife. That’s Charley Moore, and he’s been an advocate for green space and the wild things who share our island since he moved here in 2005.
Charley grew up on a small farm in central Kentucky, living in what he calls a “petting zoo” of a farm, and hunting and fishing around his home. His passion for photography emerged in high school, and since this was well before digital imagery, he learned to process and print his images in a darkroom in his basement.
After graduate school at the University of Delaware where he studied marine biology, Charley spent 10 years with the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia studying the impact of power plants on fish populations in Chesapeake Bay. In 1977 he joined the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and he stayed there until he retired in 2004.
While at the DNR he had the opportunity travel to nearly every coastal community on the East Coast and he found few, if any communities where the natural environment had been preserved and wildlife prospered, except for Seabrook.
After moving to Seabrook Island Charley became involved in the community, serving on SIPOA’s Lakes and Wildlife committee, the Environmental Committee, and as a board member of the Seabrook Island
Green Space Conservancy. He also spent two years on the Turtle Patrol, helped to start the Seabrook Island Birders, and he had a plot in the community garden where he helped tend the community beehive. Charley has written several articles on environmental concerns related to the future of our island.
As the island approaches build-out, Charley is increasingly concerned about preserving the natural habitat for our wildlife. Once we’re out of buildable lots, the only green space on the island will be the 41 properties that have been acquired by the Green Space Conservancy, and the common property held by SIPOA and the Club. He’s particularly concerned about the need for green buffers around lot lines and on the edge of wetlands, creeks, lagoons and marshes, as they will be essential in preserving the island’s wildlife.
Charley has used his gift for photography and his understanding of ecology and nature to publish a book of images of Seabrook Island wildlife accompanied by quotes that reflect the importance of conservation and to communicate that the island’s natural areas so essential to the wildlife are protected and maintained.
The book, Seabrook Island, South Carolina, GREENSPACES AND WILDLIFE has had limited distribution to date, but it will be available for purchase prior to the holiday season. The Seabrook Island Green Space conservancy is offering a commemorative edition of the book for every contribution to the Conservancy of $250, with additional copies available for $50.
