Almost two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped federal safeguards from many of the nation’s wetlands, leaving some South Carolina bogs, ponds and swamps vulnerable to development.

In the regulation vacuum, some states have moved to protect their newly susceptible environments. But patchwork protection from state lawmakers in Columbia have left counties, cities and towns on the frontline in South Carolina to preserve much of the 7.5 million acres of wetlands.

Bluffton is the first local government in the Palmetto State to pass a wetlands protection ordinance in response to the high court decision. Developers will now need to receive a permit from town staff to carry out projects that disturb wetlands, and local officials will have new ability to penalize scofflaws.

“We care about the environment and we have to protect the very things that are so instrumental in the natural protection process,” Mayor Larry Toomer said. Later adding, “You have to have these protections in place before somebody puts in for a building permit or a development permit.”