How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2004 Community Participation in Preservation of Lowcountry South Carolina Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes [M. A. Curtis] J. Pinson and W. Batson) Basketry
Zachary H. Hart, Angela C. Halfacre, Marianne K. Burke
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes [M. A. Curtis] J. Pinson and W. Batson) is a coastal, nontimber forest resource ranging from North Carolina southwestward to Texas. The plant has special cultural and economic importance in coastal South Carolina, where the local Gullah community uses this resource in a form of coiled basketry. The plant is becoming increasingly unavailable to basket makers, however, because of habitat destruction, habitat limitation, and private ownership of the resource. This study examines stakeholder involvement in and perceptions of past and current sweetgrass management. Twenty-three interviews were conducted with Charleston, South Carolina area basket makers and were analyzed for emergent themes using content analysis, a technique permitting objective analysis of text. Survey respondents identified residential development as a major cause of sweetgrass inaccessibility and indicated that purchasing raw materials has become standard practice. Furthermore, respondents indicated several potential solutions to the problem and expressed their willingness to contribute time to management efforts.

Zachary H. Hart, Angela C. Halfacre, and Marianne K. Burke "Community Participation in Preservation of Lowcountry South Carolina Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes [M. A. Curtis] J. Pinson and W. Batson) Basketry," Economic Botany 58(2), 161-171, (1 April 2004). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)058[0161:CPIPOL]2.0.CO;2
Received: 9 July 2003; Accepted: 1 January 2004; Published: 1 April 2004
JOURNAL ARTICLE
11 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
conservation
Muhlenbergia filipes
non-timber forest resource
South Carolina
sweetgrass basketry
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top