10/15/2026
Waccamaw Tribe adopts Rights of Nature Resolution amid I-73 growth concerns
"As plans for Interstate 73 continue to move forward, the Waccamaw Tribe is taking steps it says are aimed at protecting its land and natural resources from the impacts of growth.
The tribe has passed a Rights of Nature Resolution, which was created to recognize four fundamental rights of nature: the right to exist and flourish, remain free from contamination, restoration when damaged, and to be respected as a living community.
Chief Cheryl Cail said the tribe is concerned about long-term consequences tied to development and the highway project.
“You can never go back and say, well, we're going to undo the harm that this created,” Cail said.
As land acquisition for I-73 advances, the highway would cross the Little P*e Dee River, upriver from the Waccamaw Tribe’s ancestral homeland."
Waccamaw Indian People Coastal Conservation League
As plans for Interstate 73 continue to move forward, the Waccamaw Tribe is taking steps it says are aimed at protecting its land and natural resources.
