[2] Recent work by the U.S. Geological Survey has interpreted the Carolina Bays as relict thermokarst lakes that formed several thousands of years ago when the climate was colder, drier, and windier.

[4] Thermokarst lakes develop by thawing of frozen ground (permafrost) and by subsequent modification by wind and water.

[6] George Buist sold the land to Southern Kraft Company, which in turn became part of International Paper.

The tract provides additional preserved green space to serve as a credit to allow widening of Glenns Bay Road.

However, opponents of such a plan worried that the parkway would no longer serve as a bypass if there was too much development, and environmentalists feared the road's impact on the preserve.

[19] The fire made paving International Drive more urgent, since emergency vehicles could have reached the area more easily if the project had been completed.

[20] Legislation signed May 6, 2009 was expected to speed up paving of International Drive, which was on a list of projects funded by a one-cent sales tax.

[21] In 2010, Horry County asked the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for an easement for the International Drive widening.

As part of the deal, tunnels and fences would be built to protect bears and give them a means to cross the road.

[22][25] But in July 2015, the Coastal Conservation League and the South Carolina Wildlife Federation filed a request asking the state to go back to its original plans.

[28] On November 8, Amy Armstrong, representing environmentalists, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge R. Bryan Harwell that the county agreed five areas would not be disturbed more than they had been.

[32] The National Audubon Society considers Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve "a place of birding significance."

Fish and Wildlife Service announced that with changes in the habitat that included nearby development, the Venus Flytrap needed an Endangered Species Act listing.

[34] In the bays themselves, which dry up in the summer, are blueberry, huckleberry, fetterbush and zenobia, along with sweetbay, catbriar, gallberry, titi.