After a big year of conservation wins last year, ALC is again poised to protect hundreds of acres in 2025. While we can’t share too many details about individual projects until they close, a few trends have emerged that put smiles on our faces.
First, two of the four conservation easements that we currently have underway are located within ALC Strategic Focal Areas. One of these consists of a 30-acre property that encompasses an impounded tributary of Upper Three Runs Creek, one of the most biologically-significant waterways in the Southeast. This property falls within the 302/78 Strategic Focal Area. The other project in a Strategic Focal Area consists of 225 acres located along the South Fork of the Edisto River, within our Shaws Creek/South Fork of the Edisto River Strategic Focal Area. This project fronts the river for over a mile, contains a truly unique old-growth Atlantic white cedar forest, and contains many state-listed wildlife species.
The other two conservation easements currently in progress highlight connection. Both projects are located near Wagener and are between 60 and 70 acres. On their own, their conservation values are impressive. Together, they really shine. The properties are located less than a half mile apart and one property became interested after another property we were working with talked to them. This highlights the power of landowner-to-landowner connections, and offers a prime example of connectivity. Both properties protect horse farms that also provide potential habitat for several rare bird and reptile species.
We aren’t just working with private properties. ALC received a total of more than $400,000 in funding from the U.S. Forest Service’s Community Forest Program, South Carolina Conservation Bank, and Aiken County to complete a 25.1- acre addition to Boyd Pond Park. This addition, which will be known as the Dufour Community Forest, will ultimately be open to the public. Trails at nearby Boyd Pond Park will be expanded onto the property and will create new recreational opportunities at this popular park. Furthermore, the entire addition will be restored to longleaf pine sandhill.
ALC is also in the early stages of building off its efforts last year to add land to the Aiken Gopher Tortoise Heritage Preserve. We are working closely with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to add several hundred additional acres to the Preserve that will provide incredible recreational opportunities while protecting the homes of more than 15 state-listed plant and animal species. Stay tuned!
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” – Lauren DeStefano