Once skeptical, business class says ACE Basin spurs timber, tourism industries
Randy White started with eight loggers and a stretch of woodlands near the tea-colored headwaters of the Ashepoo River.
His business has grown along with the ACE Basin Project -- the coalition of private groups and public agencies created to preserve land between the Edisto and Combahee river basins -- so that after 25 years, White Wood Inc. has become International Paper's largest southeastern supplier. As many as 20 of the company's logging crews harvest timber in the Carolinas and Georgia.
White credits the ACE Basin Project, and the conservation easements that protect the unspoiled region between Beaufort and Charleston, with preserving his cash crop.
But he wasn't always sure that would be the case. In fact, he once opposed the ACE Basin Project.
The Walterboro-based forester was among many worried protection would be tantamount to restricting hunting and fishing, or banning logging. Others said conservation trampled on their property rights. Local governments argued the ACE Basin Project would remove valuable land from their tax rolls and torpedo economic development.
"We were all scared about what we thought the government was going to do with our business," White said. "It was a control thing. I don't think we understood that land would mostly remain in the hands of private landowners, who would work together to make something great."
As the project marks its 25th anniversary, real estate agents, loggers, government officials and the fathers of the initiative say the more than 200,000 protected acres has actually helped spark the local economy while preserving the natural habitat.
The timber industry is steady. Eco-tourism is growing. And the ACE Basin Project, now often imitated elsewhere, has become a tool to lure companies and their executives to the area.
"People thought it was a big government takeover -- that we wanted to take their businesses away," said Calvert Huffines, a real estate broker who says he was on an original ACE Basin advisory board. "It didn't take them long to realize we were preserving their way of life."
THE PUSHBACK
Coy Johnston of Summerville was head of Ducks Unlimited in South Carolina when the big push to conserve land in the ACE Basin began. He said a lot of people in Colleton County were dead set against it.
"That was in the spotted-owl era," he said, "and people were putting stickers on our cars about the spotted owl."
Around 1990, the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest became the cause celebre of the environmental movement. A long fight pitted environmentalists against loggers, with the courts ruling that logging must be drastically reduced to protect the bird.
"People here were afraid that we were going to end up with another spotted owl situation and that we were against the timber industry, but we were never against timbering," Johnston said.
A public meeting held at the Colleton County Courthouse to address local concerns drew a large and emotional crowd, Johnston and others recall. People feared a government takeover of private land.
Sally Murphy of Sheldon, who was then a S.C. Department of Natural Resources biologist living in Green Pond, said one response by ACE proponents was to publish an ACE Basin newsletter. It was funded by the Harry R.E. Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund.
"It is impractical and economically impossible to protect the entire basin through public land acquisition," said the first ACE Basin "Current Events" newsletter in winter 1991.
Johnston said this month: "We just kept pushing and made lemonade out of lemons."
REAPING THE BENEFITS
Fast-forward 25 years, and 217,000 acres in the basin are protected from development. About 70,000 is open to the public, while the rest is in private conservation easements. The amount of woodlands in the region has increased 5 percent since the mid 1980s, said Tim Adams, resource development division director for the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
Josh White, Randy White's son, said the concerns about timber harvesting have dwindled. White Wood does about 10 percent of its business -- or 50 to 60 tons a year -- in the ACE.
"Speaking from forestry-minded individuals, when you start talking about conservation, the main concern is it won't be feasible to keep business going -- that hasn't happened," he said.
Other industries have gained a foothold in the basin.
Eco-tourism has become popular. In Colleton County, the industry has doubled since 2001.
The public properties draw boaters, hikers, bikers and birdwatchers. Hunters take advantage of limited seasons, and anglers cruise the rivers and creeks looking for honey holes.
Kim Gundler has owned Beaufort Kayak Tours for 13 years. She guides about 80 trips a year on the Combahee River.
"If development had been successful, I don't think we'd be doing tours here," she said. "We're very fortunate that those easements were signed."
County governments that railed against the project have changed their tune.
Colleton County administrator Kevin Griffin said the basin has become an economic driver. He was not aware if there was a recent economic study on the area.
"There was a sentiment 20 years ago that Colleton County was taken off the market, basically left behind," he said. "Now there's such a strong sentiment that we don't want it developed -- it's become who we are."
He acknowledges the basin adds little to the property tax base. On the other hand, the county doesn't spend money providing services to the sparsely populated area, he said.
Additionally, the landscape of marshes and rivers, forests and wetlands, sells the Lowcountry lifestyle. Walterboro markets itself as "The Front Porch of the Lowcountry," using a red rocking chair as its symbol. It is capitalizing on an 842-acre wildlife sanctuary in the heart of town.
Within the past year, companies from Italy, India and the Dominican Republic have signed deals to open factories at the Colleton County Commerce Center and Lowcountry Regional Airport Industrial off Interstate 95, outside the ACE Basin Project area.
Griffin said executives were impressed with the solitude of the ACE Basin, where bald eagles and alligators don't have to fight for space with golfers.
He cited this month's National Geographic article on the basin as an indication that the region is gaining worldwide acclaim.
Huffines, the real estate broker, said it will only become more valuable over time.
"As more land gets developed, that's less land preserved and protected," he said. "These properties will never get developed, and that saves something for our next generations that I don't think you can put dollar signs on."
Nothing. That's the point. But if you insist:
PADDLING THE ACE
Kayaks and canoes offer one of the best ways to see the area's beauty and wildlife.
In Beaufort County, people kayak in the Hunting Island State Park area.
Throughout the ACE Basin, suggested canoe and kayak trips have been outlined in detail for each of the basin's three primary rivers. Details are available at the ACE Basin Project website.
Friends of the Edisto outlines a number of options for paddling the Edisto at the Friends of the Edisto website.
Also, a 15-mile route for small-boat operators to view much of the ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve can be found at the ACE Basin Project website.
A number of private firms in the basin offer boating and paddling tours and services.
BIRDING
Birding opportunities are abundant in the ACE Basin, from Hunting and Harbor islands in Beaufort County to the many public areas throughout the basin.
Each of the basin's state parks, wildlife management areas and the National Wildlife Refuge offer birding and hiking opportunities.
Also, lookout points are designated on the driving tours outlined at the ACE Basin Project website.
HUNTING
Hunting is one of the most treasured activities in the ACE Basin.
It is primarily done on private land by invitation or through a lease of hunting rights from a landowner.
However, hunting is available on public land in the basin through a lottery system run by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Details and application forms are available at SC DNR's website.
Five publicly accessible places to enjoy the beauty and natural diversity of the ACE Basin:
Site: Edisto Beach State Park
Admission: $5 for adults, $3.25 for South Carolina seniors, $3 for children ages 6 to 15, free for children 5 and younger
Open: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, extended during Daylight Saving Time; office open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
Why you have to see this: Edisto Beach State Park features trails for hiking and biking, camping sites, and an education center housed in a "green" building with exhibits that highlight the natural history of Edisto Island and the surrounding ACE Basin.
Site: ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge
Admission: Free
Open: The administration office and visitor center are open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The grounds are open sunrise to sunset.
Why you have to see this: The ACE Basin NWR encompasses about 12,000 acres, the heart of which is the former Grove Plantation near Adams Run. This site features one of the basin's few ante-bellum homes, old rice fields now managed for water fowl, which are abundant in winter and early spring. However, the refuge lands are not all contiguous, and its upper reaches around the Combahee River offer great paddling and birdwatching opportunities in tupelo-cypress swamp.
Site: Westvaco Edisto Nature Trail
Website: No website is dedicated to the trail, however, information is available at sctrails.net, southcarolinalowcountry.com and other websites
Admission: None
Open: Dawn to dusk
Why you have to see this: Easily accessible off U.S. 17 in Jacksonboro, this is a great place to take a quick hike or spend an entire day. Half-mile and 1-mile self-guided trails offer interpretive information about different plant species; historical sites, such as the Old King's Highway dating from the 1700s; and evidence of past land uses from the rice culture and phosphate mining.
Site: Donnelley Wildlife Management Area
Admission: None
Open: Open daylight hours, except during special hunts. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visitors are required to register at the kiosk at the main gate near U.S. 17. Boynton Nature Trail is closed Nov. 1 to Feb. 9
Why you have to see this: The Donnelley WMA, managed by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, offers a diverse landscape of upland hardwood forests, pine forests, hardwood swamp, agricultural land, tidal marsh and managed rice fields. It also is easy to negotiate, with two designated nature trails and miles of dirt roads for hikers and cyclists. The road system through Donnelley can make for a great driving tour for the mobility-impaired.
Site: Hunting Island State Park
Admission: $5 for adults, $3.25 for senior citizens, $3 for children ages 6 to 15 and free for children 5 and younger
Open: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, extended to 9 p.m. during daylight saving time; office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Why you have to see this: One of the state's most popular parks, Hunting Island is in the southwestern-most corner of the ACE Basin. It offers plenty to see and do -- including a historic lighthouse, an extensive trail system, a walk through salt marsh hummocks, a fishing pier and a campground. It's real calling card is the beach on this barrier island that rises to meet maritime forest.
This story was originally published November 12, 2014 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Once skeptical, business class says ACE Basin spurs timber, tourism industries."