‘Beauty and wonder’: 116-acre property in Jasper Co. will be protected for the public
A 116-acre tract of land near the Savannah River in Jasper County will be protected for the public and used to expand the available habitat for gopher tortoises in South Carolina.
The Open Space Institute purchased the property for roughly $540,000, said Nate Berry, senior vice president for the national conservation organization, which is based in New York.
The sale closed in late June, Berry said during a Friday interview.
The property, which includes cypress and hardwood swamp forests, will provide a new spot for outdoor recreation, including hiking and wildlife viewing. People will also be able to hunt deer and turkey, Berry said.
The organization plans to hold the rural property until 2022, Berry said, then sell it to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources once the agency secures enough money to buy it and open it to the public.
“Its proximity to some of the fastest growing parts of the state makes it a true conservation priority,” Berry added in a statement. “For generations to come, South Carolinians can enjoy the beauty and wonder of the Savannah River.”
Protection of the property, located off Sand Hills Road, comes as Jasper and Beaufort counties face immense growth and development pressures. The property was previously owned by Allcare Tree Surgery Inc., records show.
The Open Space Institute’s new acquisition is surrounded by thousands of acres of other protected land.
The purchase, while relatively small in comparison to other properties set aside for conservation, is significant, Berry said, because it expands the habitat for gopher tortoises in the area, which is already home to the state’s most-dense population of the reptiles.
In 2001, roughly 120 adult tortoises lived in the area, Berry said. As of 2015, close to 250 adult tortoises lived there, according to estimates that Berry cited.
Gopher tortoises, which are the only tortoises naturally found east of the Mississippi River, bury themselves in underground burrows that provide homes for dozens of other animals, he previously said.
The tortoises thrive in environments with longleaf pine forests, Berry said, so DNR could conduct controlled burns on the 116-acre property to eliminate some hardwoods, making it more suitable for the reptiles.
Tortoises could move onto the tract quickly after a few DNR burns, he said.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and Florida pine snakes, Berry said, will benefit from the conservation effort, too.
The area is also known for the habitat it provides to state-imperiled plant species, some not found elsewhere in South Carolina, such as the gopher apple, pondspice, woolly coneflower, Harper’s scrub-balm and the lupine scurfpea.
The newly protected property is about 15 miles away from the “Slater Tract” — a 3,800-acre tract of land along the Coosawhatchie River in Jasper County that the Open Space Institute recently bought for roughly $16 million.
The organization will hold that property for up to two years until South Carolina raises enough money to purchase it, The Island Packet previously reported.
This story was originally published July 18, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
