7,300-acre ‘ecological treasure’ in Hampton, Jasper counties saved. Public will have access
More than 7,300 acres of critical coastal habitat in Hampton and Jasper counties has been saved, with plans in the works to make the land public by transferring it to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Conservation groups called the deal to protect the “ecological treasure” an “unparalleled triumph.”
The protected property includes upland longleaf pine forests that provide habitat for rare gopher tortoise populations and 36 miles of river frontage on the Coosawhatchie River, Tulifinny River and many braided streams.
Known locally as “Buckfield,” the land will be permanently protected from development, which the groups said is an increasing threat near the state’s popular coastal waters.
The Nature Conservancy and the Open Space Institute announced Tuesday that the TNC had acquired 3,654 acres of Buckfield. Later this year, OSI intends to acquire the remaining 3,672 acres.
The entire Buckfield property, along with the adjacent 5,000-acre Slater property secured by OSI last year, will then be transferred to the SCDNR and managed as a 12,000-acre public wildlife management area.
Nate Berry, OSI’s senior vice president, called the conservation of the land an “unparalleled triumph for the people and wildlife of this region.”
“The conservation of Buckfield in this vulnerable region is a momentous achievement on its own,” Berry said in a news release. “When combined with Slater, these 12,000 acres offer large-scale connectivity and limitless public recreation opportunities.”
The property, along with adjoining protected properties, creates a “nature bridge” of undeveloped land that spans from the 300,000-acre Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto Rivers Basin to the 450,000-acre South Lowcountry-Savannah River (SOLO), TNC and OSI said.
Until recently, the area between the ACE Basin and the SOLO — where Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties intersect — had few protected properties and almost no public land, they added.
The watershed drains into the Port Royal Sound, providing clean water for residents downstream and replenishing estuaries and fisheries.
The conservation groups said the project will protect water sources and curb development pressures from the communities of Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head, located less than 20 miles away.
Buckfield’s size, extensive river frontage and healthy longleaf pine forests have long made it a property of interest for conservation, said Dale Threatt-Taylor, TNC’s executive director South Carolina.
Andy Fulghum, Jasper County’s administrator, said the project is in line with the county’s vision of protecting the land for public recreation, water quality and economic development.
In 2021, OSI purchased three properties, known as the Slater assemblage, totaling slightly more than 5,000 acres, in the heart of this unprotected region, TNC and OSI said. The Slater project kick-started the acquisition of adjacent Buckfield.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 1:08 PM.
