We CAN do great things: Land conservation in SC Lowcountry a worldwide wonder | Opinion
Just when you thought South Carolina’s Lowcountry was sinking into the pluff mud under the weight of all the new development, there’s this.
We CAN do great things.
On Sunday afternoon, a gathering at the Willtown Bluff Plantation on Yonges Island will mark the 30th anniversary of one of the world’s greatest land and water conservation achievements. Here in the Lowcountry, we call it the ACE Basin. The Nature Conservancy calls it “one of the last great places” on Earth.
The ACE Basin is that beautiful expanse of watery land between Hilton Head Island and Charleston where, to date, 301,458.7 acres of land has been voluntarily preserved forever against development.
It covers (and protects) the watersheds of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers.
You see it from U.S. 17. You walk it in the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. You swim in it at the Hunting Island or Edisto Beach state parks.
It is a collaboration among federal and state agencies, nonprofits like the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, county initiatives like the Beaufort County Rural and Critical Lands, and private landowners who have protected their land in perpetuity through voluntary conservation easements.
“In today’s world where everything is partisan and ‘me, me, me,’ this is a lot of ‘we, we, we,’ “ said Charles Lane, chairman of the ACE Basin Task Force and host of Sunday’s celebration.
He said they haven’t let up on land conservation, but they are focusing more on research and stabilization of historical assets.
Ashley Demosthenes, president and CEO of the Lowcountry Land Trust, said the ACE Basin’s tangible benefits are clean waterways, marshes and lowlands serving as filters and buffers against flooding, wildlife protection, and preservation of traditional land uses.
“We’re protecting the things that protect the rivers, marshes and forests,” she said. “It’s a natural safeguard against a lot of influences — stormwater, climate change, invasive species.”
ACE Basin nuggets
The task force lists these significant achievements since the 25th anniversary five years ago:
▪ Protected an additional 100,000 acres.
▪ Initiated a project to study historical artifacts on Johassee Island that includes a partnership of Drayton Hall, Preservation Society of Charleston, Historic Charleston Foundation and the Charleston Museum.
▪ Established three red-cockaded woodpecker colonies in the ACE Basin.
▪ Found and documented a secretive bird, the black rail, that has disappeared from much of the East Coast.
▪ Established a partnership with Dominion Energy to protect the aesthetics of the scenic byway, Old Sheldon Church Road in northern Beaufort County, which involves moving 2 miles of power lines away from view shed of road.
Future of conservation
Many of the original champions of the ACE Basin are no longer here, but future generations will benefit from the work of people like Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley and U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings.
But when Demosthenes speaks at the Sunday celebration, standing with her will be her children, ages 14, 10 and 6.
Their grandfather is an ACE Basin easement owner. Their mother was recently awarded the 2019 Ambassador award by the Land Trust Alliance, for consistently and effectively advocating for a broad range of federal and state policies supporting conservation.
“We must instill the same ethic in our children,” Demosthenes said.
Her organization has programs designed to get young adults out into the rural, undeveloped Lowcountry. If they know it, they will love it. If they love it, they will protect it.
The audience Sunday will be challenged to preserve another 100,000 acres in the ACE Basin.
Future conservation in the ACE Basin includes “connecting the dots” to make wildlife corridors so animals can move around.
It depends on federal incentives for landowners to preserve their land against development.
It depends on the state Conservation Bank.
It depends on collaboration between the public and private sectors, and leveraging public dollars.
Land prices continue to rise. “Funding is always a big challenge,” Demosthenes said.
But the result can be much greater than the tangible signs of Lowcountry life preserved.
“When you are in the ACE Basin, it is one of the few places on Earth, on the planet, where you exhale,” Demosthenes said. “Your blood pressure goes down. It is a world-class landscape that is irreplaceable, absolutely irreplaceable.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 5:30 AM.
