As South Carolina adds population at a faster rate than almost any other state, it's vitally important that the conservation community keep pace by protecting more of our natural landscape that makes the state such a special place.
And it's important to score big wins when the opportunity arises, such as the pending deal to conserve 3,492 acres of coastal Georgetown County east of U.S. Highway 17. Known as the Arcadia East Tract, the property has been zoned for intense development for two decades — zoning that would allow about 3,400 homes, about 1.2 million square feet of office space and more.
Georgetown County Council members have been wary about that possibility, but it can be very difficult to significantly downzone a property without the owner's consent. County Council Chairman Clint Elliott told The Post and Courier's Colin Elam, "Everybody here was scared to death" about what could have been built there.
Two nonprofits, the Open Space Institute and Ducks Unlimited-Wetlands America Trust, plan to fix that problem. They're scheduled to purchase the property and maintain stewardship of the land until it can be transferred to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, which eventually would decide how best to steward the land, including policies for public access. We urge the agency to seek extensive public input as it balances new public uses with its conservation goals.
Public ownership of this property would complement significant public holdings already in place, including the Yawkey, Waccamaw and Samworth wildlife management areas, Hobcaw Barony (Belle W. Baruch Foundation Property), Francis Marion National Forest and Santee Coastal Reserve — as well as many significant privately held easement properties around the Santee Delta.
It also would represent yet another important conservation step forward for our state. Since Gov. Henry McMaster took office in 2017, more than 385,000 acres have been permanently protected across the state. And lawmakers made it clear this year they want such progress to continue when they approved the S.C. Protected Lands and Conservation Coordination Act.
That act sets a state goal of protecting 7 million acres by the year 2050, about a third of the state's land area and slightly more than double what already has been protected. While the law sets a benchmark and not a legal requirement, mandate or entitlement, it's still a positive sign.
But our leaders must never forget that protecting land is not a one-and-done proposition. Particularly when the federal government is moving in the opposite direction.
While the current federal administration has not proposed reducing federally owned protected lands in South Carolina, such as the Francis Marion and Sumter national forests or the Congaree National Park, there is understandable concern over that possibility.
An analysis by the Center for American Progress finds that, across his two terms, President Donald Trump has been responsible for removing protections from more than 100 million acres of public lands, mainly through rolling back safeguards on more than 86 million acres and reducing conservation agencies’ funding.
In response, a bipartisan group of 52 S.C. House members and senators already signed a letter urging our state's congressional delegation to "engage in these bipartisan conservation efforts, including participation in the Public Lands Caucus and the Senate Stewardship Caucus, to ensure that South Carolina’s interests — and the voices of landowners, sportsmen, and local communities — are fully represented in federal policymaking." We join our legislators in urging our congressional delegation to embrace this cause.
Each conservation deal is as unique as the land involved, and the Arcadia East sale checks more boxes than many. It's the largest remaining undeveloped property in private hands along our state's coast, and its varied landscape includes maritime forests, freshwater wetlands, pine flatwoods habitat and about three quarters of a mile of undeveloped beach. Its protection will increase natural flood protection along this part of the state's low-lying coast.
Each conservation deal also has its own financial details, though most involve a mix of private donations and public dollars. The exact breakdown of this deal has not been publicly reported and is still a work in progress. Still, the parties, including Dawn Pate and Matt Balding, whose families have owned the property since 1906, have made their plans public, so we hope a deal can be struck that's agreeable to all parties.
While Georgetown County Council and the Georgetown County School District have written letters of support for the purchase (which would remove the property from their tax rolls), the state's Joint Bond Review Committee needs to sign off as well.
Those involved in the Arcadia East deal seem optimistic that they are writing the latest chapter in South Carolina's conservation success story. We urge them not to put their pens down until the story has a happy ending.
Click here for more opinion content from The Post and Courier.