Governor, Dignitaries Celebrate Largest Conservation Easement in SC History

(SC Forestry Commission photo)

A coalition of 17 public, private and nonprofit conservation organizations recently celebrated the announcement of the largest conservation easement in state history on the banks of the Black River in Georgetown County.

Gov. Henry McMaster joined state agency leaders and executives from Resource Management Service, LLC, Open Space Institute, the South Carolina Forestry Commission and nearly a dozen other organizations to herald the Pee Dee Basin Initiative, which will protect more than 62,000 acres of forestland spanning Georgetown, Marion and Williamsburg counties, recreational, environmental and economic benefits

Officials said the initiative yields untold recreational, environmental and economic benefits in the nation’s “woodbasket” while shielding the protected tracts from the development pressure associated with South Carolina’s rapidly growing population, particularly in the coastal plain.

The project also includes an 880-acre fee-simple addition to Wee Tee State Forest, managed by the SC Forestry Commission, and new Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), which will fall under the aegis of the SC Department of Natural Resources.

Nearly $74 million in funding was committed to the initiative, which safeguards habitat for priority plant and animal species along three coastal rivers – the Black, Pee Dee and Santee – and provides new public access to more than 7,500 acres of land for both recreation and ecotourism.