From late 2022 through the summer of 2023, USLT strengthened and expanded an existing conservation easement in Edgefield and Saluda Counties, closed a new conservation easement in Saluda County (see photos at right) and closed two new conservation easements in Greenwood County, cumulatively 1,170 acres.
Projects currently underway, approved by the USLT Board and expected to close in 2023, include acreage in Abbeville County, Greenwood County, and even a small foray into Aiken County. Together these projects will add another 940 acres for a total of some 2,110 acres since December of last year.
The recent Saluda County project was partially funded by the SC Conservation Bank, which contributed about 30% of the appraised value of the conservation easement. The landowner donated the remaining value. This approach to land conservation is becoming increasingly popular, as we have requested Conservation Bank support on the pending projects in both Abbeville and Aiken Counties, and will likely make an additional request this fall for at least one other project near Bradley in Greenwood County.
Meanwhile two Greenwood County projects completed this month in the vicinity of Epworth and Ninety Six were fully donated. One expands a previously protected area near historic Epworth by 635 acres. The other property lies just west of Ninety Six National Historic Site, protecting 298 acres of working forest with embedded features that represent Native American legacies.
Woods Road near Ninety Six
A beaver pond on Six-Mile Creek near Epworth
