Colleton County, SC – South of Highway 17 near Green Pond, South Carolina, is a cluster of private and public protected lands bounded by the Ashepoo and Chehaw Rivers totaling approximately 17,400 acres. The 406-acre Summer House property sits in the middle of these lands and, like a hole in a doughnut, was the largest unprotected parcel in that cluster.
Thanks to the donation of a conservation easement by the Maybank family in December of 2022, Lowcountry Land Trust is excited to announce that the integrity of this conservation landscape has been preserved.
The Summer House property is directly adjacent to the beloved Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, sharing approximately 1.2 miles of the boundary. In addition, approximately 1.5 miles of scenery are preserved by this conservation easement at Donnelley’s eastern gateway along Bennetts Point and Blocker Run Roads.
The property features diverse habitats, including mixed pine/hardwood upland forests, wetlands, loblolly pine savannas, open fields, and wildlife food plots. It supports sustainable agriculture and forestry, protects natural habitats and biodiversity, and preserves downstream water quality.
The Summer House conservation easement illustrates one of Lowcountry Land Trust’s specialties: working with landowners and partners to fill gaps within highly-significant large conservation landscapes. The cluster of protected lands surrounding Summer House is adjacent to a larger contiguous corridor of nationally significant protected lands totaling more than 100,000 acres within the ACE Basin landscape.
