This year, we made great strides: we protected more land, got back to in-person events, fulfilled our stewardship responsibilities, and had the honor of working with passionate conservationists, all of whom have their own unique connection to protecting our Lowcountry landscape.
Join us in recapping and celebrating the end of another successful year of Lowcountry conservation.
We have protected new land, and cared for the land already under our protection:
- Millgrove Plantation adds to larger Black River conservation effort with the permanent protection of 444 acres in Georgetown County;
- LLT celebrated Earth day at the Keystone Tract to get outside and clean up debris
- 204 acres in South Carolina’s Ashley River Historic District in partnership with other local and national conservation organizations.
- Most recently, 450 acres in Allendale County and 240 acres in Beaufort County, with more details about these special projects coming soon!
We would like to highlight some of our favorite pieces we’ve written from this past year:
- In honor of Women’s History Month, we featured Pam Porter of Bailey Mill Plantation – Lowcountry landowner, conservation easement donor, and sustainable forestry advocate.
- We spoke with Samantha Seigel, our current Angel Oak Project Manager, about her devotion to protect the Angel Oak that started in 2008.
- We asked ourselves; why do we conserve? We explored the benefits conservation has on salt marshes as well as wildlife and agriculture.
- Colette DeGarady from The Nature Conservancy educated us about native plants, their environmental benefits, and how to grow them in your own garden at home.
- In our 35th year of conserving land in the Lowcountry, we connected with our roots and reflected on the community movement that started Lowcountry Land Trust back in 1986
- In April, we spoke with a leading expert in Lowcountry conservation and LLT Board Member, Albert George, who claims “The conservation issues facing South Carolina’s future aren’t daunting. In fact, they’re exciting.”
We have welcomed new members to our Board of Trustees:
- Susan Johnson, Ph.D., Director of Health Promotion at the Medical University of South Carolina, joined after representing MUSC on our Business Leadership Council for the past 6 years.
- Former President of Business Development and Latin America at WestRock, and passionate conservationist, Jim Porter.
- Damian Joseph, Vice President of the London-based international PR firm, SE10, and Charleston native.
We connected with the community:
- We hosted a “For the Love of the Lowcountry Auction”
- We started our first ever reading club, Wild Reads, hosted by long-time friend of the Land Trust, and Chaired Professor of English at the University of South Carolina, Paula Feldman.
- In November, we hosted our first in-person event in over a year! Our 2021 Sporting Clay Shoot went off with a bang and it was refreshing to see our LLT community again.
