Our Land, Our Water, Our Way of Life

In the summer of 2003, The Nature Conservancy began a campaign to transform conservation in South Carolina. Our Land, Our Water, Our Way of Life is the largest fundraising campaign for conservation in South Carolina’s history. The mission: raise more than $18 million for land and water conservation, protect 100,000 acres in 5 years and start new programs to protect forests, rivers and coastal waters. The driving force: we were inspired by the extraordinary generosity of Miss Sally Reahard; our state was at a tipping point; paper companies were selling off large tracts, developers were buying, and our natural resources were under pressure as never before.

More than $31 million has been raised so far, including over $14 million from private sources and over $16 million in public grants from the South Carolina Conservation Bank and the Charleston Greenbelt Bank. These funds have helped purchase and protect over 107,000 acres in the last four years, exceeding the 100,000 acres of our 5 year goal. Since 1969, the South Carolina chapter has protected more than 314,000 acres that include critical coastal areas, rivers, forests and mountains

Working with partners in 2006, the Conservancy completed the largest conservation deal in our state’s history: protecting river corridors along the Great Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee and Savannah rivers, nearly 39,000 acres in all. The two tracts purchased from International Paper — Woodbury and Hamilton Ridge — are critical habitats for endangered birds, fish and other wildlife. This past summer, the Conservancy completed another landmark deal by protecting Issaqueena Falls and Stumphouse Mountain in the Upstate.

Protecting nature on this scale would not be possible without the commitment of donors, volunteers and partners. The work we do together is a permanent gift to the people of our state and the world, one that will be enjoyed by many generations to come.

As we celebrate many milestones over the last four years, we still have a lot to do to achieve our mission locally and globally. Earth’s natural systems are now being altered and depleted at a rapid rate and South Carolina is no exception. The Nature Conservancy has launched a new global campaign, the Campaign for a Sustainable Planet. The Conservancy will work across the United States and around the world to protect our natural resources and to promote a sustainable future.

Our new vision for conservation is to secure the protection of both the natural and human communities that are so deeply connected. The Campaign for a Sustainable Planet provides hope and a plan of action to protect nature and preserve life.

The Nature Conservancy invites those who love our state — its gorgeous landscapes, its traditions, its wildlife — to commit their resources to protecting these beautiful places. Your support is needed.

The South Carolina Conservation Bank

With leadership from The Nature Conservancy and a bipartisan effort in the General Assembly, the SC Conservation Bank began funding conservation purchases in 2004. Its mission is to protect significant sites, simultaneously protecting valuable natural resources and private property rights. In the last three and a half years, the bank has awarded over $80 million, protecting more than 150,000 acres throughout South Carolina.

Given the development pressures we face in the next ten years, continued funding of the SC Conservation Bank is a critical issue for our state. To learn more, visit their website at sccbank.sc.gov.

A Transformational Relationship

It began with a letter. Sally Reahard, an Indiana native, had been a longtime supporter of her state’s chapter of The Nature Conservancy. But this midwesterner also harbored a deep love for the South Carolina Lowcountry. She wrote to Mike Prevost of the South Carolina chapter to learn how she could use her resources to protect wetlands. Over the next five years, the two exchanged 39 letters. Miss Reahard died in 2003 at the age of 95, leaving a gift of $18 million to the South Carolina chapter of The Nature Conservancy for coastal wetlands protection. The Conservancy has leveraged Miss Reahard’s gift to acquire coastal acres valued at nearly three times the amount of her original bequest. Her legacy will continue to be a transformational one, enabling conservation on a large scale. The gift that keeps on giving!