August 30, 2007 —  Walhalla, SC  — Conservation groups, state agencies, local elected officials, and Oconee County citizens who have worked this year to protect Stumphouse Mountain and Issaqueena Falls announced today that the campaign to Save Stumphouse Mountain has succeeded in raising the funds necessary to protect the Walhalla watershed property (approximately 440 acres) and to acquire an additional 511 acres on Stumphouse Mountain. 

The 511 acres include Issaqueena Falls, two of the three Stumphouse Mountain Tunnels, a two-mile trail along the old rail bed of the Blue Ridge Railroad, and beautiful hardwood forests and coves.

The Nature Conservancy has led the effort to raise the funds to protect the 511 acres.  The Nature Conservancy announced that a number of state agencies, foundations, and individuals had contributed to the cause.  Some of the many partners and contributors include:  The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, who have pledged $1.5 million; Oconee County, which contributed $300,000; a $300,000 challenge grant from Fred and Alice Stanback, leading conservationists from Salisbury, North Carolina; and the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, which awarded the project a $200,000 grant.

In addition, over 1100 donors contributed to the effort, with donations ranging from $1 to tens of thousands of dollars.  Contributions were received from donors from more than 100 communities, from Seattle, Washington, to Mountain Rest, and cities and towns throughout South Carolina.  Local supporters in Oconee County held a music festival in Walhalla on August 21 that raised $5,500.  More than $1 million was contributed by private donors.

The project had the strong support of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, Oconee County State Senator Thomas Alexander, and Oconee House members, Bill Whitmire of Walhalla and Bill Sandifer of Seneca.  Oconee County Council voted unanimously to support the project.  The Chair of Oconee County Council is Marion Lyles, and its other members are Frank Ables, George Blanchard, Tommy Crumpton, and Mario Suarez.

After all the funds are received, most of the property will be transferred by the Nature Conservancy to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to be a Heritage Preserve, the highest level of protection under South Carolina law for places of great natural and historical significance.  As required by the terms of one of the grants, it is expected that a portion of the property near Issaqueena Falls will be titled to a local unit of government and protected by a conservation easement.  The entire 511 acres, therefore, will be protected for future generations.

Earlier this month, at its meeting on August 14, 2007, the Walhalla City Council unanimously voted to place a conservation easement on the 440-acre watershed property, protecting it forever from development.  The easement was signed by Walhalla Mayor Lamar Bailes after the City Council meeting and was recorded the next morning.  Upstate Forever led the effort to protect the property and will hold the conservation easement, which was funded by a grant of $1.2 million from the S.C. Conservation Bank.

The $300,000 challenge grant from Mr. and Mrs. Stanback had been an anonymous gift, pending the outcome of the effort.  Mr. and Mrs. Stanback made this generous challenge grant just two days after the partnership on June 18 announced that the partnership needed to raise $1.4 million to secure the acquisition of the 511 acres on August 29.  Now that the project has succeeded, Mr. and Mrs. Stanback are willing to be identified.  They previously have supported protecting the Jocassee Gorges in North Carolina and Chimney Rock Park. Mike Leonard, a member of the boards of the North Carolina Heritage Trust Fund and the Conservation Fund, worked closely with Mr. and Mrs. Stanback in arranging for their gift.  

The effort to protect the area has been led by the conservation organizations that participate in the Partnership for the Blue Ridge.  Those organizations are Naturaland Trust, the Chattooga Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, Upstate Forever, US Forest Service, SC Department of Natural Resources, SC Parks, Recreation and Tourism, SC Forestry Commission and private landowners.