Congaree Land Trust has banner year
By John Cely COWASEE Basin Coordinator Congaree cowasee@ Lgamnadi lT.croumst

The 2007 books closed on the most successful year in the history of the Congaree Land Trust (CLT) according to Jane Clarke, executive director of the Columbia- based land trust. The CLT serves 11 counties and works with private landowners to protect their land through voluntary conservation easements.

A conservation easement is a permanent agreement whereby, in exchange for potentially significant tax deductions and credits, a landowner gives up his or her development and subdivision rights on the property.

The landowner continues to own the property and conduct traditional management activities such as farming, timber harvesting, hunting, fishing, and general outdoor recreation.

Landowners also know their property will be maintained in its current condition.

Over 10,000 acres of farms, woodlands, and wetlands were protected in the Midlands of S.C. in 2007 according to Clarke. This is a little more than the entire acreage protected during the 15- year history of CLC and brings the total amount of protected land to 20,000 acres.

Conservation easements are a "win- win" for both landowners and the general public. Even though easements are geared toward private property, the public at large benefits whenever green space is protected because it reduces urban sprawl, saves farmland, protects water quality, benefits fish and wildlife, and reduces soil erosion.

The banner year for land protection has also been good for a new conservation focus area in the Midlands, the Congaree- Wateree- Upper Santee River Basin, or COWASEE.

First created in 2005 by a partnership of private landowners, conservation organizations, and public agencies, including the CLC, The Conservation Fund, Ducks Unlimited, Friends of Congaree Swamp, Richland County Conservation Commission, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the COWASEE Basin encompasses 215,000 acres of floodplain forest and adjoining bluffs and high hills in the heart of S.C.

The COWASEE Basin Initiative seeks to protect, primarily through conservation easements, key tracts of private lands that make this area such a unique and special place.

The COWASEE Basin includes S.C.'s only national park, the Congaree National Park, Sparkleberry Swamp, Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve, Manchester State Forest, and Poinsett State Park.

Hernando DeSoto and his army crossed both the Congaree and Wateree Rivers to find Cofitachequi, located just a few miles from Camden.

The English explorer John Lawson passed through the High Hills of the Santee in 1701. During the Revolution, Generals Nathanael Greene and Thomas Sumter used the High Hills as a refuge and a place to hit the British. Francis Marion and Light- Horse Harry Lee got permission from Rebecca Motte to burn her house that the British had turned into a fort.

Of the 10,000 acres protected in 2007 through the Congaree Land Trust, nearly 1800 acres lie within the COWASEE Basin. An additional 700 acres in the Basin was protected with easements through other Focus Area partners.

The Congaree Land Trust has a new executive director. See page 8.