South Carolina: Nature Con adds two key parcels to Francis Marion NF acreage

The Nature Conservancy recently provided two small but important
parcels of land to the Francis Marion National Forest as part of the
conservation organization’s ongoing efforts to help protect and
enhance the forest.

One of the parcels, the 57-acre Walleye Tract,
lies in Berkeley County near Big Ocean Bay. The other, the Bulls Bay
Tract, contains 196 acres on the east side of U.S. Highway 17 near
Awendaw. The tracts, valued at a total of nearly $2 million, were what
is known as in-holdings, land inside or mostly inside the national
forest that was privately owned. The Nature Conservancy obtained the
two tracts in 2005 from International Paper. The conservancy
transferred the land to the park service last week after obtaining
federal grants, private donations and $623,700 from the Charleston
County Greenbelt Program for the Bulls Bay Tract. Michael Prevost,
project director for the conservancy, said the organization would use
money from the transaction in an effort to obtain more land to protect
Francis Marion’s ecosystem. The conservancy has donated some 8,000
acres to the national forest since the late 1990s. The conservancy has
focused on obtaining parcels of land that help link or unite the
national forest’s holdings. The land deals are a way for the
conservancy “to protect the integrity of the entire national forest
and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge,” Prevost said. Jerome
Thomas, supervisor for the Francis Marion and Sumter national forests,
praised the conservancy for its efforts to help the service obtain
land for Francis Marion. He said the organization’s efforts have
“greatly enhanced” the Forest Service’s ability to effectively manage
the forest for wildlife habitat, plant diversity and public use.
Thomas also praised Charleston County for helping buy the Bulls Bay
Tract. He said he knows of no other county government that provides
money to help the federal government with land acquisition.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/dec/16/forest_acquires_key_parcels65151/

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