Groups unite to preserve land

The Pee Dee Land Trust, Nature Conservancy and conservation partners have joined to protect more than 640 acres of environmentally and historically significant lands in the Plantersville community in Georgetown County.

The Nature Conservancy secured funds from a wide array of sources to purchase these conservation easements. Pee Dee Land Trust agreed to hold and monitor the conservation easements in perpetuity.

Thomas McTeer and Mac Love of Columbia worked with Pee Dee Land Trust to identify the significant wildlife habitat and scenic views that their land provides. They used conservation easements to guarantee the protection of ecologically diverse wetlands and to contribute to the historically important and scenic rural character along Plantersville Road.

The Plantersville area is nationally recognized for its historic and ecological significance. Located within the conservancy’s Winyah Bay and Pee Dee River Basin project area, the newly protected tracts complement the 50,700 acres previously protected by the conservancy through public and private partnerships.

A 525,000-acre project area, the boundary includes Sandy Island Preserve, Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Samworth and Woodbury Wildlife Management areas.

Landowners in the Plantersville community and adjacent lands on the east side of the Pee Dee River have voluntarily protected 8,263 acres through conservation easements. Many Plantersville landowners have engaged in stewardship of their protected lands by implementing prescribed burning programs, invasive species control and wildlife habitat improvements.

The majority of protected properties along the Pee Dee River are former rice plantations. These plantations enjoyed the largest per-capita income in the American colonies in the mid-18th century. And by 1840, rice plantations of the Georgetown District produced half of the United States’ total rice crop.

Prince George Episcopal Church has operated a highly successful plantation tour since 1947 that focuses heavily on the Plantersville area.

The natural ecology of the area also is significant, said Craig Sasser, Winyah Bay Task Force member and manager of the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge.

“The longleaf pine forests, bottomland hardwoods, isolated wetlands and rivers and streams of Plantersville and surrounding areas are all natural communities that we work to protect,” he said. “The state-endangered swallow-tailed kite builds its nests along the Pee Dee and forages over adjacent agricultural lands. This and other species of high priority, including the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and migratory waterfowl, will benefit from the collaborative protection effort in the Plantersville neighborhood.”

Pee Dee Land Trust is a regional land conservation organization working in eight counties in South Carolina. Its mission is to protect and promote the significant natural, agricultural and historical resources of the Pee Dee. This project brings the Land Trust’s protected lands to more than 10,000 acres. Jennie Williamson is executive director of the trust, which is based in Florence. For more details, visit www.peedeelandtrust.org.