SC has retained 3 million acres of land. Can it reserve another 3 million decares by 2050? – the post and courier

“We are so busy right now,” said Scott Park, director of land conservation in the state upstate forever. “It’s quite amazing how many calls we get. There is definitely no requirement to preserve your land, but we are more loaded than we have ever been. “

Land Trust staff across the country stretches thin, trying to meet the needs of the landowners concerned. With additional funding for hiring more land protection staff, land toughs throughout the country can achieve even more, Cooper said.

Earth’s trusts work with landowners to customize the conditions of the conservation easement. If the land is agricultural, the conservation easement can limit the creation of a large division of houses on it, but still allows farming. If the land has a history of timber production, the conservation easement can limit development but allow the production of timber to continue.

Some properties, such as those acquired by the local, state or federal government, have public access. Others don’t. Even without public access, the reserved land offers public benefits, such as softening floods, clean air, clean water, views, protected agricultural land and wildlife habitats, Cooper said.

“(Save) can be nature -oriented,” says David Ray, CEO of Lowcountry Land Trust. “It can be oriented towards agriculture. This can be painting values. There are many different protection values ​​that can be protected through conservation easements. “

This flexible conservation approach has made partnerships between conservationists, politicians and those in agriculture and timber, said Dana Beach, one of the founders of the coastal league for conservation.

Cooper estimated that 90 percent of protected land in the Pee Dee area is working agricultural land and Timberland.

The future of these partnerships is uncertain as some industries that depend on the fight for natural resources to stay on sailing. South Carolina has already lost hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land for development. The closure of paper mills throughout the country has left the state -owned timber industry at risk of collapse, Post and Courier reports.