The Ebb & Flow BLOG

LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST PROTECTS TWO ACE BASIN PROPERTIES

Lowcountry Land Trust Protects Two ACE Basin Properties
Black Creek and Holly Bluff II Critical for Clean Water

The Lowcountry Land Trust today announced the permanent protection of the 864-acre Black Creek Plantation and the 452-acre Holly Bluff II property, both near Yemassee in a growing conservation movement along the Combahee River.

“The ACE Basin is a nationally recognized estuarine system in which Lowcountry Land Trust has protected more than 53,000 acres,” commented Ashley Demosthenes, president and CEO, Lowcountry Land Trust. “The permanent protection of Black Creek Plantation and Holly Bluff II builds on decades of conservation work and contributes significantly to the aesthetics and wildlife habitat that define the ACE. We’re grateful to be chosen by these landowners as their trusted conservation partner.”

Black Creek Plantation has more than a mile and a half of frontage on the Combahee River and frontage on I-95 and the Lowcountry Highway. The property’s uplands are managed for timber production, agricultural row crops, and wildlife habitat; while nearly a third of the property has bottomland hardwoods and braided streams associated with the Combahee River floodplain.

Holly Bluff II has frontage on the Lowcountry Highway, the Combahee River, and Black Creek–a tributary of the Combahee River–and is adjacent to other protected properties. The property contains a diversity of relatively natural habitats including variously aged planted pine stands, mixed upland forest, forested wetlands, open areas, open water and scrub-shrub bottomland, all of which can support a variety of floral and faunal species.

The conservation easements will protect viewsheds that are characteristic to the ACE Basin, maintain water quality through the protection of forested wetlands and contribute to the area’s diverse habitats.

“The Conservation Bank, in partnership with DNR, has set forth priorities for statewide conservation efforts. What has become abundantly clear is the need to protect water quality in the state’s rivers and creeks,” commented Raleigh West, executive director, South Carolina Conservation Bank. “By saving Black Creek Plantation and Holly Bluff II, and other properties like them, we are taking proactive steps to protect water resources in the ACE Basin.”

The conservation easements closed on June 14thand July 25th, respectively, and will remain in effect in perpetuity.

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