State Amasses Land
By Joey Holleman, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Nov. 11–S.C. stockpiles conservation easements as tax credit for landowners soon will expire
The state of South Carolina quietly has spent about $8 million to protect more than 33,500 acres along the Savannah River from development, an under-the-radar conservation effort that rivals the largest in state history.
The Savannah River Preserve follows in the footsteps of successful efforts to protect the ACE Basin, along the coast, and Jocassee Gorges, in the mountains.
Private groups working through the state-operated S.C. Conservation Bank have acquired conservation easements on 33,527 acres in Allendale, Hampton and Jasper counties in the past two years.
That acreage total doesn’t include private conservation easements or the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ purchase of the 13,281-acre Hamilton Ridge tract in Hampton County.
Throw in those deals, and the conservation effort has protected nearly 75,000 acres from development since 2000.
There has been, however, little fanfare.
In 1997, Gov. David Beasley literally shouted praise from a mountain top when the state completed its purchase of 33,000 acres in Jocassee Gorges for $21 million. Similarly, in a nearly three-decade-long effort that protected more than 150,000 acres in the ACE Basin — along the Lowcountry’s Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers — longtime U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings sent out press releases with each new land acquisition or easement.
This time, however, conservation leaders have kept the Savannah River Preserve effort relatively quiet.
“We’ve been too busy putting together easements to write press releases,” explained Will Haynie, director of the Lowcountry Open Land Trust, one of the conservation groups working with the state.
‘THE LESSONS WE ALL LEARNED’
Part of the busy-ness is due to the imminent closure of a tax benefit to landowners who place easements on their property. A two-year window of federal tax advantages that makes conservation easements especially appealing to landowners expires at the end of 2007.
Taking advantage of that window, conservation groups have persuaded the owners of several large tracts along the Savannah River to agree to perpetual easements that put severe restrictions on the use of their land.
“It’s mostly people that want to see their property stay just the way it is,” said Marvin Davant, director of the S.C. Conservation Bank. “They see development coming up from the bottom of Jasper County.
“If we don’t do something with them now, these large tracts will be split up, and we’ll never be able to afford to protect them.”
The end result? When the millions of newcomers projected to move to the S.C. coast in coming decades start moving inland along the Savannah, big chunks of riverfront land and property along its tributaries will be off-limits to developers.
“This is based on the lessons we all learned in the (Charleston and Myrtle Beach) areas,” said Haynie of the Lowcountry Open Land Trust. “There are lands that nobody thought 20 years ago would be under development pressure that are being developed. In 2007, don’t we all wish that land had been put under easement 20 years ago?”
The Savannah River Preserve idea began percolating in the 1990s, gaining steam a few years ago when state natural resource officials joined with The Nature Conservancy, Lowcountry Open Land Trust, Ducks Unlimited and a few large landowners to form the Southern Lowcountry Task Force.
The groups saw fertile ground for conservation along the Savannah. Just 63 landowners control about 200,000 acres along the lower Savannah in South Carolina, according to The Nature Conservancy.
“It’s a community of landowners who have common interests,” said Mark Robertson, S.C. director of the Nature Conservancy.
By and large, those landowners appreciate the rural culture that dominates the area.
“It’s important not only to me, but to our culture as a whole,” said Wise Batten, an Estill resident who has put easements on four of his properties, including the 2,031-acre Black Swamp Plantation. “I grew up in Estill and enjoy the outdoors. I appreciate having places to hunt and fish.”
‘UNPRECEDENTED AND UNWELCOME CHANGE’
Many landowners decided to pull the trigger on easements after the 2006 announcement of plans for nearly 50,000 new houses in the Hardeeville area of Jasper County.
The leaders of the Savannah River Preserve summarized the situation: “Landowners now see the trends of land sales in their backyard as signs of imminent, unprecedented and unwelcome change. But they also see the current environment for change as an opportunity for equally unprecedented public and private conservation action.”
The conservation groups and landowners came up with a standard agreement to put restrictive easements on their property for $200 or $250 a acre. In most cases, they also agreed to turn over the state tax credit of $250 a acre for conservation easements to the Conservation Bank or to conservation groups for their use to buy more easements.
The state’s Conservation Bank, funded by a percentage of the state fee charged for every real estate transaction, has had about $56 million to spend the past two years. About $8 million has gone into the Savannah River Preserve.
“It’s a great deal for taxpayers and a great deal for landowners,” Haynie said.
Much of the property would sell on the open market for $3,000 to $3,500 an acre now, said Davant of the state Conservation Bank. However, its value will increase as development moves inland.
BUT SHOULD A FEW DECIDE THE FUTURE?
There is a downside for local governments, however.
The properties with easements will remain taxed at the lowest, agricultural level. And, as more and more land in any one county is locked in at the low agricultural tax rate, that county could have trouble paying for future services.
“It’s not an issue that has perked up to the level of public discussion that is probably merited,” said William Small Jr., director of the Hampton County Economic Development Commission. “It will be an issue in how you manage growth.”
Small sees the question facing the Savannah River counties as “Who are you going to be when you grow up?” As easements eat up large chunks of property, a few land owners are, in effect, deciding the future for the county.
Blocking development might be good for wealthy people and wildlife, but it will create challenges for the poor and middle class who would welcome the jobs that come with development, Small said.
State Rep. Bill Bowers, a Democrat who represents portions of Colleton and Hampton counties, said he appreciates land preservation. But he is concerned about the use of public money to buy easements on privately owned property.
“South Carolina needs to protect its natural resources, but public access is just as valuable,” Bowers said. “It disturbs me greatly that public access” to privately owned land ” is limited.”
Under most easement agreements, the land remains privately owned.
Many landowners in the Savannah River Preserve operate timber farms and private hunt clubs on their property. However, conservation leaders note the outright purchase of Hamilton Ridge opened a large tract to public hunting.
Conservation leaders also contend use of public money is worthwhile to set aside large tracts for wildlife protection, pollution buffers for the waterways and barriers against development.
“Almost all of these pieces are watersheds coming into Savannah River basin,” said the state’s Davant. “With the growth along the coast, water is going to be very scarce. Protecting that water source could be critical.”
TOTAL PROTECTED NEARS 100,000 ACRES
Most of the Savannah River Preserve easements limit future development — houses or paved roads — to 2.5 acres per 1,000 acres. Also, landowners can’t clear-cut trees within 300 feet of waterways.
The recently projected land along the Savannah River joins thousands of acres previously protected from development.
The government has long owned the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, which has 15,011 acres in South Carolina; the 5,866-acre Webb Wildlife Center; and Tillman Sand Ridge and Victoria Bluff heritage preserves, totaling 2,064 acres.
Combine that land with the recent easements, and the total protected land nears 100,000 acres, much of it with river frontage.
By the end of the year, all but a few of the 57 miles of river frontage in South Carolina from U.S. 301 to S.C. 119 will be protected.
Conservation groups are working on a similar effort on the Georgia side of the river, but their work is more difficult because there are fewer large landowners there.
Also, Georgia doesn’t have a funding source like the state Conservation Bank to turn to for help, said Amanda Wrona Meadows, manager for the Savannah project for The Nature Conservancy in Georgia.
Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The State, Columbia, S.C.
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