Oakland
DATE PROTECTED ACRES PROTECTED
10/2017 11,164
“Protecting buffers along our rivers and lakes is probably the most important thing we can do to sustain water quality for our community and avoid a disastrous shortage of drinking water down the road.”
- Jim Rozier
Entrance to Francis Marion’s Gravesite
Over 11,000 acres of native pineland surrounding Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion’s burial grounds in Berkeley County are conserved by the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust. The Oakland Club property encompasses several historic French Huguenot plantations on the Santee River that were once owned by the Marion family, and where the legendary Revolutionary War hero and his family are now buried. Visitors of the historic landmark will forever be able to enjoy the natural vistas of pine forest and native grasses surrounding the site.
The project conserves scenic vistas of the native landscape from over a mile of the Palmetto Trail and ten miles of public highways. The vast property will be encumbered by a conservation easement held by the Trust, which will prevent it from being developed for residential, commercial or industrial purposes in perpetuity. The owners also donated outright a tract of timberland that will be used to educate local landowners on sustainable forestry practices.
Beyond its historic significance, the project is notable for the sheer expanse of critical wildlife habitat that will be protected in a rapidly urbanizing area of South Carolina. “Berkeley County is the 17 th fastest growing county in the country (out of over 3,100),” noted Raleigh West, former Executive Director for the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust, “so we don’t have many opportunities to protect such a large block of important wildlife habitat, which is so important given the growth pressures in our region right now.” To put it in perspective, the project will conserve an area roughly the size of the peninsula of Charleston, Daniel Island, and Mount Pleasant inside I526, combined.
Canby’s Dropwort found on the property
The US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program supported the project due to the property’s ecological significance.
In addition to its ecological significance, the property will also be a featured component of the Liberty Trail, an effort led by the SC Battleground Preservation Trust to incorporate an historical tourism program featuring Revolutionary War sites throughout South Carolina. “We’re so pleased that these landowners committed to protecting the aesthetic integrity of Marion’s gravesite,” said Doug Bostick, Director for the Battleground Trust. “Other than perhaps George Washington, there is no figure more important to the Revolutionary War than the Swamp Fox, and certainly his burial grounds will be an important feature of the Liberty Trail.”
The property fronts on roughly ten miles of the Santee Swamp and in its natural state helps purify water in the Santee River watershed. “The availability of clean water is emerging as a national crisis right now,” said Jim Rozier, President of the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust. “Protecting buffers along our rivers and lakes is probably the most important thing we can do to sustain water quality for our community and avoid a disastrous shortage of drinking water down the road.”
The project was funded with a grant from the SC Conservation Bank. West noted that the owners donated over 70% of the value of the conservation easement. “Land trusts like us are really just the vehicle for helping protect the land. It’s the generosity and commitment to conservation by our partner landowners that is at the foundation of these landscape-scale preservation projects.”
Additinally, 23 acres was donated to the Center for Heirs Property. The property, located near the Pineville Community Center, will be used as a demonstration forest, where the Center will educate landowners on the economic and conservation benefits of sustainable forestry practices.