A Johns Island land trust is asking Charleston County for Greenbelt money to buy a small tract on Betsy Kerrison Parkway and turn it into a base for conservation work and volunteers.
The Conservancy of the Sea Islands is seeking $584,150 to buy 3.33 acres for what it calls the “Stewardship & Sustainability Field Station,” according to the county’s Greenbelt Program. The county’s Finance Committee recommended approval with a condition on Nov. 5, and County Council will consider final approval Nov. 10, the program said. The county’s list does not spell out the condition.
The conservancy plans to use the site for habitat restoration, oyster recycling, environmental education and volunteer projects, and to link protected land into wildlife corridors, WCSC Live 5 reported Nov. 9. It also plans to grow sweetgrass for the Gullah Geechee community.
“So sweetgrass artisans will actually be able to come out here and harvest the sweetgrass,” Collie Farah, the conservancy’s land preservation specialist, told the station.
The project is expected to cost about $1.4 million, Live 5 reported. The conservancy is asking the county and the Town of Kiawah Island to help pay for it, along with the value of donated land. The request is the first the town’s Conservation Fund has received, and Kiawah Island is expected to vote later this year.
Farah said the land is “critical habitat in an area that is prone to development.” The conservancy often competes with buyers who move faster, Farah said: “We’re often up against developers and other people that can acquire properties much quicker than we can.”
If the money is approved, the conservancy aims to buy the land by the end of the year, Live 5 reported. The property will need cleanup and restoration first, and the goal is to open it for volunteer events within five years.
The field station is one of nine Greenbelt requests headed to council Nov. 10, which together seek about $16 million for about 3,049 acres, according to the county’s list. Two other Johns Island requests are in the group: $1.05 million for the Lowcountry Land Trust’s Tupelo Trail project and $106,500 for a Lowcountry Land Trust conservation easement on the Buncomb Property.
