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Conservancy and Audubon Acquire Major Tract to Expand Beidler Forest in Edisto River Corridor

Property contains habitat important for many priority birds and conservation of the Edisto river watershed.

Columbia, South Carolina—October 8, 2003—The Nature Conservancy has purchased a 909-acre key in-holding of the National Audubon Society’s Francis Beidler Forest, a registered National Natural Landmark. The Conservancy purchased the tract from MeadWestvaco Corporation for $1.65 million to provide much needed habitat for South Carolina’s forest birds and other wildlife.

The property, in Berkeley and Dorchester counties, has many free-running streams that are vital to the upper Edisto River watershed, a river which is often described as the longest free flowing blackwater river in North America. The tract is also part of a larger landscape encompassing four major conservation areas, including Beidler Forest, that have been internationally designated as Globally Important Bird Areas by the American Bird Conservancy for providing critical habitat for significant populations of endangered species.

"The Nature Conservancy is pleased to have been a participant in protecting this critical addition to the Francis Beidler Forest," said Mark Robertson, South Carolina state director for The Nature Conservancy. "By working with Audubon, MeadWestvaco and many other partners, we were able to accomplish habitat conservation on a large enough scale to make a difference for future generations of both birds and people."

The Forest supports some of the most dense breeding populations of migratory song birds in the eastern United States. The Audubon Society has conducted continual breeding bird inventories here for 25 years, and data from these inventories suggest as many as 1,363 Prothontary Warbler territories and 227 Swainson’s Warbler territories occur on Beidler Forest. The Forest also supports high concentrations of other priority migratory bird species including the Northern Parula, Hooded Warbler and Wood Thrush.

"This 909-acre tract, located just downstream from the 11,406-acre Francis Beidler Forest, is one of the top three protection priorities for Audubon at this site," said Norman Brunswig, Audubon South Carolina Executive Director. "The tract’s streams are in a close to pristine state, and it provides a significant riparian and upland corridor in this region of the upper Edisto River watershed. Today’s remarkable acquisition adds more of this invaluable habitat to Beidler, and we were delighted to again work with The Conservancy on this most recent strategic acquisition."

The initial acquisition establishing Beidler Forest in 1969 was a collaborative effort between Audubon and the Conservancy protecting approximately 3,400 acres. Of this, some 1,700 acres are virgin blackwater bald cypress and tupelo gum forest, representing the largest stand of this forest type in the United States.

"MeadWestvaco has a long history of successful partnerships with The Nature Conservancy and The National Audubon Society. Our company is proud to have worked with them both to protect this important tract to expand Beidler Forest," said David Gerhardt, Southern region manager – MeadWestvaco.

Once the Conservancy sells most of its interest in the property to the Audubon Society, Beidler Forest will expand to 12,723 acres. Audubon will purchase a majority interest in the tract with the aid of a $1 million grant competitively awarded through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA). Additionally, Audubon and The Nature Conservancy each contributed $200,000 towards purchase of the tract. The Pine Tree Conservation Society, a group that often partners with Audubon in the acquisition of priority migratory bird habitat, provided the remaining $250,000.

Audubon’s contribution was also aided by a $150,000 loan from The Community Foundation Serving Coastal South Carolina’s new Lowcountry Conservation Loan Fund, the first loan from this important new source for habitat conservation funding. The Loan Fund was established earlier in 2003, through generous grants from the Merck Family Fund and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, to provide critical, interim financing to conservation organizations for land acquisition. A loan in this instance allowed Audubon to react quickly to a buying opportunity without using other cash reserves.

"We are thrilled that the fund’s initial loan has made a pivotal contribution to such an important and collaborative habitat conservation effort," said Loan Fund Chairman, Jody Tamsberg.

"The NAWCA program chose to fund the project because of the exceptional array of species and wonderful wetland habitat," said Craig Watson of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, who administers the NAWCA program. "Add the environmental significance to the exceptional nature and numbers of partners, and this project became the highest ranking coastal project in the entire country."

"The Nature Conservancy and others organizations are truly fortunate to have an extraordinary number of diverse conservation partners committed to preserving South Carolina’s world class coastal landscapes. The Edisto River is certainly deserving of such recognition and conservation focus." said Michael Prevost, who led the development of the NAWCA proposal for the Conservancy.

In addition to The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, and the Pine Tree Conservation Society, other NAWCA partners included: Ducks Unlimited, Lowcountry Open Land Trust, Mead Westvaco Corporation, Bear Island Club, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, United States Forest Services and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Each of the partners made substantive contributions toward the protection of strategically important tracts in the Edisto River corridor either through direct funding or securing or granting conservation easements.