Turkey Stevens Creek (../files/ts_creek.doc) The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina Press Releases Search All Press Releases Sarah Hartman Phone: (843) 937-8807, ext. 12 E-mail: shartman@tnc.org

The Nature Conservancy Purchases Land To Expand National Forest

Columbia, SC — April 14, 2005 — The Nature Conservancy has purchased 1,620 acres in McCormick County near Parksville, S.C., for inclusion in the Sumter National Forest, Long Cane District. The Conservancy purchased the land from Blue Sky Timber Properties, LLC for $2,650,000.

The land is bounded by Sumter National Forest on three sides and has 3.8 miles of frontage on Stevens Creek. The Conservancy will work with the U.S. Forest Service to incorporate the property into the National Forest.

"The Blue Sky tract is particularly significant as it represents an important in-holding within the Forest," said Mark Robertson, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina. "Incorporation of the property into the National Forest will create a block of more than 7,500 contiguous acres in public ownership. This consolidation provides for better management of the entire Forest and ensures that the habitats surrounding Turkey and Stevens Creeks will be protected."

This tract represents the largest acquisition within the 120,000-acre Long Cane District in many years, according to Beth LeMaster, U.S. Forest Service district ranger. "We commend The Nature Conservancy’s dedicated work and commitment to securing this important addition to Sumter National Forest. Not only are we thrilled with the ecological significance of this tract, but it is simply a beautiful area that will be enjoyed by many people as part of the Sumter National Forest," said LeMaster.

The U.S. Forest Service will purchase the land from The Nature Conservancy in part with funds that U.S. Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings earmarked for the Forest. Additional funds are being sought for full purchase. State support was given by Senator John Drummond as well as by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Additionally, the acquisition was supported by conservation groups such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Upper Savannah Land Trust.

The protected property harbors some of the best examples of Piedmont communities remaining in South Carolina, including post oak savannahs, monadnocks (a Native American term describing tiny mountains that rise above the flatter plain), and high quality Piedmont streams. The Nature Conservancy is working with both private landowners and public agencies in this significant landscape to protect what is left.

Located within the Conservancy’s Turkey and Stevens Creek Project Area, the Long Cane Unit of the Sumter National Forest is recognized as one of the most remarkable forest settings in all of eastern North America that has all but vanished in the Piedmont. Stevens Creek watershed is one of the most biologically diverse aquatic systems in all of South Carolina. In fact, Turkey and Stevens Creeks have been determined eligible for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River system because of their outstandingly remarkable resource values. Protection of this tract is the District’s top priority.

"Turkey and Stevens Creeks flow through the Forest and provide critical habitat to imperiled freshwater mussels found only in South Carolina waters," adds Eric Krueger, aquatic program manager for The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina.

The rarest of these mussels is the federally endangered Carolina heelsplitter, so named because of the sharp edges of its shell which protrude from the stream bottom. Species such as the brook floater, creeper, Eastern floater, yellow lamp mussel, southern rainbow, and Florida pondhorn are all found within two miles upstream of the property. Mussels provide an important service to freshwater river systems, as they are filter feeders and help to maintain healthy water quality levels.