Written by Skylar Laird, SC Daily Gazette.
A 2,700-acre piece of land in Jasper County is slated to become South Carolina’s first new state forest in more than two decades.
The Nature Conservancy bought the property, known as Chelsea Plantation, last week for $32 million. Originally nearly 6,000 acres, parts of the property had already been sold to groups looking to develop it into homes.
That decision, which would involve annexing the property into nearby Ridgeland, is still pending. But it put the rest of the land at imminent risk of development, according to the conservation nonprofit.
“Chelsea’s fate was one of this region’s major tipping points for the future of its wildlife habitat, historical character and water quality,” executive director Dale Threatt-Taylor said in a statement. “Developing Chelsea would have ushered in a new era of expansion in an already fast-growing region. We weren’t willing to leave it to chance.”
After placing the land under a conservation easement, which will guarantee that it remains protected regardless of who buys it, the conservation group plans to sell the land to the state Forestry Commission.
From there, following a series of state-level approvals, the land is expected to open to the public as a state forest. The timeline for approvals is still up in the air, Katy McWilliams, director of land protection for the nonprofit’s South Carolina office, told the SC Daily Gazette on Thursday.
The last time that happened was in 2004, when the Forestry Commission acquired 12,000-acre Wee Tee State Forest in Williamsburg and Georgetown counties.
With help from conservation groups, including The Nature Conservancy, the commission added more than 6,000 acres to the Wee Tee forest in 2023, but a new state forest hasn’t opened since, said spokesman Doug Wood.
The state’s five protected forests are funded through sales of timber sustainably harvested on the properties, according to the commission’s website. Each offers recreational activities, such as hunting, fishing, boating and hiking.
Conserving forests is one of the commission’s goals, and it is “making the greatest strides toward that end in decades,” State Forester Scott Phillips said in a statement.
“The prospect of adding Chelsea Plantation and other properties to our state forest system in the near future not only ensures these forested landscapes’ protection from development, but also their effective management for multiple uses, and hence their sustainability,” Phillips said.
Several more properties could be coming the commission’s way in the next few years, Wood said. Conservation groups are working with the commission to work out the details.
The Chelsea Plantation will be the first state forest in the state’s southern corner.
“This would give them the option to have something in that part of the state,” McWilliams said.
The Nature Conservancy has been eyeing the Chelsea Plantation since it first went on the market in 2019, McWilliams said. At the time, the nonprofit wasn’t prepared to jump into action and pay the $30 million price tag, she said.
In the years since, the nonprofit saw the loss as a missed opportunity. So, when a big chunk of the land came on the market, the group realized it had a second chance, McWilliams said.
“We were really excited to take a crack at it again and get a chance to protect Chelsea,” McWilliams said.
The land runs alongside more than 7 miles along the Hazzard Creek, which connects to the Broad River and is part of the Port Royal Sound watershed, and the tide floods and drains salt marshes on parts of the property.
That means the area is of “tremendous value for the watershed,” McWilliams said.
Longleaf pine, which has become a priority for conservationists as forests dwindle in size, grow on the property. On a recent visit, McWilliams spotted a dolphin swimming in the river and a bald eagle flying overhead, she said.
“It has many features that are very wonderful,” McWilliams said.
The Chelsea Plantation will join a network of protected properties in the area, spanning from the ACE Basin, one of the largest undeveloped swaths of land on the Atlantic coast, and the Savannah River.
Among those projects were a 7,300-acre plantation that became part of the Coosawhatchie Wildlife Management Area, which opened in September, and the 4,400-acre Gregorie Neck property, which The Nature Conservancy plans to split into six pieces and sell to private owners with the requirement they keep it mostly natural.
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