The State
August 5, 2008
By Joey Holleman - jholleman@thestate.com

Norfolk Southern railroad has agreed to protect a huge tract in Dorchester County studded with longleaf pine, populated by 79 groups of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and integral to the health of the ACE Basin.

As residential development creeps up the I-26 corridor north of Summerville, the 12,488 protected acres in Brosnan Forest won’t be a part of that trend. Norfolk Southern announced Monday it had donated a conservation easement on the property to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust.

“Given the sheer size of this easement, this is a big win for South Carolina and our efforts to preserve and protect the quality of life here in our state,” said Gov. Mark Sanford.

Conservation easements set limits on the future use of property. In return, owners get tax deductions based on the value if the property had been sold for its highest value. The Lowcountry — especially the ACE Basin formed by the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers — has been a hotbed for easements.

Lowcountry Open Land Trust touts this as the largest conservation easement ever by a public corporation in South Carolina.

Norfolk Southern is “proud to do (its) part in building a sustainable environment for future generations,” said chief executive officer Wick Moorman.

Brosnan Forest is on the eastern edge of the ACE Basin, covering much of the high ground between Four Holes Swamp and the Edisto. Norm Brunswig, director of neighboring Francis Beidler Forest, has dreamed of protecting Brosnan Forest since he moved to the area in 1973.

“It’s a huge, solid block of habitat in one ownership,” Brunswig said. “And it’s always been managed for longleaf (pine) forest.”

The railroad company will continue to use the property as a corporate retreat, mainly for hunting. While most of the state’s pine forest was converted to more commercially productive loblolly pine, Brosnan Forest remained in longleaf pine that is better habitat for wildlife. The red-cockaded woodpecker thrives in longleaf pine forests.

“Not only has Norfolk Southern been a good steward of these thousands of acres for more than 160 years, but they also are good neighbors by forever preserving the rural character of this community,” said Will Haynie, executive director of the Lowcountry Open Land Trust.

Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366.