The CAWS (Cooper, Ashley, Wando, and Stono Rivers) Basin Focus Area covers approximately 800,000 acres of the Tri-County Region surrounding the Charleston Metropolitan Area. The CAWS Basin contains a large variety of coastal plain habitat, including pine uplands, estuaries and extensive wetland and river systems. This Focus Area is sub-divided into three initiative areas: the Ashley River Initiative, the Cooper-Wando Initiative and the Sea Islands Initiative.

The Ashley River Initiative area is rich in significant historic and ecological resources. The Ashley River itself is part of a National Historic District and has been designated a State Scenic River. These irreplaceable resources face considerable urban and suburban residential pressure from the expansion of Summerville from the North and North Charleston from the South and East.

The Cooper-Wando Initiative covers a predominantly rural area also rich in historic significance, particularly related to rice culture history. It has important ecological significance as well, including extensive longleaf pine forests and wetland systems in and around the Francis Marion National Forest. Today, timber production is a vital economic activity. Industrial land uses and suburban residential pressure pose the greatest threat to the natural resources within the Cooper-Wando Initiative.

The Sea Islands Initiative area covers critical maritime and estuarine habitat. It has a long tradition of agriculture, most notably for the production of sea island cotton. There remains a high density of rural historic sites related to the early South Carolina colony, the Revolutionary and Civil War and cotton culture. This region, with its vast expanses of salt marsh, faces heavy resort and suburban residential pressure.

The combined efforts of landowners, public agencies and private conservation organizations resulted in the protection of 201,000 acres in the CAWS Basin Focus Area. The Lowcountry Open Land Trust protects 98 properties, covering 11,646 acres of natural, scenic and rural land.

The CAWS Basin Task Force includes: Private landowners; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service; S.C. Department of Natural Resources; S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism; Berkeley Conservation District; MeadWestvaco; The Nature Conservancy of S.C.; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Lowcountry Open Land Trust; Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust; Kiawah Island Natural Habitat Conservancy; S.C. Coastal Conservation League; Wetlands Habitat Enhancement Council; National Trust for Historic Preservation; Palmetto Conservation Foundation.

Return to Full Focus Area Map