Thank you again!

Click Here to Get Your Ticket

What is a conservation plan and how can you add to it? Conservation and vision are words that leave people puzzled. On Wednesday evening, we hope you will join us to talk about the places you love and what they mean to you. The goal of this meeting is to hear from you and to use your input to shape the future of the Land Trust and the vistas that we want to protect in the Lowcountry for the future. Together, with open and honest dialogue, we can begin an extraordinary process in honor of the landscapes we love. In today’s edition of the Post and Courier, there is an article and an editorial about the process and Wednesday night’s meeting.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2012/feb/07/speak-up-about-conservation/

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2012/feb/07/trust-looks-at-next-25-years/

Thank you all who have participated so far and thank you in advance for those of you who will be attending Wednesday’s Meeting.  We are looking forward to hearing from YOU!

Dress is casual and there should be plenty of street parking, there is parking under the library (first hour free and .50 an hour after that), also the Gaillard garage ($2 first hour, $1 each additional hour).

LOLT Public Meeting on A Vision for Conservation
February 8th, 5:30pm
68 Calhoun Street, Charleston County Library

For more information : 

http://www.lolt.org/conservation-programs/visioning_process.html
Please feel free to call Elizabeth Brown at 577-6510 with any questions.

Click Here for Platt Farm Article

Land Trust meeting

What: The Lowcountry Open Land Trust is hosting a meeting for the public to share thoughts on the conservation community’s successes, opportunities, issues and strategies most important to protecting their quality of life. Marc Smiley, from the Portland-based company Decisions Decisions, will facilitate the meeting.

When: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 8

Where: Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun St.

Price: Free

More Info: 577-6510 or www.lolt.org

As I sit at my desk writing to you, I reflect on how my work with the Lowcountry Open Land Trust has come full circle.   Currently, I am the Executive Director, the same seat I was over 20 years ago.  Since I was the first Executive Director, 1989-1994, a lot has happened.

When I first came to the Land Trust, we had protected one island with the residents of the Parkdale neighborhood and were about to take our first conservation easement on Wadmalaw Island.  Conservation easements were a new conservation tool that seemed ideally suited to the independent, stewardship land ethic of the lowcountry.  The state and local governments provided very little money for conservation, but the landowners of the lowcountry had managed their lands sustainably for generations. They would take the lead in conserving the lowcountry of South Carolina.

Fast-forward 25 years to today.  Although I am sitting at the same desk, the Land Trust has grown into a leading land trust in the nation.  The Land Trust has protected 88,040 acres of land on 268 different properties.  Conservation easements remain our primary tool for conservation.  The Land Trust works in partnership with private landowners, other conservation organizations and government agencies to leverage our conservation assets. We have a dedicated staff of 8, and the hard work and dedication of our board of trustees remains a hallmark of the Land Trust’s success.

I am eager to see what it will be like in the next 25 years.  We have a lot of exciting work ahead.

Elizabeth Hagood

Please check back often to our website for updates and upcoming events!

First, we are very excited about the location of the Annual Meeting.  Although we are going “off” of the Penninsula for the first timeI can remember, there couldn’t be a better location for this meeting than Founders Hall at Charlestown Landing.  Not only is the parking ample (and free), and the facility beautiful and impeccably designed, but Founders Hall is particularly significant to the Land Trust because of Charles Towne Landing’s proximity to Ashem Farm.

Ashem Farm, the beloved farm of Mrs. Emily Ravenel Farrow, was bequeathed to the Land Trust by Mrs. Farrow this year.  To learn more about Ashem Click here

Ashem, in fact, is particularly pertinent to this year’s meeting as a transformational event in the history of the Land Trust.  In addition to recognizing Mrs. Farrow and our 2011 conservation easement donors, The Land Trust is facilitating a discussion on the FUTURE OF CONSERVATION IN THE LOWCOUNTRY.  You, our members, are a most important voice in this discussion and are integral to shaping a vision for the future of conservation in the lowcountry.  We need your participation and promise a lively and fun evening.  Of course, we will have a celebratory reception afterwards by the over-sized outdoor fireplace.

The purpose of casting this Vision for Conservation is to generate a community-driven process that will direct the course of conservation for the next 25 years.  In addition to LOLT members, other stakeholders in the community and the public at large will have a voice in this vision.  The Land Trust will use this corporate vision for conservation to direct our investment of Mrs. Farrow’s gift and maximize the impact of this gift for the benefit of the lowcountry of South Carolina.  I couldn’t be more enthusiastic and expectant about this process and the outcome.  I hope you will join us in this exciting, unique opportunity!

For more information on the Visioning Process, Click Here

So please join us on February 6^th at 5:30pm!  Click Here to Register.

The Education and Outreach position is a new, strategic and forward-thinking position for the Land Trust.  We see this position as a complement to our Land Protection, Stewardship and Communications programming.  This is the person who will help connect our easement donors to resources they may need.  It also is the position that will communicate with and educate the community about the work of the Land Trust.  So we are not running youth programs, but we want to involve everyone, including youth, in protecting the lowcountry for our children and grandchildren. 

Who did we hire?  We found Elizabeth Brown.  Some of you may remember her as Elizabeth DuPre.  Either way she is it–Elizabeth is the perfect fit for us.  She has the right balance of knowing how to educate, but also how to communicate in the business, non-profit and for profit worlds.  She has her Masters in Teaching from the College of Charleston, received her bachelors from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and is a graduate of Ashley Hall.  She has previously worked for Patriots Point Foundation, Patriots Point Development Authority, School’s Out and Patrick Properties Events.  So in technical terms, Elizabeth was responsible for coordinating and maximizing organizational resources, facilitating consensus with key stakeholders in the public, private and non-profit sectors, communicating information to a variety of audiences and promoting organizational initiatives.  

In addition to all the work stuff, Elizabeth has a great appreciation for the outdoors.  She camped around the country with her grandfather in high school and since then is always up for an adventure.  Granted, her husband would say, if she is comfortable!  So most days, her love of the outdoors centers around her dog, Willa (who many say she is overly obsessed with).  Overall she welcomes any opportunity to relax in open space and beautiful surroundings, which we are fortunate to have to due the continued work of our members and landowners supporting the Lowcountry Open Land Trust.  

Artists from the Collective gathered at Ashem Farm in October to paint en plein air . They produced some beautiful landscapes of Ashem that celebrate the property’s protection by the Land Trust and its future as a passive, public park.

For more on Ashem’s story, visit www.ashemfarm.com. To see more of the Collective’s stunning artwork, go to www.CharlestonArtistCollective.org.

Using S.C. Conservation Bank funds, the Land Trust bought 65 acres of valuable waterfront property at Bacon’s Bridge along the Ashley River, and subsequently transferred the property to the Dorchester Trust Foundation for use as a passive, public park.

(l-r) Batson Hewitt, Norman Brunswig, Richard Rosebrock, Larry Hargett and Coy Johnston