By: Bo Petersen

The Post and Courier

The niche guys in local conservation had another banner year.

Private property owners protected 10,561 acres from development with the help of Lowcountry Open Land Trust, the biggest annual total in the trust's history.

The conservations comprised 30 tracts from the ACE Basin to Winyah Bay. Land Trust Executive Director Will Haynie characterized the effort as an important part of the quilt of public and private conservation that has set aside more than three quarters of a million acres so far in the greater Charleston area.

The Charleston-based nonprofit works with landowners to put conservation easements on properties and fills a niche between national groups and small-scale groups.

One example of the Land Trust's efforts is the conservation of more than 5,000 acres so far on rural Wadmalaw Island.

"We're locally based, locally governed, and we work with local people," Haynie said.

The 10,000 protected acres brings the Land Trust's total to 57,579 acres in little more than 20 years. Landowners are compensated with tax breaks and state or local conservation bank payments.

2007 conservation easements

ACE Basin: 8 easements, 758 acres.

Sea Islands: 9 easements, 2,420 acres.

Ashley River: 1 easement, 225 acres.

Cooper/Wando Rivers: 1 easement, 1,275 acres.

Winyah Bay: 1 easement, 196 acres.

South Lowcountry: 6 easements, 5,114 acres.

Santee Cooper Lakes: 1 easement, 399 acres.

Bamberg: 1 easement, 53 acres

Additional acres added to existing easements: 2 projects, 121 acres.

Reach Bo Petersen at bpetersen@postandcourier.com or 745-5852.