Lowcountry Land Trust reviews two decades of Greenbelt projects, offers technical help for updated goals

David Ray, chief conservation officer for Lowcountry Land Trust, told the Charleston County Greenbelt Advisory Board that the trust has protected land across the coastal plain and described recent and ongoing projects supported by Greenbelt funding.

“We were founded in 1986 right here in Charleston County. And over the years, we protected over 163,000 acres,” Ray said, summarizing the land trust’s regional footprint. He told the board Lowcountry Land Trust and predecessor organizations completed 50 Greenbelt-funded projects between 2007 and 2024, representing just over 7,900 acres; the trust reported Greenbelt program grants into those projects totaled $35,300,000 and that the trust brought about $71,200,000 in matching funds.

Ray highlighted examples including Boone Hall (a conservation easement), Fairfield Plantation projects near the Santee River, Thornhill Farm and several community-focused efforts such as the B Field Community Park concept and the Carolina Seafoods property near McClellanville. He described stewardship practices — annual monitoring, a stewardship and legal-defense fund, accreditation through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and use of aerial and satellite monitoring technologies — and said the trust is increasingly taking a community-driven approach for smaller, culturally important projects.

“Part of what we find is when we do projects, particularly in a certain geography, it can tend to stimulate other conservation opportunities in those same areas,” Ray said, describing how private conservation easements can connect to public lands such as the Francis Marion National Forest, Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and the Santee Coastal Reserve to form larger contiguous protected landscapes.

Ray said his organization stands ready to assist the GAB’s proposed mapping and geodatabase work, offering technical support and participation on a goals technical advisory committee.

Board members asked questions about the share of projects that use Greenbelt financing and about organizational funding and outreach. Ray estimated that roughly 25%–50% of the trust’s projects were financed in part by Greenbelt funds and described the organization’s diversified funding sources (private donors, foundations, state and federal grants and conservation bank awards).