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Beaufort County committee approves Green Space due diligence and funding recommendations for three conservation tracks
Summary
The Natural Resources Committee approved Green Space recommendations to fund due diligence for three conservation tracts (Turner, Campbell and a Hilton Head parcel) and recommended releasing $2,143,678 for Bluffton parcels; it also recommended up to $7 million for the Buckfield acquisition to be supported by state/federal matching funds.
The Beaufort County Natural Resources Committee on Sept. 2 approved Green Space's recommendation to fund due diligence and advance multiple conservation acquisitions. Mike McShane, chair of the Green Space advisory committee, presented three tracks for initial due diligence — the Turner Tract (128 acres on Saint Helena Island), the Campbell Tract (roughly 35 acres near the intersection of Highways 17 and 21) and a nearly 10-acre waterfront parcel on Hilton Head — and asked the committee to authorize up to $25,000 to support due diligence and negotiations for each tract. Committee members moved and seconded the request and approved it without objection.
McShane also presented a request to release $2,143,678 from Green Space funds to support the town of Bluffton's acquisition of Parcels 5A and 5B, with Parcel 5C to be pursued as a separate, quickly-following request. The committee approved recommending release of the funds and forwarding the matter to full council.
Separately, the committee recommended up to $7,000,000 to help acquire the Buckfield tract on Beaufort County's northern side, part of a larger regional project that would ultimately transfer management to the State Forestry Commission and provide public access and recreation. McShane and committee members described the county's seed funding as leverage to attract state and federal grants, and said the funding would support an approximately 1,658-acre regional conservation outcome, with ownership expected to transition to the State Forestry Commission for long-term management.
Committee members emphasized that Green Space investments have been used to create contiguous conservation corridors (citing Gregory Neck and other purchases) and that the program leverages county dollars to attract larger state and federal investments. The committee voted to move those funding recommendations forward without objection.
Next steps: staff will return to full council with formal requests to release funds and to finalize terms for acquisitions and any required grant match or reporting conditions.
