April 2003
Contents

Message From the Executive Director:
* The Upstate as the next regional city

Conservation:
* Couple preserves land along highway 11
* Northern Greenville county tract preserved
* UF members donate land adjoining
Jocassee Gorges to State
* Conservation Bank Act signed into law!

Articles:
* The Upstate is being developed at the rate of a new Haywood Mall every three days!!
* Downtown Schools: a key step toward sensible growth
* Downtown schools in the Upstate
good news and bad news
* Can Stories Save a River?
Bringing Lawson's Fork back to life
* Main Street: Heart and soul of the Upstate
* Victory for streams in the Upstate!

Upstate Forever News:
* Events
* Awards
* Volunteers
* Staff

Meet Lisa Blackwood, Our Office Manager

In 1996, Lisa escaped the out of control growth of Atlanta and moved to the Upstate. As our Office Manager, Lisa handles the books, answers the phone, supervises our volunteers, and does all the myriad tasks involved in keeping Upstate Forever running smoothly. She has sixteen years of experience in the advertising industry as an art director and print production specialist. Lisa has a passionate interest in the protection and rehabilitation of injured, abused and abandoned animals.

Meet Jenni Vance, Our Membership and Communications Coordinator

An Atlanta native, Jenni moved to Greenville in 1997 with her husband, Ron, a history professor at Furman University. She is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Sweet Briar College, with a degree in German. She has also studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Cologne in Germany.
     Jenni’s previous experience includes serving as director of a catering company in Chicago and as the gallery registrar for a museum in Pennsylvania. At Upstate Forever, she is in charge of memberships and communications, as well as the design and maintenance of our web site.
     When not in the office, Jenni is outdoors in the foothills of the Upstate where she spends her time training horses in the art of dressage.

Katie Chamberlain, Upstate Forever’s Director of Natural Resource Protection, spoke to the 7th and 8th graders at Pickens Middle School on the importance of protecting water quality. This thank you note from Crystal Star Reece is one of many that Katie received for her presentation.