August 2001
Contents

Message From the Executive Director
  .  Education: A Large Part of What We Do

Conservation Easements:
  .  Fariview Farms Preserved
  .  Four Columns Property Preserved
  .  Paris Mountain Property Preserved
  .  Sloan Family Grants Conservation
Easement on 200 Acres of Land In
Southern Greenville County

Conservation Bank Act
  .  Conservation Bank Act Stalls in Legislature

Green Development
  .  New Directions in Land Use and Design
  .  Upstate Forever's Green Schools Initiative

Staff, Board, Members and Volunteers
  .  Kris Yon, Leon Patterson, Keith Marrero Join Upstate Forever Board of Directors
  .  Staff News and UF Field Trips

Conservation Easements

PARIS MOUNTAIN
PROPERTY PRESERVED

Greenville resident Larry McKinney has granted to Upstate Forever a conservation easement to preserve a 141-acre tract that is directly adjacent to Paris Mountain State Park.

     The property is undeveloped and contains several stands of hardwoods, including oak, hickory and sycamore. It is at a higher elevation than the park and includes five streams that drain into Hayne Creek, which is the principal source of water for Mountain Lake and Lake Placid at the park. During the summer, Lake Placid is heavily used by the public for swimming. Hayne Creek, which was recently classified as an "Outstanding Resource Water" by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (the state's highest class), represents the southern boundary of the McKinney tract for almost one mile.

     Under the conservation easement, no more than three single-family residences and no more than seven ancillary structures can be constructed on the property. No further subdividing or development of the tract is permitted, and no disturbance of any kind is allowed within 100 feet of any stream. Under the county zoning ordinance, over 150 houses could have been built on this property. That amount of development would have had a tremendous adverse impact on the park, from the standpoint of both water quality and aesthetics. You would have been able to see the development from the park's trails, and the runoff would have polluted Hayne Creek and the park's lakes. The conservation easement has eliminated those threats.

     "We are very excited about this conservation easement," said Charles Harrison, Director of the Division of Parks and Recreation for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. "The permanent protection of this property will be of enormous benefit to the Park and to the public."

     McKinney, who owns ElDeCo, Inc. in Greenville and has been involved with partner Jimmy Durham in several developments on Paris Mountain, said, "The mountain has been very good to me. I decided it was time to return the favor by protecting this key piece of property."

     The 1,275-acre Paris Mountain State Park, located only six miles from downtown Greenville, was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, making it one of the first protected areas in the state. In recent years, however, the park has suffered from overuse, encroaching development, and lack of adequate funds for maintaining and improving the park's facilities. In response to these problems, this year's Leadership Greenville Class has adopted the park as its class project. Members of the class are drafting a master plan for the park, raising money for an endowment, and creating educational programs. Gene McCall, who chairs the class project, said, "This easement is wonderful news for the park. We hope it will inspire other people who own land next to the park to do the same."