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

SLOAN FAMILY GRANTS CONSERVATION EASEMENT ON 200 ACRES OF LAND IN SOUTHERN GREENVILLE COUNTY

The Sloan Family

Helen Sloan and her five children have granted to Upstate Forever a conservation easement on approximately 200 acres of land in southern Greenville County. The property, which Mrs. Sloan and her husband, the late John L. Sloan, acquired in the early 1960s, includes a 25-acre lake, over 150 acres of woodlands, and rich wildlife habitat.

     The conservation easement will reserve the right to maintain the family home and to build no more than three additional residences. No other development will be permitted. Mrs. Sloan said that she and her children feel strongly about ensuring that the property's quality and character are preserved. She said, "It's distressing to see what is happening to land in this part of the county. We're losing so much beautiful land so quickly. We were determined that it was not going to happen to our property." Under the Greenville County zoning ordinance, a 280-home subdivision could have been built on the property, resulting in nearly 3,000 additional trips per day on Fork Shoals Road.

     The Sloan property supports a wide variety of wildlife, including owls, hawks, wood ducks, and turkey. "Despite all of the growth around us," Mrs. Sloan said, "it's still a wonderful oasis with wildlife everywhere. In fact, more and more animals are seeking refuge on our property because so much of the habitat in this area is being lost."

     Dennis Bauknight, the Natural Resources Conservation Service's District Conservationist for Greenville and Pickens Counties, has visited the property several times. "It's a beautiful piece of property, and I congratulate the Sloan family for preserving it. The rapid growth in this part of the county is causing serious fragmentation of wildlife habitat, adversely affecting our streams and consuming valuable open space. A conservation easement like this is one important way to reduce those impacts," Bauknight said.

     Mrs. Sloan's children are Dr. Helen E. Sloan of Sullivan's Island, SC; Jane Sloan Cooper of Sullivan's Island, SC; Dr. John L. Sloan, Jr. of Piedmont, SC; Dr. David M. Sloan of Danville, Virginia; and Mary Sloan Andrews of Greenville, SC.