Preserving South Carolina's Natural Beauty
For more than 60 years, you have helped The Nature Conservancy protect nature through conservation policy. From the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains to the stunning marshes and dunes on our coast, nature is integral to the lives of South Carolinians. With your support, we can continue to foster a thriving and resilient future for our beautiful state.
We advance policy solutions that strengthen the connection between nature and people.
Explore Our Legislative Priorities
-
As the 126th Session of the SC General Assembly begins, we will look to 2025 as a season of General Assembly outreach and connection. Our goal is to sow an appreciation of the long-standing impact and importance of conservation policy and legislation in South Carolina. In 2025 we will:
- Promote land protection projects and the science that underpins them through direct legislative engagement to provide examples of conservation as compatible with traditional land use, development, resilience, and prospering communities.
-
South Carolina is best suited to advance conservation resources through policies that incentivize voluntary transaction and encourage landowners to realize value through protecting their land. In 2025 we will:
- Seek to build consensus around improving the SC Scenic Rivers Tax Credit to better serve both the state’s interest in securing the health and vitality of key river corridors and enhancing the opportunity for landowners to realize a benefit in protecting river frontage lands.
- Work in partnership to drive improvements to the SC Conservation Easement Tax Credit. Adjusting the tax credit to track more closely in pace with inflation and current property values will incentivize and encourage private land protection statewide.
-
The Nature Conservancy has long served South Carolina alongside state agency partners, working in strong alignment on conservation goals and priorities. We endeavor to remain allied with robust requests for State Agency funding for land protection, forest management, habitat restoration and coastal stabilization among other priorities. In 2025 we will:
- Support full funding for the SC Conservation Bank, telling project stories and creating a shared understanding of the importance of leveraged funding the Bank achieves on behalf of South Carolinians.
- Work in tandem with the SC Land Trust Network in Columbia and across the state to reveal local project impact and the importance of consistent state funding for the protection of resilient and connected conservation and working lands.
- Advocate for continued and enhanced investments in natural resource protection and management through the SC Department of Natural Resources, the SC Office of Resilience, the SC Forestry Commission, and the SC Department of Environmental Services.
-
The Nature Conservancy endeavors to better align with the business and industrial sectors in the coming year in pursuit of a constructive conversation around clean energy infrastructure in South Carolina. In 2025 we will:
- Invest in a series of member roundtable events in partnership with Sustain SC to grow a collective understanding of energy generation and transmission, developing technologies and land use challenges. This effort will be geared to inform and advance conservation science and practices that encourage energy infrastructure siting and development in balance with natural and working land needs.
-
The Nature Conservancy is known for our freshwater science and expertise and has served on statewide surface water management initiatives for 10+ years. We are further supportive of growing appreciation and deployment of natural and nature-based approaches to alleviate flooding, erosion, sedimentation and other natural hazards facing the state from the coast to the mountains. In 2025 we will:
- Serve as a member WaterSC with the goal of positively influencing state water planning and to ensure conservation outcomes are among key elements of consideration in developing consensus on planning and policy decisions.
- Provide information and assistance to state legislators seeking to better understand the science and modeling associated with smart water planning.
- Develop an understanding of the interests and potential for securing state wetlands protection measures, including isolated wetlands and Carolina Bays, as a means of flood defense and natural water quality infrastructure.
Download a Copy
-
Download a copy to support your discussions, committee work, and budget planning. Contact information for our Director of Government Relations is included.
How We Can Work Together
to Make a Difference
-
Partner
Invite us to the table to collaboratively address natural resource challenges alongside landowners, organizations, communities, and local & state government agencies.
-
Policy
Develop conservation policies that reflect our shared values and goals, ensuring the protection of nature while enabling effective natural resource management strategies.
-
Fund
Invest in our future by funding initiatives that encourage conservation of our lands and waters, and balance development with the needs of nature and communities.
Decades of Hands-on Expertise Working with Communities & Government at All Levels
Since 1951, we have shared policy recommendations and fostered a world where both people and nature thrive. As a non-partisan, evidence-based organization, we strive to advance policy solutions that support the diversity of life.
Policy + People + Nature Share a Connection
Policy makes conservation possible. Without it, we cannot preserve our land. It provides us with food, energy, and space where we build our cities and communities. Our culture and way of life are deeply connected to the natural world, reminding us that we depend on healthy lands, waters, and ecosystems. Our land flows with natural rivers and streams that supply drinking water, support vital wildlife corridors for endangered and game species, and provide ecosystems for marine life. It protects vulnerable coastlines and adds beauty to developed areas. Recognizing this fundamental connection, we must conserve our land in order to safeguard all we cherish for generations.
South Carolina's Living Landscape
South Carolina's salt marshes are crucial for coastal resilience and biodiversity. TNC is working to restore these habitats, which provide nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, and act as buffers against storm surges.
How TNC Uses Land Acquisitions & Conservation Easements to Conserve South Carolina
These powerful and effective tools allow us to protect open space lands from intensive development. TNC uses acquisitions to preserve land for outdoor recreation, water quality and wildlife. Conservation easements allow landowners to protect their land while continuing to use it for forestry, hunting, and residence, while at the same time potentially providing them with tax benefits.
-
South Carolina residents care about preserving their lands and waters and the places they call home. Land conservation helps improve water quality and supply, boosts resiliency against storms, and provides habitat for diverse species. Protecting land also has economic benefits such as support for agricultural productivity and forestry, enhancing local tourism, and creating more opportunities for people to get outdoors and connect with nature. Investing in land conservation today ensures a healthier, more resilient environment and quality of life for all who call our state home.
-
Our mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.
We see an exciting future for nature. A future filled with opportunities and possibilities. A future where nature beats the odds. Where a better tomorrow exists thanks to forests, salt marshes, and streams. Coral reefs and mountain ranges. Animals great and small. Our human communities. By collaborating across boundaries, borders and divides, we can manifest this reality because together, we find a way.
Conservation promotes a sustainable and healthy environment for all.
Advance Meaningful Policy for South Carolina
Thoughtful conservation policies drive meaningful statewide progress. Let’s unite to conserve nature, empower communities, and ensure lasting solutions for wildlife and biodiversity today.
Burn watch: Kyle Worley monitoring a controlled burn on North Saluda Reservoir © Andrew Kornylak
Bird-watching: Dr. J. Drew Lanham bird-watching at an agricultural research center run by Clemson University in nearby Pendleton, South Carolina. © Travis Dove
Black Mingo Creek: The Nature Conservancy's Winyah Bay-Pee Dee Program Director, Dr. Maria Whitehead, paddles out on Black Mingo Creek in search of swallow-tailed kites, South Carolina. Her family has owned a cabin on the creek for generations and Black Mingo is a major tributary to the Black River, one of the four rivers that make up Winyah Bay Basin in South Carolina. © Mac Stone
Outdoor Recreation: South Carolina offers a wide range of outdoor recreational activities that cater to various interests including wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, and hiking. © Angie Gade/Unsplash
Gone Fishing: Fishing in South Carolina is a beloved pastime, offering abundant opportunities to catch a variety of fish in its scenic lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. © Jed Owen/Unsplash
Take Action for South Carolina
Every acre we preserve, every river mile restored, every habitat we save for wildlife is because of you.
Real Stories, Real Impact
Protecting the Future of Fish
In South Carolina, The Nature Conservancy is collecting data on fish reproduction that can help guide future ocean protection.
To Protect the Water, They Set Fires
Greenville, South Carolina, has some of the purest drinking water in the United States because it has always protected its watersheds.
Federal Policy Can Protect Coastlines and Culture
South Carolinian Tia Clark is bringing national attention to the state's coastline through crabbing, and federal funding from the IIJA can help ensure S.C. coasts are protected for years to come.