Congaree Land Trust Hosts Inaugural Cowasee Clean-Up
March 31, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – The Congaree Land Trust (CLT) together with PalmettoPride hosted the first COWASEE Clean-up on Saturday, March 28th from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in the COWASEE Basin along US #76/#378. Fifteen enthusiastic volunteers joined CLT for this inaugural trash pick-up, collecting 66 bags of litter along roadways and the Wateree Riverfront. “It was a fun morning of fellowship for a great cause,” commented Stuart White, Executive Director of Congaree Land Trust. “The COWASEE Basin is one of our main focus areas for land protection, and picking up litter is just one additional way we can help protect this precious resource.” Modeled much like the ACE Basin, south of Charleston, the COWASEE Basin Focus Area consists of the life-giving waters of the Congaree, Wateree and Upper Santee Rivers and the fertile floodplains nourished by them. The floodplain forests of the COWASEE Basin are some of the most extensive and biologically diverse in the Southeast, teaming with abundant wildlife and providing a rich outdoor experience to those who visit. The COWASEE Basin is steeped in history and includes 28 sites on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Congaree Land Trust works in a collaborative partnership with other conservation organizations that make up the COWASEE Basin Task Force to protect wildlife habitat, wetlands and water quality, while maintaining the rural traditions and working farms and forests of this 315,000-acre area. The Congaree Land Trust plans to make the COWASEE Clean-Up an ongoing annual event to help tackle the problem of littering and dumping in the remote areas of the COWASEE Basin, many of which adjoin properties that are protected through conservation easements with CLT.
The Congaree Land Trust is in its third decade of conserving South Carolina’s scenic lands to help preserve the visual landscape, keep the water and air cleaner, and make it possible for future generations to enjoy the same recreational and agricultural opportunities that we enjoy today. Founded in 1992, CLT works to establish conservation easements for landowners in a 12-county area of central South Carolina that includes Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter, and Williamsburg counties.
The Congaree Land Trust
The Congaree Land Trust has loyal supporters who share our passion of preserving the scenic South Carolina we enjoy today. Membership is open to the general public at various levels and members enjoy a variety of activities including quarterly day-hike excursions on protected properties. For more information on conservation easements and membership in the Congaree Land Trust, please visit their website www.congareelt.org.
