2010 LOLT picnic at Birds Of Prey Center

The Lowcountry Open Land Trust held their annual membership picnic in Awendaw and the Birds of Prey Center played host for the day. LOLT completed its twenty-fourth year of land conservation in 2009 with a quiet and steady hand on the vehicle of preservation, the conservation easement. Twenty-two easements were cobbled together in 2009 totaling 4,654 acres protected. This allowed LOLT to surpass the threshold of 80,000 acres protected since their inception.

LOLT found the proverbial feather in their cap in 2009 when they were able to partner with the Avian Conservation Center, better known as the Birds of Prey Center in Awendaw, to secure $267,500 from the Greenbelt Program to permanently protect the 153 acres that the center operates on. The Wingswood conservation easement protects land that was donated to the Birds of Prey Center by the Rice family, and compliments the acreage that is already protected in that area.

LOLT’s Lewis Hay said, “It is always a privilege to work with a Lowcountry landowner to protect another piece of our heritage. It is especially gratifying when the landowner is an important and well-known local non-profit serving our community in a vital role to protect our wildlife. Further, this tract is an essential link in the conservation puzzle which includes Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge and Francis Marion National Forest. Bringing Greenbelt Bank assistance into this deal cemented the fact that it was a great project.”

To view past blog entries about the Center for Birds of Prey click here.

To view my blog on the 2009 LOLT picnic click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: A Birds of Prey Center volunteer holds a screech owl at the LOLT picnic; Birds Of Prey Director Jim Elliott accepts a butterfly house from LOLT board member Sam Hiott