The Conservation Fund Saves Carvers Bay Forest from Development Threat

Today, The Conservation Fund announced that it has purchased more than 8,000 acres of forested land near Carvers Bay, South Carolina. The Conservation Fund’s quick action when this property came to market ensured that it will be managed for conservation and sustainable forestry through its Working Forest program, not subdivided for development in the rapidly expanding Myrtle Beach region. Under its ownership, Carvers Bay Forest will remain a sustainable working forest. 

“Every year, we lose one million acres of working forests to fragmentation and development,” said Jason Johnson, South Carolina state director for The Conservation Fund. “The Carvers Bay Forest is one of the nation’s most productive working forests. When the land went up for sale, we stepped in to ensure that it will continue to support wildlife habitat, clean water, recreation, and economic opportunities for local communities — now, and for generations to come.” 

Protecting this exceptional forested landscape is a big win for wildlife and clean water. The site flows into the Black River and will help to protect water quality next to the recently expanded Black River State Park. 

Carvers Bay Forest is also home to multiple nesting sites for swallow-tailed kites, which are endangered in South Carolina. Four of those kites are part of a conservation research project led by American Bird Conservancy (ABC).  

“ABC has worked with partners including Avian Research and Conservation Institute in the Carvers Bay Forest area to trap and equip four swallow-tailed kites with transmitters,” said Emily Jo Williams, ABC’s Southeast Director of Sustainable Forest Partnerships. “We are thrilled that The Conservation Fund has stepped up to protect this important working forest landscape that is critical to successful nesting by the kites and a host of other migratory birds including prothonotary and prairie warblers, indigo and painted buntings, Acadian flycatchers, and yellow-billed cuckoos.” 

In close consultation with the State of South Carolina, The Conservation Fund is working to eventually open the land for public recreation access, but those efforts are just beginning. Current hunting leases on the site will continue. When the time is right, the group plans to sell the land to the South Carolina Forestry Commission to establish a new state forest, permanently protecting this special landscape. 

This project was acquired by The Conservation Fund and The Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation, with additional support, in part, from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.