Report to Members
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2016 REPORT TO MEMBERS To conserve South Carolina’s natural and cultural resources, preserve historic landmarks, pcf Mission: and promote outdoor recreation on the Palmetto Trail and other greenways. PCF BOARD To Our Members and Supporters, STUART Ames SC Manager, Economic Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF) is pleased to report on our many successes and Development, Duke Energy achievements in recent years, which have been exceptional for PCF and the great outdoors. We have Progress kept our focus on expanding and maintaining the Palmetto Trail, creating nancial sustainability, and JEFF Archie strengthening our mission. Senior Vice President & Chief Nuclear Ocer, South Carolina Electric & Gas Looking back, we have much to celebrate and give thanks for. Grants and in-kind donations of JOHN Bauknight IV materials and services have allowed PCF to open new passages on the Trail and improve existing President, Longleaf sections. is work is a testament to our partnerships and collective power. Volunteerism, the gi of Holdings, USA time, was especially critical aer the historic oods in October 2015. Remarkably, you volunteered and ANN Springs Close contributed more than 15,000 hours on the Trail. (Emeritus, Founding Director) Chair, Springs Close Foundation One of our proudest moments this year has been the establishment of the Palmetto Conservation JUDY Davis Corps. Building on the model set forth by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the Corps will Executive Vice President & be tasked with Palmetto Trail construction and maintenance, statewide disaster relief and preparedness, Chief Legal Ocer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of and environmental education for South Carolina’s youth and adults alike. e Corps is a win-win for South Carolina the Trail and our state. MARK Elam State and Local Government Because of the dedication of our members, board and sta, along with our corporate, foundation and Operations, The Boeing Company government partners, the Trail we are building will serve as a legacy for future generations in our great state. To our new members and supporters, and to those who have hiked the Trail with us for many JEFF Griffin President & CEO, W.O. years, thank you! Blackstone & Co. Mechanical Contractors Mikee Johnson, PCF Chairman of the Board GRADY Johnson (Board Vice Chair) President & Group Publisher, SC Biz News MIKEE Johnson (Board Chair) CEO & President, Cox Industries LOU Kennedy CEO, Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. Keep close to nature’s SAM Konduros Director, Greenville Health heart... and break clear Research Development Corporation away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or TRACY Macpherson, MD The Pediatric Clinic, spend a week in the woods. Orangeburg Wash your spirit clean. BURNIE Maybank Attorney, Nexsen Pruett, LLC —John Muir PCF STAFF NATALIE Britt KAT Crawford JIM Kelly Executive Director Community Outreach Coordinator Upstate Trail Coordinator SUZETTE Anderson RACHEL Price DAVID Baldwin Oce Manager, PCF Press Manager AmeriCorps Program Director Lowcountry Trail Technician SPECIAL THANKS TO MARY Roe MATTHEW Lawson STEVE Collum JEFF ARCHIE FOR TWO Director of Programs & Development Lowcountry Trail Coordinator Cartographer, Palmetto Trail Maps YEARS OF SERVICE RUTH Card JIM Majors SHARON Givens AS CHAIRMAN OF THE Administrative Assistant Upstate Trail Coordinator Communications Specialist 2BOARD FOR PCF! New Western trail Terminus in PALMETTO TRAIL UPDATES Walhalla PCF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NATALIE BRITT WITH MAYOR DANNY EDWARDS AND STATE SENATOR TOM ALEXANDER Walhalla City leaders in Walhalla welcomed PCF to extend the Palmetto Trail about 16 miles from Oconee Station State Historic Site and terminate the “mountain” end of the Trail in their downtown. PCF, City of Walhalla and Walhalla Chamber of Commerce, Partners for Progress, and Upstate Forever agreed to create a state- of- the-art mountain biking park for all levels of bikers on city property adjacent to the popular Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls in Oconee County. e beginning phase will be a 1.5–mile section that will accommodate mountain biking and hiking. Funding for this phase will be provided through a SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant, an REI grant, the City of Walhalla and Issaqueena’s Last Ride. Pickens County Palmetto Conservation was awarded a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant through SC Parks Recreation and Cedar Springs Passage Tourism for upstate Trail expansion in Pickens County. is new section of Palmetto Trail will follow the lower anks to funding support from the Mary Black Foundation reach of Eastatoe Creek through Jocassee Gorges from and new partner, Contec, PCF installed a gravel parking the shing access on Roy F. Jones Highway to Keowee- JIM Kelly Upstate Trail Coordinator lot and paved a section of Palmetto Trail to provide ADA Toxaway State Park (SP) and add approximately four miles accessibility to the Cedar Springs Revolutionary War toward completing the link between Keowee-Toxaway SP DAVID Baldwin Lowcountry Trail Technician Battleeld. A wayside panel describes the battle, which was and Table Rock SP. PCF is partnering with the Department fought in July 1780. e parking lot also serves the new of Natural Resources, Naturaland Trust, and Keowee- STEVE Collum Toxaway SP to create this Trail section. Additional funding Cartographer, Palmetto Trail Maps Cedar Springs Passage of the Palmetto Trail, which joins with the Braille Trail of the the SC School for the Deaf and Blind. is provided by the Graham Foundation. SHARON Givens Communications Specialist 3 Enoree Passage Dominion Carolina Gas Transmission awarded a grant to help fund a new 50-foot, berglass pedestrian bridge over Indian Creek on the southern section of the 36-mile Enoree passage, which links Newberry, Laurens and Union counties. e Indian Creek watershed is undergoing wildlife habitat restoration. e bridge will protect bottomland habitats while allowing Trail users to cross at all times, even when the creek oods. e grant was matched by funding from the State of South Carolina. Wateree Boardwalk Trail coordinators, an AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) crew, and many volunteers have worked through the year on the Palmetto Trail in Wateree Swamp to construct a three-quarter-mile boardwalk across pre-Civil War railroad piers. At 15-feet in the air, the new boardwalk will give Trail users impressive views of the swamp. anks to Cox Industries for donating tons of lumber, SCE&G for funding a 60-foot bridge, and the Edward & Dorothy Kendall Foundation and SCE&G for funding needed to complete the project. Eutaw Springs E U T A W S P R I N G S P A S S A G E R E R O U T E T H R O U G H G A R D E N S G AT E P L A N TAT I O N In the small rural town of Eutawville, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF) is working to reroute the Eutaw Springs Passage, i thanks to the owners of Gardensgate Plantation and a grant from ] Palmetto Pride. Gardensgate Plantation is a multigenerational family-owned farm that currently has two ponds and large rolling hay elds with sheep, donkeys, horses, and potbellied pigs. C i } 9 Gardensgate owners, the David Meyers Family, have agreed to allow the Trail to extend one mile on their 389-acre property ] for more of an o-road experience. In addition, a camping area in the wooded portion of Gardensgate Plantation is Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), planned as an Eagle Scout project. is campsite is being swisstopo, MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community 0 0.25 0.5 1 LEGEND MILES modeled as a Boy Scout training group with re-pits, Eutaw Springs Passage C Trailhead 9 Campsite Proposed Trail ] Kiosk + N Sidewalk/Bike Lines Parcel i Parking a bear line, picnic shelter, and multiple tent sites. } Trail to be Abandoned 4 1,000 Year flood causes $100,000 Damages to the trail Flood Damage Epic ooding in South Carolina during October 3–6, 2015, caused extensive damage to the Palmetto Trail, particularly in the Midlands and Lowcountry. anks to rapid response from PCF sta, forest service and state park sta, numerous volunteers, and an AmeriCorps NCCC crew from Georgia, all passages were back in use by year’s end. anks also to the Pittsburgh Foundation for a matching grant to fund repairs on the Peak to Prosperity Passage where damages exceeded $100,000. Financial assistance is still needed. Trail sta Jim Majors, Furman Miller, and Matthew Lawson survey damage. Fort Jackson e Palmetto Trail’s Fort Jackson Passage is receiving some much needed upgrades, thanks to an environmental grant from the Dominion Foundation and Dominion Carolina Gas Transmission, and from a skilled crew of Dominion volunteers. e 16-mile passage experienced extensive damage from the epic ood last October, as well as from logging across some sections. Grant funds will be used to build about ve miles of Trail, including bog bridges, a 250-foot boardwalk along Colonel’s Creek, and a reroute of a temporary crossing at Cedar Creek. Improvements will protect sensitive ecosystems on this favorite destination for Trail users, which is particularly popular with Army and National Guard families. 5 146 individuals get certified in SOLO Wilderness First Aid — 69 also receive CPR Certification GOLS received a Recreational Trails Program Education Grant from SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism to develop and implement a series of 11 Wilderness of nonprofits to receive spartanburg & Backcountry Trail First 1 10 Aid Courses throughout CLASS DATES &LOCATIONS county foundation’s “Just Because Day” Grant. Jan. 17-18Hunting Island State Park South Carolina to help Feb. 7-8 Poinsett State Park Feb. 28 - Mar. 1 Edisto Island State Park Mar. 7-8 Devils Fork State Park Mar.