Upstate forever is a land conservation organization that protects critical lands, waters, and the unique character of the upstate of south carolina

Since 1998, we have protected more than 30,000 acres on 150 properties across the upstate through voluntary land protection as the first nationally accredited land trust organization in the state. The mission, focus and programmatic goals of land conservation program are well aligned with the priorities of the u.s fish and wildlife services partners for wildlife and coastal programs to protect and restore critical habitat for threatened, endangered or at-risk species. Upstate forevers land conservation efforts are targeted towards ecologically significant areas within theupstate region of south carolina and several of our protected properties have documented populations of federally important species with many more providing suitable habitat. In partnership with USFWS, upstate forevers land conservation team will work to protect and restore private lands with significant ecological value that support threatened, endangered or at-risk species. Our work will focus on wetland restoration, grassland habitat enhancement, or improved forest management. We anticipate the ripple effects of this work will result in benefits beyond our portfolio of protected properties. Land management projects can serve as demonstration sites used to communicate techniques, impacts, andlessons learned to the larger community and other partners in conservation.