Ccl winter2016

WINTER 2016

C OA S TA L

CO NS E R V A T I O N LEAGUE

Celebrating 5 Years!

GrowFood C AROLINA CAROLINA

8 For the Love of Trees n 14 SC Beaches Tackle Plastic n 16 Legislative Preview n

Josh Corrigan/Ellis Creek Photography

WINTER 2016 VOL. 27 • NO. 3

Staff & Programs

Dana Beach, Executive Director Lisa Turansky, Chief Conservation Officer PROGRAM DIRECTORS

Alan Hancock Natalie Olson Katie Zimmerman

PROJECT MANAGERS

Emily Cedzo Jason Crowley

SOUTH COAST Kate Parks Schaefer, Office Director Reed Armstrong, Project Manager Rikki Parker, Project Manager

COLUMBIA Merrill McGregor, Director of Government Relations Kenneth Sercy, Utility Regulation Specialist

GrowFood Carolina Sara Clow, General Manager Jackson Cauthen Jessica Diaz Nina Foy Benton Montgomery Alison Pierce Jake Sadler Nate Toth James Vardell

Development

Nancy Appel, Director of Development Kristy Collins, Membership & Events Manager Nora Kravec, Data Manager Shannyn Smith, Senior Development Officer

Administration

Tina Allen, Chief Financial Officer Erin Crouse, Staff Accountant Christine Gallina, Receptionist Tonnia Switzer-Smalls, HR and Administration Jeanne Snell, Bookkeeper/Office Manager

Board of Directors

Magazine Lisa Turansky & Virginia Beach, Editors Julie Frye, Design

The T. Allen Legare Bridge into downtown Charleston (see page 7).

Offices Charleston

328 East Bay Street Charleston, SC 29401 843.723.8035

Columbia

Georgetown

Beaufort

GrowFood Carolina

1202 Main Street, 3rd Floor Columbia, SC 29201 803.771.7102/803.758.5800 1212 King Street Beaufort, SC 29902 843.522.1800

709-B Front Street Georgetown, SC 29442 843.545.0403 990 Morrison Drive Charleston, SC 29403 843.727.0091

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Margot T. Rose, Chair Berryman Edwards, Vice Chair Johnston C. Adams Joel A. Berly III Ceara Donnelley P. Steven Dopp Katharine Hastie Cynthia Kellogg Deborah Kennedy Kennard Jeff Leath Pierre Manigault Jim McNab Richard Schmaltz Jeffrey Schutz Charles M. Tarver John Thompson David Westerlund Stephen Zoukis

COVER IMAGE: GrowFood mural by David Boatwright; Photograph by Dana Beach

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Anne S. Malarich

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD hen I founded the Coastal Conservation League 27 years ago, the last thing I thought I would be doing was selling vegetables. My organizational partner Jane Lareau and I envisioned strengthening zoning codes, promoting better development, restoring native forests, saving wildlife and protecting water quality.

We focused on appealing development permits and challenging new highways. We drafted and helped pass a law banning the display of captive marine mammals. We even started a program to replant urban trees lost to Hurricane Hugo.

But not once did we imagine selling watermelons or blueberries or squash.

It shows what lousy prognosticators we were.

Today, one of the Conservation League programs I’m most proud of is GrowFood Carolina. After addressing some very logical concerns by some of our board members, and armed with an unprecedentedly generous grant from the Ceres Foundation, we launched GrowFood Carolina in October 2011.

Within five years, GrowFood passed the $3 million mark in sales. Since we return 80 percent of revenues to the farmer, this means GrowFood has injected $2.4 million back into South Carolina’s farming economy since its inception. And that is just the beginning.

Our success has been an inspiration to other regions, as well as to the S.C. Department of Agriculture, with whom we worked to produce a plan called

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(l-r) Dana Beach, Jane Lareau and Marie Thrower in 1989.

“Making Small Farms Big Business.” Our goal is to provide every small and mid-size farmer in the state with easy access to South Carolina’s metropolitan markets in order to meet the burgeoning demand for fresh, locally grown food.

So far, so good; but that still doesn’t answer the basic question of why a conservation group needs a local food distribution operation. It sounded a little far-fetched then, and may still sound a little farfetched now.

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photographs by Anne S. Malarich

We spent a year exploring the following question: What is the one thing we could do that would have the greatest benefit for local farmers and encourage them to hang on to the fields and forests that define our region? The answer was to provide a distribution option for local produce, also known as a local food hub.

Stronger Zoning, Yes; but Where Do the Tomatoes Come In? Start with the proposition that our core mission is to protect rural land and wildlife habitat, and to promote good development in the right place that preserves quality of life in the Lowcountry. Toward this end, the primary strategy that comes to mind is planning and zoning, the first leg of the land conservation stool.

From the beginning, we advocated stronger rural zoning. In fact, one of our first newsletter cover articles was entitled “Current Zoning Charts Disaster for Edisto.” We worked in Charleston and Beaufort counties to draft new comprehensive plans that delineated land for growth and land for traditional rural uses. It was a novel concept, especially at a time when “agricultural zoning” in both counties allowed for three houses per acre.

Today, Charleston County has one of the strongest rural protection categories in the Southeast, limiting development to one house per 25 acres in some areas. And Beaufort now has an “urban service boundary,” curbing the extension of urban infrastructure like sewer and water lines.

Keep on Truckin’, but Remember: Roads Stimulate Sprawl We quickly realized, however, that zoning was not the sole mechanism—nor even the most important one—for rural land protection. In the 1990s, state and local governments were working to extend water lines, sewer lines, and most significantly, new highways across some of our most cherished landscapes, spawning growth in exactly the wrong places.

A case in point: the City of Charleston and Dorchester County were promoting the extension of the Glenn McConnell Parkway (which is anything but a parkway) across the historic Ashley River plantations to Summerville and to Interstate 26. (This idea lives on within the Charleston Chamber of Commerce.)

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Sometimes It Takes Money, and Lots of It The third leg came as a result of our realization that Beaufort County’s newly enacted rural zoning ordinance—one unit per three acres— was not strong enough to provide the protection necessary for the environment or for traditional uses such as farming and forestry. So we spent a summer evaluating the potential of a “Transfer of Development Rights” (TDR) program that would allow rural landowners to sell the rights to develop houses to urban developers, putting more density where it should be, and less where it shouldn’t be.

The short story is that TDR programs were too complicated to implement, at least in South Carolina. So we abandoned them for the moment (then later resurrected the TDR idea with the Bluffton Watershed Plan). Instead, we worked with Beaufort County to develop a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program, now known as the Rural and Critical Lands Program.

To date, the program has spent more than $80 million buying development rights on strategic properties in Beaufort County. Subsequently, we helped to conceive and pass the South Carolina Conservation Bank, and in Charleston County, a greenbelt program funded by the halfcent sales tax.

Thus, the third leg of the conservation stool— public funding for land protection—was born.

By 2007, the stool rested firmly on a foundation of strong rural zoning, infrastructure planning, and public land conservation funding.

In spite of the stability of a three-legged stool, we realized that this was not enough to sustain the coastal landscape for the long term. In addition to public policies and investment, there needed to be an economic rationale to maintain undeveloped rural land—the critical fourth leg to shore up the land conservation stool.

photographs by Dana Beach

In response, we worked with citizens and landowners in the area to block this ill-conceived project and embarked on a region-wide agenda to halt the construction of sprawl-inducing infrastructure. A few examples of wasteful infrastructure proposals include the extension of I-526 to Johns Island, construction of I-73 to Myrtle Beach, and a massive sewer line from Summerville to St. George.

The second leg of the land conservation stool was now in place—comprehensive infrastructure planning.

990 Morrison Drive before and after David Boatwright painted his mural masterpiece in 2011.

Within five years, GrowFood passed the $3 million mark in sales. Since we return 80 percent of revenues to the farmer, this means GrowFood has injected $2.4 million back Celebrating 5 Years! into South Carolina’s farming economy since its inception. And that is just CAROLINA the beginning.

GrowFood

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Fourth Leg of the Conservation Stool: Reviving Small-Scale Agriculture Over the course of decades, farming on the coast had declined. Fields that were once planted annually in tomatoes went fallow. Packing sheds closed and workers moved on to resort and landscaping jobs. In spite of its beauty and tradition, owning rural property in the Lowcountry made little financial sense.

Paradoxically, coastal restaurants were increasingly featuring local food. Heritage recipes required heritage vegetables. Grocery stores like Whole Foods, Harris Teeter and Earth Fare were looking for local sources of fresh produce. (Meanwhile, Piggly Wiggly already had some long-time vendors who continued to provide certain local products throughout the year.)

We spent a year exploring the following question: What is the one thing we could do that would have the greatest benefit for local farmers and encourage them to hang on to the fields and forests that define our region? The answer was to provide a distribution option for local produce, also known as a “local food hub.”

Although there was no such operation in South Carolina or Georgia, food hubs were operating in North Carolina and Virginia. States with a more progressive bent, like Vermont, were leading the nation in the local food movement, in spite of a three-month growing season compared to a ten-month season in South Carolina.

A Leap of Faith It’s important to understand the difference between the GrowFood initiative and the other legs of the stool. The first three create legal, contractual protections for rural land; or they substantially secure the economics of rural land use. Zoning requires certain land uses and prohibits others. Purchasing easements and fee interests in property ensures those particular pieces of property will not be developed. Roads are essentially guaranteed to change land uses.

On the other hand, economies and markets are complicated things. Product demands can change.

Competition from other regions, and from abroad, affects prices. Competing land uses rise and fall in value.

So GrowFood is really an act of faith—a belief, rather than a certainty—that small farmers and landowners, given the opportunity to succeed, are likely to rise to the challenge.

Today we have more than 80 farmers who sell through GrowFood. That seems to me more than

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GrowFood Carolina Advisory Board member Libby Smith and GrowFood Carolina General Manager Sara Clow.

anecdotal evidence that our leap was justified. As GrowFood General Manager Sara Clow says, “People have to eat!” So we decided that it was a bet worth making.

One more point. There is no doubt that great ideas live or die in the implementation phase. Thus, the most important part of the GrowFood puzzle was finding the right person to run it. William Cogswell, a Conservation League board member at the time, asked his sister about a former roommate from Vanderbilt named Sara Clow, who was working in the organic food industry in California. We wondered whether Sara would have any ideas about who might be interested in our new, entrepreneurial venture.

To our everlasting benefit, when William called her in California, not only did Sara have a suggested candidate for the position of GrowFood General Manager, the candidate was she! The rest, for the past five years, is history; and so far, GrowFood Carolina has exceeded our most optimistic expectations.

A I R , W A T E R & P U B L I C H E A LT H

Josh Corrigan/Ellis Creek Photography

ACCESS FOR ALL

ACROSS THE ASHLEY

by Katie Zimmerman, Air, Water & Public Health Director he Coastal Conservation League advocates for the protection of rural land and the smart development of urban areas. The benefits of preservation outside of the urban growth boundary and compact development within it include clean air, unpolluted waterways and efficient travel. Yet despite the widely acknowledged benefits of bike and pedestrian mobility projects within our city limits, it is a constant struggle to implement such access. We need look no further than the T. Allen Legare Bridge lane conversion debate as a case in point.

Drivers from West Ashley reach downtown Charleston by crossing the Legare Bridge over the Ashley River. It is a treacherous route for people on bike and foot, and can be dangerous for drivers too.

Recognizing the bridge’s safety risks, Charleston County, at the request of the City of Charleston, included a Legare Bridge lane conversion (to transform the extra fourth lane into a walking and biking lane) in the half-cent sales tax that passed in 2006. Since that time, county council has funded an unprecedented three studies to assess and confirm the feasibility of the project, including a recent test that blocked the lane to all users. Charleston City Council approved the project not once, but twice.

The second vote from the City of Charleston took place at the request of Charleston County Council Chairman Elliott Summey after the lane test. In a letter to Mayor Tecklenburg, Chairman Summey

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wrote, “. . . the Ashley River Bridge Bicycle and Pedestrian Path Project (the “Project”) is not a County of Charleston project, but a City of Charleston project . . . the county awaits direction from the city on how to proceed in light of the most recent information about the Project and requests that the city’s position be conveyed in writing to the county . . . A portion of the funds for the Project have been obligated and the county would like to determine how to utilize the funds for other purposes if the city opts not to proceed with the Project.”

The city’s second vote this summer reaffirmed its support of the lane conversion. At least 200 citizens stood or spoke in support at the council meeting. The Medical University of South Carolina, prominent technology CEOs, and state Senator Marlon Kimpson (D-Charleston) penned op-eds in support of the bike lane. It was a thrilling council meeting and an exciting and meaningful win for our community.

With the votes from the majority of Charleston City Council (twice) supporting the project and multiple feasibility studies showing that the preferred design for the project would result in less than a one-minute delay at peak travel times, Mayor Tecklenburg announced city council’s official endorsement of the bike lane and asked County Council Chairman Summey to move it forward. Since Chairman Summey’s earlier request was that the city lead the project, this action should have been the final step in implementing the lane conversion. However, county council added the project to its meeting agenda in October, where council members voted to ignore the city’s formal request, and requested that the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) again study the feasibility of the lane conversion—a move that delays any action on the project. SCDOT has 90 days to respond to county council’s request. We hope that council members will do what is right for West Ashley residents and move the lane conversion forward.

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T R E E S & T R A N S P O R TAT I O N Tom Blagden

FOR THE LOVE OF

TREES

by Kate Schaefer, South Coast Office Director, and Natalie Olson, Land Use Director & Staff Attorney

and absorb carbon dioxide, dmittedly, at one time I think that I shall never see two functions vital to human or another, we’ve been A poem lovely as a tree . . . survival. called “tree-huggers.”

Sadly, trees are in constant And at the Coastal from “Trees,” by Alfred Joyce Kilmer danger. With all of their Conservation League we conimportant functions and fess to be absolutely in love their undeniable beauty, they are unduly vulnerable with the Lowcountry’s grand and scenic trees. In to lax local and state ordinances and policies, and to fact, we go to great lengths to protect them. the vagaries of human enterprise. All too often their Whether it’s a cultural icon like the Angel Oak or preservation depends on the vigilance and advocaa maritime forest stand protecting a riverbank or cy of Lowcountry residents and the Conservation a row of trees shading a well-traveled road, trees League. provide essential services to most all other living Consider, for example, the row of live oaks along things. They are environmental and economic Folly Road in Charleston between the terminus of resources, and they contribute to our sense of place the James Island Connector and the entrance to and well-being. Healthy trees buffer incompatible Lowe’s. Conservation League staffer Jane Lareau led land uses, absorb heat, minimize erosion and retain the charge to save those trees when Folly Road was topsoil. They soak up stormwater runoff, contribute widened there in the early 2000s. Today, we continue to wildlife habitat and biodiversity, and strengthen local character and identity. And let’s not forget what working to protect trees on Johns Island, Lady’s Iswe learn in ninth grade biology: trees give off oxygen land, and along scenic highways, among other places.

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MAYBANK HIGHWAY

More than a decade ago, with local funds from Charleston County’s sales tax, the county and S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) proposed Maybank Highway improvements that resembled the five-lane highway wastelands we see on Savannah Highway and Folly Road. Unwilling to see the grand oak canopy bulldozed for a subpar traffic improvement, the Conservation League and the City of Charleston hired an urban transportation planning firm to study alternatives to conventional widening. The outcome of this study was the Pitchfork Plan and a successful campaign to stop Maybank’s widening for the time being.

The Pitchfork Plan develops a network of parallel and complementary streets along the Maybank Highway corridor on Johns Island, outlining a road network to provide options for drivers that are exponentially more effective in relieving congestion than the conventional widening model. With construction of this grid, Maybank Highway is capable of carrying current and future traffic and is of a more appropriate scale, preserving the rural character and community of greater Johns Island. The pitchfork grid also eliminates the regulatory obstacles associated with cutting down a federally protected grand oak tree canopy.

Upon further review, Charleston County determined that in addition to the two pitchfork lanes, a third lane on Maybank Highway coming on to Johns Island was necessary to relieve congestion at the existing merge at the base of the Stono River bridge. SCDOT recommended 14-foot-wide shared use lanes to “accommodate bicycles and pedestrians,” which is far wider than necessary and forces those on foot or on bikes to mix with high-speed traffic. This also means cutting down many of the grand oaks lining Maybank Highway.

Working with the City of Charleston and Charleston County to identify an off-road mixed-use path, the Conservation League developed a new design for the improvement project that provided for narrower lanes and protection of the beautiful canopy. But again, citing state guidelines for bicycle and pedestrian access, the SCDOT and the county are proceeding with the wider lane plan and are proposing removal of 15 grand trees.

Overnight, a petition to insist on the multiuse path and proper review of the grand tree removals garnered more than 1,000 signatures, with many people contacting city and county representatives directly. Local review of grand tree removals will allow for public input and greater significance placed on the venerable oaks lining the entrance to Johns Island, while the offroad multiuse path will provide safer access to those on foot and bike. We will continue to work with the

city, county and SCDOT to ensure that every effort is taken to protect these iconic tree-lined gateways to the sea islands.

BEAUFORT COUNTY

When a 40-acre clear-cut occurred in a Beaufort County residential area in early 2016, it was a wake-up call for citizens. With help from the Coastal Conservation League, activists on Lady’s Island and across Beaufort County are now successfully working with the planning commission to strengthen the existing tree ordinance, changing three key provisions: harmonizing the ordinance across jurisdictions (birds don’t know where the town boundary stops); promoting tree canopy connectivity between properties, and treating trees as community assets.

Research shows that housing developments where trees are retained experience a greater return on investment and generate a larger tax base. Shade trees over sidewalks and in parking areas create more hospitable pedestrian environments and provide a cooling canopy in our summer heat. As demonstrated in Beaufort, our zoning codes can be improved to reflect these shared values.

SCENIC ROADS

South Carolina recognizes the value of scenic roads with majestic tree canopies by means of the state scenic highway system. Plantersville Road in Georgetown County, Bohicket Road in Charleston County, and Old Sheldon Church Road in Beaufort County are three of the finest examples of scenic highways.

In 2015, Beaufort County supported efforts to relocate power lines away from scenic Sheldon Church Road to maintain the integrity of its tree canopy, noting, “Old Sheldon Church is one of the most beautiful roads in South Carolina.” This effort is part of a long-term scenic corridor plan written for each scenic byway.

A recent court case (County of Charleston vs. S.C. Department of Transportation) challenged a local government’s authority to protect these canopy roads.

SCDOT believes that they should be able to act outside of local ordinances to widen or maintain roads. We disagree, especially when it comes to protecting tree canopies on county assets, such as state scenic highways. Many residents and visitors alike experience the beauty of coastal South Carolina from behind bicycle handlebars or a car windshield. These canopy roads are important to protect because they enhance our quality of life and coastal identity. This year in the S.C. General Assembly, we will work to ensure that Department of Transportation policies do not infringe on local rights to protect trees along scenic roads.

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GROWFOOD CAROLINA

It is difficult to believe that it has been five years since my first summer in the sweltering heat of the GrowFood Carolina warehouse; that is, until I look at all we have accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Our growth has surpassed early projections, not only in volume and dollars, but also in product diversity and farmer participation.

On September 29, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the opening of GrowFood Carolina, the first local food hub in South Carolina and one of the first of its kind in the Southeast. Since opening day—with just a few items from only three farmers—GrowFood has evolved into the “go-to” source for fresh local food in the Charleston region, now offering more than 350 items from more than 80 producers throughout the year.

In 2012, our two full-time employees were excited when a couple of pallets were full in the cooler. Today after tripling our cold storage capacity, the GrowFood nine-person team struggles to find space for our curby Sara Clow, rent inventory—a great problem to have.

GrowFood Carolina GrowFood has a much larger offering of products than ever before.

General Manager Each product on the “Availability Calendar” represents the culmination of carefully timed planning, harvesting and communication, and specific conditions related to land, soil, farmer, water, weather, seeds, A Vision for Local Food boxes, trucks, roads, coolers, sales calls and deliveries. Producing a Aggregation Points and Hubs tomato is not a simple undertaking. Selling it at peak ripeness is even more challenging. Think about it the GREENVILLE/ next time you enjoy a tomato sandwich (and we SPARTANBURG recommend you do so often).

Building a consistent and diverse supply of local food is the key to long-term success in the sustainable agriculFLORENCE ture arena. We work toward this end by harmonizing every step in the production process (farming) with current and anticipated conCOLUMBIA sumer demand (eating). Farmers and fresh food connoisseurs reap GEORGETOWN the rewards. Customers keep coming back.

We love what we do at GrowFood Carolina and will continue to do the CHARLESTON work for decades to come. In the next five years, we will also expand our work in three additional areas: supporting a statewide local food network; providing more BEAUFORT targeted support to our farmers, and diversifying product offerings.

YEARS

And Still Growing

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Christopher Shane

GrowFood Carolina staffers (l-r) Benton Montgomery, Sara Clow, Nate Toth, Jessica Diaz, Alison Pierce, Jackson Cauthen and Jake Sadler.

the necessary food safety certifications needed to have access to all available markets. This training and support is a crucial component of stabilizing these farms so they can continue to grow and prosper.

It Takes a State

When we opened in 2011, we sourced produce from within a 120-mile radius of the GrowFood Carolina warehouse. In 2014, we increased that radius to 150 miles, and late in 2015, we expanded our More Food, Better Business supply to include the entire state of When GrowFood opened, we focused South Carolina. The larger supply marketing, selling and distributing area enables us to take advantage of Celebrating 5 Years! on fruits and vegetables only, all while esproducts from different altitudes, tablishing our customer base, systems latitudes and soils, thereby increasand team. Since that time we have been ing the availability of items that introducing other products, such as grow more easily elsewhere, as well CAROLINA nuts, small grains, dairy, eggs, salt and as the availability of seasonal items. honey—items that work within our now To support a larger pool of farmwell established system. ers in more remote locations in South Carolina, we need Diversifying our product offerings has helped us meet better infrastructure—more points of aggregation, more our bottom line and attract new customers. We plan to locally focused distributors, and more food hubs. To this end, we are supporting the launch of three new food continue to diversify our product line in the next five years. Increasing grains, processed fruits and vegetahubs in Greenville, Marion and Catawba—all slated to bles, and possibly meat will demand more infrastrucopen by the end of 2017. A statewide food hub system ture; but the rewards of including these additional items will increase GrowFood’s capacity to support a greater number of farmers and will lead to more consistent and will pay off in customer loyalty and financial returns. diverse offerings in our region.

GrowFood

Here for Good

Farmers Need Our Help

A number of issues remain for our farmers. Each farmer must have a tailored plan to maximize their productivity; there’s no single blueprint for success.

This requires significant training, time and individual support. Secondly, small and mid-size diversified farmers are constantly struggling to keep up with regulatory requirements and technical training.

A specific challenge is a new food safety law that makes it more difficult for small farmers to access vital retail and institutional customers. We work to provide educational resources to farmers so that they can obtain

Local food is not a trend. It’s a necessity for a healthy community and a secure food supply. Since the early 2000s, the United States has increasingly become a majority importer of fresh fruits and vegetables. Government policies, labor shortages, soil erosion, drought, seed integrity, and land and food prices are making it more difficult for local farmers to continue farming.

GrowFood Carolina, along with hundreds of food hubs around the country, is working to remove these barriers to keep our farmers farming, our land productive and healthy, and our food fresh and local. Here’s to the next five years!

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2016 annual crop calendar 843.727.0091

January Green Cabbage Citrus Fennel Ginger Collards Kale Spinach Tatsoi Head Lettuce Baby Lettuce Oyster Mushrooms Sweet Potatoes Radish Rutabaga Sunchokes Turmeric Turnips

february

march Green Garlic Kale Tatsoi Head Lettuce Baby Lettuce Oyster Mushrooms Spring Onions Pea Tendrils Sweet Potatoes Radish Rutabaga Sunchokes Turnips

Green Cabbage Citrus Ginger Collards Kale Tatsoi Head Lettuce Baby Lettuce Oyster Mushrooms Pea Tendrils Sweet Potatoes Radish Rutabaga Sunchokes Turmeric Turnips

orders@growfoodcarolina.com

april Asparagus Beets Bok Choy Broccoli Napa Cabbage Carrots Green Garlic Arugula Braising Mix Swiss Chard Kale Mizuna Mustard Greens Spinach Tatsoi Baby Lettuce Oyster Mushrooms Spring Onions Pea Tendrils Sugar Snap Peas Sweet Potatoes Radish Strawberries Turnips

able l i a v es a ems to k a d m ocal it o o F Grow 0 fresh, l ilers and a 35 et r r , e ed s v t n o n u a t r y u resta erias. Sta ! cafet for 2017

May

june

Beets Bok Choy Broccoli Green Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Cucumbers Green Garlic Arugula Braising Mix Swiss Chard Kale Mizuna Mustard Greens Spinach Tatsoi Kohlrabi Root Baby Lettuce Chanterelle Mushrooms Oyster Mushrooms Spring Onions Sugar Snap Peas New Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Radish Baby Summer Squash Squash + Zucchini Strawberries Turnips

Snap Beans Blackberries Blueberries Green Cabbage Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Arugula Swiss Chard Melons Chanterelle Mushrooms Oyster Mushrooms Nectarines Okra Peaches Peppers New Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Baby Summer Squash Squash + Zucchini Tomatillos Tomatoes

year round products Cheese GrowFood Carolina 5th Anniversary Celebration Dairy

Pantry - Non-GMO/Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Anson Mills Products, Charleston Gold Rice Products, Non-GMO Cornmeal, Non-GMO Stone Ground Grits, Field Peas, Pecans, Bulls Bay Sea Salt

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- Chèvre, Clemson Blue Cheese, Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse Products

- Buttermilk, Whole Milk, Crème Fraiche + Greek Yogurt

Hydroponics - Bibb Lettuce, Tomatoes

Eggs - Non-GMO Fed Chicken (L + XL), Quail

Microgreens + Edible Flowers - Seasonal varieties

Freezer - Blueberries + Butter Beans

photographs by Henry Steenken C O A S T A L C O N S E R VA T I O N L E A G U E | W I N T E R 2 0 1 6

NORTH COAST

I-73: Horry County’s Bad Idea Dana Beach

by Lisa Turansky, Chief Conservation Officer

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73 95

74

Fayetteville

Rockingham 40 74

38

73

Lumberton

Proposed New Interstate 73

95

Dillon 76

Marion 9

Florence Lake City 52

501 378

Alternate Route Along Existing Hwy. 38/501

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22

Conway

Little R. Inlet

Myrtle Beach

Atlantic Ocean

Gill Guerry

20

Wilmington

74

76

H A T N R I O L N RO A C

hat do you get if you triple the cost of the failed I-526 extension, quadruple the wetland destruction impacts, and move it to Myrtle Beach? Another bad idea, this time in the form of Interstate 73, a $2.4-billion, 75-mile highway project that would extend from North Carolina to Myrtle Beach, filling 324 acres of wetlands in its wake.

Promoted by a handful of personally invested partners and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the I-73 project is designed to get tourists to the beach faster—with a price tag the state cannot afford. In 2005, when the cost estimate for building the new interstate was $2.4 billion, it made little sense. With an estimated $1.5 billion annual shortfall for the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to maintain existing infrastructure, it is an even worse idea today. Adding I-73 to its “to-do” list would set SCDOT back by more than $130 million in maintenance costs alone.

I-73 is not a realistic project even if the funding did exist, which it doesn’t and won’t for a long time.

However, there is a way to accomplish the goal of moving beach-seeking tourists—and locals, for that matter—from the N.C. border to our coast without breaking the bank or devastating the landscape.

Upgrading the existing Highway 38/501 corridor, a stretch that almost parallels the planned route for I-73, is half the cost and results in significantly fewer environmental impacts. Moreover, according to a 2014 third-party economic analysis of I-73 alternatives, the Highway 38/501 alternative would deliver economic and transportation benefits similar to those promoted by I-73 advocates.

SCDOT has failed to adequately explore this practical alternative and in September, submitted a revised permit application to the Army Corps of

Engineers, offering a new mitigation package for the 324 acres of wetland fill associated with I-73.

In partnership with the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Conservation League is actively opposing the mitigation plan until SCDOT can adequately demonstrate that I-73 is a better option than upgrading 38/501. We launched a petition to organize opposition against the unneeded $2.4 billion interstate, likely to be funded by taxpayers without consideration of a more sensible cost-effective alternative. To date, more than 1,200 people have signed the petition.

As we await the Corps’ decision, the Conservation League continues to oppose construction of I-73 in favor of the common-sense alternative of upgrading Highway 38/501.

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, A WTAETRE R A LT A IA RI, RW & & P UPBULBI L CI C H EHAELT H H

Preventing Plastic Pollution...

ONE BAG AT A TIME

by Katie Zimmerman, Air, Water & Public Health Director

D “By a vote of 114 to zero, Senate Bill 139—I believe the most asked about bill on the calendar—receives second reading,” statedPete the Pelican, a sculpture created by students from plastic House Speaker Jay Lucas marine debris, resides at Shem on June 1, following theCreek Park in Mount Pleasant. key vote to pass legislation providing the strongest protections for state beaches in more than a decade. In establishing a permanent line on the coast—a “baseline”— seaward of which development cannot occur, the South Carolina Legislature acted to protect taxpayers and the environment from unsafe development in hazard-prone areas.

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Josh Corrigan/Ellis Creek Photography

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espite decades of campaigns aimed at limiting the problem of litter, especially in the form of plastic pollution, it continues to be a major environmental concern. Plastic debris threatens water quality, human health and wildlife, and creates unsightly roads and waterways. In response, the Coastal Conservation League is working with partners on several initiatives designed to reduce plastic pollution in coastal South Carolina. One that has gained momentum and recognition recently is the campaign to reduce single-use plastic bags.

Marine debris, and specifically plastic pollution, is a global problem, with enormous garbage patches now present in every major ocean. Marine life across the spectrum—from microscopic organisms at the base of the food chain, to pelagic birds like albatrosses, to dolphins and whales—are ingesting our toxic garbage.

Recent studies in Charleston waters reveal the presence of microfibers in a variety of marine life, including oysters, one of Charleston’s signature seafoods. It is estimated that seven and a half tons of microplastics are currently in Charleston Harbor and our marine mammals appear to be ingesting them. What is still being researched is exactly how microplastics affect human health as they move through the food chain.

Although scientists are still working to discover unknown sources of toxins in the waterways, one known and local culprit is the single-use plastic bag (the types of bags you receive at your local grocery, pharmacy, home improvement

South Carolina Aquarium

When plastic bags break down in water, they absorb and amplify toxic chemicals, posing a threat to every creature that consumes them.

store and nearly everywhere, unless you bring your own reusable bags). They pollute waterways, strangle marine species, and break down into tiny fragments of plastic that infiltrate our waterways and work through food webs, including the diets of humans. When these bags break down in water, they absorb and amplify toxic chemicals, posing a threat to every creature that consumes them. If inappropriately recycled, single-use plastic bags also destroy machinery at municipal recycling facilities and degrade municipal compost.

Reusing and recycling these bags does not keep them out of our waterways. Thus, replacing them with reusable bags is an easy and better fix, especially considering what is at risk. For this reason, the Conservation League, in partnership with citizens and other nonprofits, is leading local campaigns to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. The City of Isle of Palms, for example, succeeded in passing the first municipal-wide ban on single-use plastic bags at point of sale in the state, and we are building on that momentum to give other local governments the tools they need to address plastic pollution.

In the City of Folly Beach, the Conservation League interviewed business owners about the impacts of a possible single-use plastic bag ban. The Folly Association of Businesses and Folly City Council members took on the cause, and recently unanimously passed first and second readings of an ordinance not only

banning single-use plastic bags at point of sale, but also polystyrene (Styrofoam) coolers, polystyrene to-go containers, and polystyrene cups. Taking it two steps further, Folly Beach passed unanimous first and second readings of a ban on bringing single-use plastic bags, polystyrene containers, and balloons onto the beach itself. The Conservation League and partners proudly spoke in support at every hearing, correcting false claims from industry representatives and providing information to elected officials.

Currently underway is a business and constituent survey for the Charleston-Berkeley-Dorchester tricounty area to determine how our community views plastic bag minimization, particularly in the Town of Mount Pleasant and the City of Charleston.

Meanwhile at the State House, the Conservation League anticipated the plastics lobby would attempt a state-level prohibition of plastic bag bans as soon as Isle of Palms passed its ordinance. This tactic is one that the plastics lobby and the American Legislative Exchange Council have attempted in several other states, with some success. When H.4793, a bill prohibiting local plastic bag bans, was proposed, we were ready to fight it. After a couple of false starts on subcommittee agendas, H.4793 died this past legislative session. We are prepared with our partners and local activists to fight another bill when it is proposed in the upcoming 2017-2018Â session.

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2017 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW

by Merrill McGregor, Government Relations Director

he 122nd session of the South Carolina General Assembly—the first year of a two-year session—will begin January 10 and run through June 1. Bills and resolutions prior to this session will be removed from the calendar and the legislature will start anew. The bills that our legislative team successfully defeated in 2016 are likely to return for a new round of debates, including harmful attempts to roll back regulatory environmental protections and diminish citizen rights and input.

The Coastal Conservation League is working with our conservation partners to anticipate and thwart attempts to change the Automatic Stay, remove DHEC Board Review of permit appeals, and ban local governments’ abilities to regulate certain types of waste.

These and many other assaults on the public trust threaten basic protections of our environment and communities.

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Coastal Protections After successfully passing the shoreline protection bill into law this year, the Conservation League and its allies will ensure that the permanent baseline—which will be delineated one more time—is completely redrawn and set by next year’s deadline. We also fought off the ill-conceived proposal to remove most of Dorchester County from the coastal zone; but a budget proviso still requires DHEC to study whether the coastal zone should be reassessed.

We will keep a close eye on the study and its findings and continue to defend South Carolina’s coastal zone from any proposals that threaten its fragile ecosystems and cherished communities.

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ROADS AND TRANSIT We are building on our success from last session to strengthen provisions adopted in the 2016 “Roads Bill,” ensuring that the project selection process, administered by the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank (STIB), is guided by performance-based criteria. We will continue to support a “fix it first” approach that emphasizes highway and bridge repairs and maintenance, instead of the construction of new roads.

In the year ahead, the Conservation League will also support measures to promote integrated land use and transportation planning, transit funding, and efforts to encourage local governments to pursue “complete streets” policies on all roads.

We will also work to enhance multimodal planning to connect personal vehicles, trucks, transit, bicycles, pedestrian, rail and air into a fully integrated system. This holistic approach will benefit both rural and urban communities, reduce traffic

demands and improve quality of life. In addition, it will reduce environmental impacts by locating and designing transportation facilities to provide much needed connectivity between private businesses, residences and public services.

We will also support increased state spending on public transit, funding for which has not risen in 30 years.

Seek Out Your Lawmaker

GET INVOLVED!

Dana Beach

For more than two decades, the Coastal Conservation League has maintained a strong presence at the State House, successfully defending the public trust and the unique quality of life we enjoy; but we need each and every voice—your voice—to be truly be successful. You have a right to a clean, safe and healthy environment in South Carolina. Let your elected officials know you are paying attention to the decisions that impact our natural resources and heritage. Here are a few easy ways to get involved and make a big difference:

Citizen advocates are incredibly important in the legislative process because legislators are elected to serve their communities and constituents—namely you! Find out who represents you at coastalconservationleague.org/statehouse, then contact and educate your representatives on the issues that matter most to you and your family.

Sign up for Conservation League Action Alerts

Throughout the legislative session, the Conservation League lobby team sends out email alerts when there are important upcoming votes and when we need your help contacting legislators.

We also periodically update members and supporters to notify them of conservation victories and the status of pending legislation. Sign up at coastalconservationleague.org.

Olim Carolina Photography

Join Us in Columbia

2016 Conservation Coalition Lobby Day at the State House.

Each year the Conservation Coalition and the Coastal Conservation League host an annual Lobby Day for members of our community who want to join our staff for a day at the State House for inperson legislative office visits and conversations with legislators. We look forward to this exciting day each session when the conservation community speaks to the General Assembly with a united voice. Contact Merrill McGregor at merrillm@ scccl.org to learn more.

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ENERGY

SHRINKING ELECTRIC BILLS

istockphoto.com

by Kenneth Sercy, Utility Regulation Specialist ver the past decade, the Coastal Conservation League has advocated for policies and investments aimed at reducing energy waste.

By tightening up residential and commercial buildings, and helping industrial facilities maximize productivity by reducing energy expenditures, South Carolina can save money while creating jobs and minimizing pollution from energy use.

Utility administered energy efficiency programs are important tools for promoting efficiency across the state. Thanks to the Conservation League, the S.C. General Assembly enacted legislation that allows utilities to offer programs to customers aimed at saving energy. The utilities are then able to recover the costs of the programs, plus a reasonable profit, similar to cost recovery for building a power plant or power lines. Utilities like SCE&G have taken advantage of this legislation and have successfully rolled out an array of efficiency programs targeted at residential customers, small businesses, manufacturing facilities, low-income communities, and other customer groups. These programs have worked well and have cost SCE&G two to three cents per kWh, cheaper than building new power infrastructure and burning fossil fuels.

With the launch and success of utility efficiency programs over the past five years, it’s time to take these programs to the next level. Ramping up efficiency efforts is especially important in the face of ever escalating utility bills.

For SCE&G customers, utility bills may be growing even larger than previously expected with the utility’s recent request for S.C. Public Service Commission approval to spend an additional $850 million to complete the new nuclear units that it co-owns with state utility Santee Cooper—escalating the total project cost to above $14 billion. SCE&G’s residential and small business customers have seen their electric bills increase rapidly since nuclear plant construction began in 2009—a trend that will continue through the project’s completion, currently targeted for 2020.

General system maintenance has also pushed costs up during this time.

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Virtually every existing home and apartment, and even many new homes, offer possibilities of saving energy through measures like lighting upgrades, improved insulation, duct sealing, efficient appliances and devices, and other improvements.

With rapidly growing electric bills, SCE&G customers are looking for options. However, electric service is provided by state-granted monopolies in South Carolina, so switching to a different provider is not an option. Energy efficiency is a relief valve that could be available to all families and businesses. Virtually every existing home and apartment, and even many new homes, offer possibilities of saving energy through measures like lighting upgrades, improved insulation, duct sealing, efficient appliances and devices, and other improvements. These same types of opportunities exist for commercial buildings and equipment.

Investment in customer efficiency programs should be expanded so that every SCE&G customer has the option to save on their electric bill, while at the same time helping the utility tap this low-cost resource. The Conservation League is participating in an intervention with the Public Service Commission over SCE&G’s nuclear cost increase to highlight this opportunity and advocate for efficiency to play a greater role in SCE&G’s operations moving forward.

Utility efficiency programs can and should be expanded across South Carolina, which would not only save money, but also help protect the environment and boost local economies.

SOLAR FARM APPROVED FOR JASPER COUNTY

by Kate Schaefer, South Coast Office Director asper County, known for its beautiful pine stands, good soil and abundant vegetable production, is harvesting a new type of crop: solar energy. This form of energy generation is without the toxic and unpleasant byproducts from “dirty” fuel sources, such as the coal ash stored by SCE&G in nearby Colleton County. South Carolina has an abundance of land suitable for solar farm development, resulting in increased tax revenues for local communities, enhanced income streams for rural property owners, and a clean alternative to more polluting forms of energy.

As the cost of electricity in our state has continued to increase, solar prices have dropped significantly, making this renewable energy option competitive with more traditional power generation such as nuclear and natural gas. For all of these reasons, the Coastal Conservation League supports Jasper County in working with their new solar investors, Moffett Solar.

Over the past year and after a thoughtful review of local zoning regulations and site selection, the Conservation League worked with Moffett Solar, Jasper County Council, the Jasper Planning Commission, and county staff to establish a “solar farm floating overlay zone,” which enables construction of large solar panels if a given property meets important environmental conditions. The first project, constructed

by Moffett Solar, consists of two 75-megawatt solar farms on 1,500 acres.

On the new Jasper site, wetlands will be permanently protected, and almost 1,000 upland acres will have solar panels that rotate with the sun, providing energy directly into the SCE&G, and possibly Santee Cooper, electric grids.

The “solar floating overlay zone” in Jasper County establishes a planning mechanism to encourage solar farm development in an environmentally sensitive and site-specific context. The overlay district has an appropriate baseline set of conditions, including buffers, setbacks, transmission line proximity and decommissioning. Through the public review process, the planning commission and county council can match the conditions with the site and make additional, lo-

Moffett Solar

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calized suggestions if needed. For example, the size of a solar farm can be tailored to fit the characteristics of a particular piece of property, thus allowing for proper consideration and avoidance of sensitive wildlife habitat, native forests and wetlands. These are all important factors to consider when weighing the positives of clean energy against the potential negatives of habitat conversion or woodland loss.

Additional large-scale solar farms similar to the Jasper project show great promise, complementing the smaller scale installations now possible under the landmark solar bill (Act 236) of 2014 that the Conservation League spearheaded. Utilities have an opportunity to source power from these facilities to help meet local demand, reduce pollution and save on fuel costs.

Across the state, there is plenty of room for solar farms to grow. In fact, if South Carolina were to meet 20 percent of our power needs with solar, up from just a fraction of 1 percent currently, it would require only 0.39 percent of the state’s land area. With wise local zoning policies and site selection, large-scale solar can play a major role in South Carolina’s transition to clean energy, while maintaining traditional land uses and protection of native landscapes and wildlife. We would like to thank Jasper County for their leadership in expanding renewable energy in South Carolina.

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PA R T N E R S

CELEBRATING A LONG & SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP:

The Coastal Conservation League and Southern Environmental Law Center

How We Use the Law

by Chris DeScherer and Blan Holman, Managing Attorneys of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Charleston Office

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he Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

As we reflect on what factors have led to success over the years—and which will be crucial in meeting the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead—one thing really stands out: strong partnerships.

SELC works closely with hundreds of groups throughout six southeastern states, bringing our law and policy expertise and region-wide perspective to the table. The gold standard of effective collaboration is our longstanding alliance and partnership with the Coastal Conservation League.

Since the Conservation League opened its doors in 1989, our two organizations have worked shoulder to shoulder to defend the Lowcountry’s natural riches and community character. Our complementary skills—matching SELC’s legal and policy horsepower with the Conservation League’s expertise and capacity to spur public and political engagement—have produced a long string of positive outcomes, from locking in protections for wetlands and waterways to speeding South Carolina’s transition to clean and renewable energy sources.

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Robert Llewellyn

Consider our joint effort two decades ago to save Sandy Island, the 12,000-acre natural and cultural treasure between the Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers.

Representing the Conservation League, SELC’s legal team brought to light that a bridge proposed for a purported logging operation on the island was really to serve a sprawling resort development. Thanks to this discovery, combined with the longstanding relationships and skillful land protection negotiations on the part of the Conservation League and The Nature Conservancy, the bridge and development were stopped, Sandy Island’s cypress and longleaf pine forests are protected in perpetuity, and the island’s Gullah community remains healthy and intact.

The Southern Environmental Law Center opened an office in Charleston in 2007 to enhance our local presence and impact, having previously served the Palmetto State out of our Chapel Hill and Charlottesville offices. We now have four attorneys in Charleston dedicated to our work in South Carolina and to bringing SELC’s regional strategy and resources to the service of our state. Since then, our docket of joint projects with the Conservation League continues to be high-impact and far-reaching.

Alice Keeney

Our challenge to permits for a State Ports Authority container terminal in North Charleston yielded a compromise that pushes the port to use rail to move containers from the dock, sharply reducing truck trips, diesel emissions and traffic on Interstate 26.

Years of litigation and months of mediation led to an agreement by the Army Corps of Engineers to conserve freshwater wetlands and restore long damaged sections of the Savannah River to offset the impacts of deepening 38 miles of the river’s shipping channel.

A federal court victory in 2013 halted an unlawful attempt to fast-track a new, expanded cruise ship terminal in Charleston’s historic downtown without public review. We are now building the case for alternative terminal locations—like Veterans Terminal in North Charleston—that would avoid adding thousands of vehicles to already gridlocked streets, and options like onshore power to reduce diesel soot pollution from vessels in port.

The Conservation League, SELC and concerned communities up and down the coast shared a monumental victory in March, when the federal government announced it will exclude South Carolina and three other South Atlantic states from its five-year oil and gas leasing plan. The result reflects the power of combining SELC’s regional strategies with the longstanding, on-the-ground presence of our coastal partners, especially the Conservation League, galvanizing every municipality on the coast to go on record officially opposing offshore drilling and exploration.

SELC and the Conservation League are making a global impact by advancing clean energy. We partnered in 2008 to lead a public and legal campaign to stop a new, carbon belching coal plant proposed for a site on the Pee Dee River, and our ongoing regulatory work saved thousands of gigawatt hours of electricity by boosting energy efficiency programs in the Carolinas. A landmark solar law we championed together in 2014, followed by settlements we reached in 2015, will bring several hundred megawatts of solar online in the next few years. These results are curbing the Palmetto State’s outsized contribution to climate change and the associated rises in sea level that already threaten Charleston and other coastal communities.

(l-r) SELC attorneys headquartered in Charleston: Blan Holman, Catherine Wannamaker and Chris DeScherer.

On behalf of the Conservation League and other partners, SELC filed suit to halt pollution from Santee Cooper’s coal ash pits on the Waccamaw River in Conway. The resulting settlement was a groundbreaking achievement: the state-owned utility agreed to clean up this site and committed to remove coal ash from all the unlined lagoons in its system. As a result of this settlement, combined with successful legal efforts against other major utilities in South Carolina, some 20 million tons of toxic coal ash will be emptied from unlined dumps that are polluting waterways across the state. Santee Cooper has now removed almost half the coal ash along the Waccamaw, and arsenic levels in groundwater at the site have dropped by as much as 90 percent.

Our adversaries are not taking these results lying down. Rather than proactively seeking ways to comply with the letter and spirit of the laws that protect our environment, they have sought to strip citizens of their rights to enforce these protections. SELC is proud to work with the Conservation League’s skilled team in Columbia to counter the barrage of bills that emerges every January targeting the ability of citizens to defend resources vital to our health and well-being. With looming challenges facing the region, such as transportation and climate change, the threats to the South Carolina coast have never been greater. Through the partnership between SELC and the Conservation League, we will continue to use the power of the law to protect what we all cherish about the Lowcountry.

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C O N S E R VA T I O N L E G A C Y

THE GILDEA FOUNDATION:

A MULTI-GENERATION COMMITMENT TO PHILANTHROPY Article and Interview by Shannyn Smith, Senior Development Officer

he Gildea Foundation has been a generous funder of the Coastal Conservation League for many years, with the first grant made in April 2000. Since then, the Gildea family has awarded the Conservation League, including GrowFood Carolina, more than $100,000 in grants. As the Conservation League’s Senior Development Officer and grant writer, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Trevor Gildea and his family for the past few years. Through the foundation, the family has practiced a unique and inspiring approach to multi-generational philanthropy.

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Trevor and his father, Brian Gildea, shared a bit more about the Gildea Foundation in an interview before their annual meeting on Isle of Palms this fall.

Tell me about the history of your family’s foundation.

The Gildea Foundation was founded in 1965 by Ray Y. Gildea, Jr., a geographer who defined his chosen field as “man and the land.” Initially, the foundation issued scholarships to the Soil Conservation Society of America and the National Council of Geographic Education. In the 1980s, Ray’s wife, Trudy, and their four children joined the foundation board. Their diverse interests led to the funding of a broader range of education and conservation organizations. In the last five years, the third generation, referred to as “the cousins,” joined the board and brought new perspectives to our “man and the land” mission by funding animal, art, social, conservation and education initiatives.

With ten family members currently serving on the board, living all around the country, how do you conduct Gildea Foundation meetings and collaborate to decide which grants to award?

Trudy and the second generation comprised of Ray, Patti and Brian, along with the six cousins, meet monthly via “work sessions” over the phone; but we have spring and fall meetings each year for approving

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projects and electing officers. There are so many great causes led by inspiring groups, and it is challenging to take in ten different perspectives. We make a strong effort to balance the individual interests of the board each year and encourage each other to seek out organizations who push society forward in compelling ways.

What are some of the organizations that the Gildea Foundation has supported over the years?

We have given to more than one hundred different organizations all over the world since 1965. In addition to the Conservation League and GrowFood Carolina in the Lowcountry, you’ll recognize the South Carolina Aquarium, Palmetto Project, Charleston Friends of the Library, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Fresh Future Farm, Sweetgrass Garden, and the Children’s Garden Project among our list of grantees.

What inspired your family to first support the Conservation League, and why do you continue to give generously?

Brian: I developed a relationship with Dana Beach after I left the S.C. State Ports Authority in 1999. The following year, the Gildea Foundation awarded its first grant to the Conservation League to support opposition to the port development on Daniel Island. For me, the original draw to the Conservation League was Dana’s willingness to have the tough conversations and take on the tough fights, locally or all the way to our state legislature. He believes that man and the land can coexist in mind and in the law.

Trevor: Fast forward several years and donations later, I joined the board and have fostered the relationship with the Conservation League since 2013. GrowFood Carolina’s work and real success supporting farmers and building a local food system to facilitate the conservation of rural lands have drawn much of our attention in recent years.

The Gildea family: (top row, l-r) Ray, Trevor, Emily, Wim, Dorothy, Brian, Patrick and Christina; (bottom row, l-r) Ryan, Liz, Daemon, Trudy and Patti.

When you think about the future of the Lowcountry, what are your concerns? What are your hopes?

With the exceptional rate of growth in the area, it’s transportation. We hope that our region’s leaders, planners and residents can look to mature European cities for inspiration on efficient people moving.

In your opinion, what do you think is the most important work the Coastal Conservation League is doing?

No doubt, it is the protection of land. Land is our foundation. The Conservation League’s Land and Community program encompasses many important projects for which we have true concerns—from Capt.

Sams Spit to Cainhoy Plantation to zoning that protects Dorchester County’s wetlands and keeps Johns Island bucolic. Dana’s weekly emails do a great job of keeping us informed. They are an invaluable summation and quite an entertaining way to keep up with important things going on in our region.

What do you hope the Conservation League will achieve in the near future?

We hope to see GrowFood Carolina continue to expand, adding more farms, warehouse space, restaurants, retailers and informed consumers. There is a food metamorphosis occurring around the country, and we are thrilled to see GrowFood in the midst of this philosophic and infrastructure evolution. We are very proud to support it.

What impact has this multi-generational family philanthropy had on you?

Brian: Multi-generational family philanthropy forces you to work with family members more closely and be more tolerant of others’ opinions and ways.

Trevor: Family philanthropy has given the younger generation of Gildea cousins a deeper appreciation for helping our world. Our time here is finite, but the passing of values taught by those older and wiser than ourselves is humbling, profound and reaches well beyond us. Another impact is trust. We have learned both to trust fellow board members to find quality organizations and trust those organizations to efficiently achieve their missions.

Of what contribution or achievement are you most proud?

Brian: Speaking for my mom and siblings, our pride rests in the dedicated and engaged participation of the younger family members, resulting in three generations of Gildeas contributing to philanthropy for the last fifty years.

Trevor: My cousins and I are most proud when our contributions help organizations help themselves. A good example is GrowFood. Since opening, it’s been GrowFood’s goal to achieve sales numbers that will cover operation costs. Gildea funds have helped enable GrowFood to both increase revenue and expand its scope. We are proud of their increased ownership and responsibility each year.

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OUT & ABOUT IN HOUSE

photographs by Dana Beach

Up, Up and Away

To raise awareness of critical Lowcountry nesting habitat protection, the Conservation League launched the Crab Bank Pelicam this year and celebrated its success with more than forty guests on a fourth Coastal Expeditions excursion to the storied yet fragile sandbar, just in time to see some fledglings attempting their first flights.

Coastal Stewardship Awards

Dana Beach (pictured above at right) presents the first annual Coastal Steward of the Year award to Rep. Bill Herbkersman (R-Beaufort) at the Columbia Museum. Rep. Herbkersman and fellow House members Kirkman Finlay, Peter McCoy and James Smith, along with Senators Chip Campsen, John Courson and Marlon Kimpson, and advocates Michael Kapp and Wendy Kulick, were honored for helping pass into law this year the strongest shoreline protections for South Carolina in more than two decades.

(Thank you to J Henry Fair Photography for generously allowing a photograph from the Eyes on the Edge exhibit to be used for this award.)

Conservation League Staff Visits Portland

Janie Lackman

Fripp Island Turtle Patrol

The Conservation League thanks the Fripp Island Turtle Patrol for their years of activism and for their recent donation to our local work. The Fripp Island Turtle Patrol hosts a 5K and Fun Run each July to benefit organizations that support turtle and marine conservation. Thanks again, Fripp! We’ll see you next year with our running shoes!

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Conservation League staff members (l-r) Natalie Olson, Katie Zimmerman, Kate Schaefer and Jason Crowley recently attended a two-day symposium, “New Thinking for a New Era: Symposium on Transportation Investment Decision Making,” in Portland, Oregon. Hosted by the Urban Sustainability Accelerator program through Portland State University, the event was designed to help participants understand how transportation investments can combine cost effectiveness with environmental protection, social justice and economic development.

OUT & ABOUT

photographs by Henry Steenken

GrowFood Celebrates 5th Anniversary

(l-r) Brys Stephens, Katharine Hastie, Lucille Cogswell and Lydia Applegate.

(l-r) Catherine Rogers, Carol Ervin and Kathryn Bender .

(l-r) William Cogswell, Wendy Dopp, Virginia Beach, Steve Zoukis and Rick Reed.

(l-r) Winslow Hastie, Heather Wilson and Zoe Stephens.

photographs by Jane Sigmon

All About ’Shrooms

(l-r) Mike McShane, Sara Clow, Gigi McShane, Steve Gavel and David Wise.

GrowFood staffers James Vardell (far left) and Jake Sadler (far right) flank Elizabeth and Jamie Vardell at the third annual mushroom gathering at GrowFood Carolina.

The Conservation League worked with Tradd Cotter (pictured above) of Mushroom Mountain to create a program making it safe and legal for certified foragers to sell wild foraged mushrooms in South Carolina. In concert with the Native Plant Society, the Conservation League hosted a lecture by Tradd at the Citadel (prior to the mushroom gathering at the GrowFood warehouse) about the power of fungi as natural agents of destruction and creation.

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IN HOUSE

THANK YOU, RETIRING BOARD MEMBERS Jeffrey Schutz and Berryman Edwards will complete their service on the Board of Directors of the Coastal Conservation League at the end of 2016.

Jeffrey Schutz joined the board in late 2006 and has been the chair of the GrowFood Carolina Advisory Board since its founding in 2011, a position he will continue to hold. Jeffrey has volunteered countless Jeffrey Schutz hours to support the birth and growth of GrowFood Carolina, and has also served on the Coastal Conservation League’s finance and investment committees. Jeffrey currently serves as a managing director of Centennial Ventures, a Denver based venture capital firm, and has homes in Charleston and Montana.

Berryman Edwards joined the Coastal Conservation League board in late 2008, and has been a valued representative from Hilton Head Island.

Berry has provided tremendous expertise in financial management, serving as chair of the finance committee, as board treasurer, and most recently as board vice chair. He Berry Edwards is founder and retired President of The Greenery, Inc., a landscaping company based on Hilton Head that he and his wife, Ruthie, founded in 1973. The Greenery began as a small family owned business; today it is an employee owned corporation working in both South Carolina and Georgia.

We are grateful for Jeffrey’s and Berry’s dedicated service to the Conservation League and for their continued involvement and support.

WELCOME, NEW STAFF

CONGRATULATIONS, ERIN CROUSE AND C.J. HARDIN

Rikki Parker has joined the Conservation League’s South Coast Office as a project manager.

Born and raised in Arthur, Ill., Rikki graduated cum laude from the University of Evansville with a B.S. in cognitive science. Rikki earned her J.D. from Louisiana State UniverRikki Parker sity, where she served as president of the Trial Advocacy Board. Since then she has practiced law in the areas of employment discrimination and the environment. In 2015, she became Policy Director of Scott Angelle’s campaign for Governor of Louisiana. Rikki and her husband, a judge advocate in the Marine Corps, enjoy kayaking, fishing and hiking. She is a certified yoga instructor and looks forward to getting to know her new community.

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Erin Crouse, Conservation League Accountant, and her husband, C.J. Hardin, were wed in Penland, N.C. in September at the Penland School of Crafts. Please join us in wishing the couple much joy and happiness.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD! Kenneth Sercy, Utility Regulation Specialist for the Conservation League, and his wife, Erica, are proud parents of daughter Sydney Wells Sercy, born October 17th, weighing six pounds, three ounces and measuring 19 inches in length.

IN HOUSE

My Local Food Life

by Jessica Diaz, GrowFood Carolina Sales & Marketing Manager

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any events in my life have led me to where I am today at the epicenter of the local food movement at GrowFood Carolina. Inspired by my South Carolina roots and my experience with sustainable agriculture in California, I came home to work with the best farmers and chefs to share local food with our community.

I grew up in northeast Columbia, seeing rural life rapidly changed by suburban development. Gone were the days of my grandmother picking cotton and peanuts on a small sharecropping farm, and producing all the food they needed to survive. And although we would visit family who were still farming on a small scale (harvesting and preserving sweet corn, butterbeans, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, squash and cabbage to enjoy throughout the year), suburbanization of neighboring rural areas rendered those trips obsolete. Seeing the constant loss of rural land in my hometown made me realize how important it was to conserve land and help keep farmers farming.

In 1999, I left home to attend the University of California at Berkeley.

While majoring in genetics and plant biology, I worked as a research assistant in a community ecology lab where I gained a deeper appreciation of the complex connections that structure ecosystems. Through my coursework, I came to understand the many threats the industrial model of agriculture poses to the environment and the future of food on our planet: loss of topsoil, biodiversity and pollinators; pollution from pesticides and fertilizers, and destruction of local communities, economies and culture. The solution to these problems seemed to be rooted in sustainable agriculture practices, and the local food movement was bringing this awareness to the community.

As I was finishing school, I started working for Cafe Gratitude, a true farm-to-table restaurant group serving 100 percent organic, plantbased food sourced from their own farm and other local, sustainable operations. Then I joined the management team that opened Gracias Madre in the Mission District of San Francisco, where we emphasized food sourcing to bring about community consciousness and awareness around sustainability and locally grown organic food. Gracias Madre was the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s 2010 choice for “Best New Restaurant� in every category. People were hungry for change, and the local food movement quickly evolved from a trend into a new standard.

I moved back home confident that South Carolina, with its strong farming and food culture, could support a thriving local food movement; and I wanted to be a part of it. In 2012, I was thrilled to join the amazing team at GrowFood Carolina, where every day we work with farmers, chefs, retailers and institutions to build a stronger local food economy. We work hard to make it easy for chefs to choose local, and to bring our food dollars back to the hardworking farmers of our state. The tremendous success that GrowFood has experienced in these first five years speaks to the commitment of our community to conserve its rural landscape, culture and foodways.

Celebrating 5 Years!

GrowFood C AROLINA CAROLINA

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 | C O A S T A L C O N S E R VA T I O N L E A G U E

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he mission of the Coastal Conservation League is to protect the threatened resources of the South Carolina coastal plain — its natural landscapes, abundant wildlife, clean water, and quality of life — by working with citizens and government on proactive, comprehensive solutions to environmental challenges.

P.O. Box 1765 Charleston, SC 29402-1765 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 168 Charleston, SC

For more information about the Coastal Conservation League, visit our website at www.CoastalConservationLeague.org

Dana Beach

Black skimmers take refuge on Capt. Sams spit at the southwestern tip of Kiawah Island. Over the weekend of October 7-9, Hurricane Matthew removed approximately 100 feet of beach from the spit, dispelling claims by Kiawah Partners that this “150-acre teardrop of exposed dunes” (as described by The Post and Courier) is stable enough for 50 homes and a road. Mother Nature has given us a powerful reminder that Capt. Sams is best left to the endangered sea turtles, strand-feeding dolphins, rare shorebirds and abundant marine life that grace its shores.