The Nature Conservancy handed 1,950 acres of upland hardwoods and wetlands to the US Forest Service, permanently adding the land to Sumter National Forest. The transaction closes a chapter that began in 2023, when the conservancy bought the 2,281-acre tract for $6.47 million to stop it from reaching the real estate market. That urgency was real. Development was creeping south along the I-26 corridor, putting the forest near the unincorporated community of Joanna in Laurens County at risk.
Laurens County kept a piece of the puzzle. In late 2024, the county purchased 335 acres from the original tract to build an equestrian park. That park will connect to the Palmetto Trail and the national forest. The rest—the 1,950 acres—now belongs to the feds. The land includes streams draining into the Enoree River, a tributary of the Saluda basin. It supports white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and amphibians that need intact forest to survive.
This isn't an isolated win. In 2025, the conservancy secured a 2,000-acre conservation easement at Creekwood Farms, valued at $2 million. That was the largest easement in Laurens County history. The two deals create a mosaic of protected land. It links public forest, county parks, and private easements into a single network. That connectivity matters. It lets wildlife move without hitting a wall of subdivisions.
Sumter National Forest already covers over 170,000 acres across five counties. The new block extends its reach into Laurens County. The US Forest Service and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will co-manage the area under the Wildlife Management Area program. This means public hunting and fishing stay open. Hiking and birding get a new route. Forest supervisors plan to add trails and parking to link the new acreage to existing routes in the Enoree Ranger District.
The protection is structural. National forest status makes it nearly impossible to sell off or subdivide the land. Federal resources now cover invasive species control and trail maintenance. For residents of Greenville and Spartanburg, the forest is a buffer against sprawl. It offers cleaner water and a place to escape without driving hours. The deal supports South Carolina’s Ten Million Acres Initiative, a state push to expand protected lands. The next step is physical integration: building the trails that connect Joanna to the rest of Sumter.