2009 BMW Conservation Award

       L. B. and Peggy Adams      

 
  This annual award honors a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the field of conservation.  The recipient is someone who has made lasting impacts in
protecting South Carolina’s natural resources through conservation,
education, and/or preservation. 

L. B. and Peggy Adams of Greenwood are this year’s recipients of the BMW Conservation Award. As founders and directors of the Upper Savannah Land Trust, this couple has put their beliefs to practice by placing conservation easements on over a thousand acres of their own property and then leading others to do the same.  The result has been an amazing 10,482 acres protected in just nine years in the counties of Edgefield, McCormick, Abbeville, Laurens, Greenwood, Saluda, and Newberry.

The majority of easements have been in the Saluda River watershed and the Stevens Creek/Turkey Creek area.  In 2009, American Rivers named the Saluda River as the 6^th most imperiled river in the US. By protecting 4,521 acres along and adjacent to the Saluda River, USLT easements are providing an important buffer for water quality.  

The Stevens Creek/Turkey Creek area in McCormick County has been ranked 15^th in the nation for its biodiversity.  Fifteen rare plant species have been found here as well as the endangered Webster’s salamander and Carolina heel splitter.  Six easements are preserving 3,379 acres of critical habitat and another huge easement is under negotiation. 

The Adams’s love for the land, their ability to work with others and lead by example are keys to the success of the Upper Savannah Land Trust.  Peggy explains, “It’s so obvious – we must sustain nature so that nature can sustain us.  Our area acts as the lungs for the state. Without large green spaces that filter our water and air, we will choke on the pollution.  Now is the time to do something.”

Their “something” is a legacy of conservation that will benefit South Carolina for generations to come.

Past recipients of the BMW Conservation Award include:

2008 Anne Rainey of Columbia, Camden
2007 Murray White of Fort Mill
2006 Tom Kohlsaat of Columbia
2005 Lindsay Pettus of Lancaster
2004 John Drummond of Greenwood
2003 Thomas Wyche of Greenville
2002 Dale and Judy Thiel of Camden
2001 Mary and Edmund Taylor of Columbia
2000 Anne Springs Close of Fort Mill
1999 Eaddy Hayes of Spartanburg
1998 Harry Dalton of Rock Hill