The Pee Dee Land Trust will be permanently protecting, by conservation easement, 950 acres in Williamsburg County through the S.D. McGill Jr. Estate.

The easement is the first for the trust in Williamsburg County.

The property is located about 10 miles northeast of Kingstree, along White Oak Swamp, a tributary of Black Mingo Creek and Black River.

The area consists primarily of upland and bottomland forests and agricultural land. It has been managed for agriculture, forestry and hunting and will continue to be managed for those traditional land uses.

“Our grandfather, Dave McGill, began purchasing this property in the 1930s and 1940s,” William Howard said. “After his passing, the land was handed down to his son, Sonny McGill, and now to my sisters and me.

“By granting this easement to the Pee Dee Land Trust, we’re able to keep our family farm, enjoy it the same way as those who have come before us, and ensure those values in perpetuity.”

The easement aims to maintain water quality in White Oak Swamp and the rural, agricultural character of Williamsburg County by limiting the number of property divisions and new structures. It adds to the protected landscape by conserving land adjacent to another family’s easement-protected farm.

“The Pee Dee Land Trust is excited about this easement,” Jennie Williamson, the executive director of the Pee Dee Land Trust, said. “Not only is it is our first project in Williamsburg County, but it is also our organization’s first easement donated by an estate.

“We are thrilled the Howard family was able to use the federal estate-planning option as it was intended, recognizing the opportunity save a family farm from fragmentation. We hope many more families will recognize the leadership of the Howard family and choose to include land conservation in their estate planning.”

The addition of the McGill tract brings the total land under the protection of the Pee Dee Land Trust to nearly 10,000 acres.

“Although acreage is not the only measure, we are on the verge of a huge milestone in the life of our young organization,” Williamson said. “We have grown from holding 13 acres under easement in 2004 to 7,900 at the end of the last year. And we have additional projects that we expect to complete by the end of 2008.”

Williamson said these trends show that people in the Pee Dee understand the importance of taking purposeful steps toward farm and forestland protection.

“Doing nothing simply doesn’t ensure the viability of our region’s agricultural industry,” she said, “nor is it sufficient to ensure the richness of our natural resources.”

The Pee Dee Land Trust’s mission is to protect the significant natural, agricultural and historical resources of the Pee Dee.

“Landowners make the greatest ambassadors,”Williamson said. “Many, after granting conservation easements to the land trust, go on to educate their neighbors about the benefits of protecting land.”

For details about the Pee Dee Land Trust, visit its Web site at http://www.peedeelandtrust.org or call (843) 661-1135.