Holding Space on Lady’s Island

For more than fifty years, the Mark family has called Trotters Loop on Lady’s Island home. As children, they rode bikes down quiet dirt roads, rode freely on horseback, and watched stars fill a dark night sky. Over time those roads grew busier, forests gave way to subdivisions, and the glow of new development slowly crept closer to the edges of their family home.

Michael and Dorinda Mark knew they wanted a different future for their land. Through a conservation easement with the Open Land Trust, Michael and Dorinda protected their 55- acre homeplace on Mark Island near Brickyard Point Road to safeguard what they love for the generations who will come after them. “I can’t control what happens everywhere else,” Michael said. “But I can promise that this land will stay this way for all those who come after us.”

Because of their decision, this land can never be turned into a residential subdivision or a commercial shopping center. It remains part of the rural heart of this end of Lady’s Island, draining into Broomfield Creek and the Port Royal Sound. The project was supported by the Beaufort County Green Space Program and compliments more than 200 nearby acres already protected by the Open Land Trust and Beaufort County.

Families like the Marks who choose to protect their land help keep Beaufort’s waters clean, skies dark, and landscapes open. Join us in thanking them for this forever gift to our community.