Keeping the Lowcountry, the Lowcountry

H&H Farm is a 534-acre family property just five miles west of Walterboro, where the Hiott and Clark families have long enjoyed the woods and waters of the ACE Basin.

For Wendy Hiott Clark, this land is personal. She has childhood memories of time here with her parents and more recent memories of her own children exploring the outdoors with the kind of freedom kids do not get much anymore. Today, Wendy and her husband, Joe, own the property. In December, they took an important step to protect it forever.

With funding support from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, the Clarks worked with the Open Land Trust to place a conservation easement on H&H Farm. Conservation easements are voluntary, permanent agreements that limit certain types of development so working lands, wildlife habitat, and rural character can endure for generations.

Importantly, the Clark family still owns the land. They will continue to pay property taxes and can sell it, gift it, or pass it down, but the easement will remain in place no matter who owns the property in the future.

Wendy and Joe shared, “We are pleased to preserve and protect this family property for posterity and are honored to help sustain the rural character of Colleton County and the Lowcountry.”

Northern bobwhite quail

Threat of a changing landscape

Their timing could not be more important. Development pressure is increasing across Colleton County, and a proposed data center is located roughly seven miles from H&H Farm. In moments like this, proactive conservation matters. It is how we keep the places that define the Lowcountry intact, even as the landscape around them changes.

And the Clarks are not stopping there. They are restoring longleaf pine to help bring back bobwhite quail, a bird that has become harder to find as longleaf forests have disappeared and the landscape has fragmented over time. Their stewardship also supports critical habitat for wildlife and migrating birds throughout the year.

As development pressure continues, decisions like the Clarks’ benefit all of us, protecting water, wildlife habitat, and the rural character that makes this region home. Join us in thanking the Clark family for helping to keep the Lowcountry, the Lowcountry.