St. Helena Island is sacred ground. It's a place where culture, history, and rural landscapes remain deeply intertwined and still very much alive. And for decades, the island has been protected by a simple zoning tool: the Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO).

At the Open Land Trust, we are in the business of forever and this spring, forever is now in reach for one of the Lowcountry’s most iconic landscapes. Chelsea is a 2,700-acre property with saltmarsh, maritime forest, and 7 miles of creek frontage along Hazzard Creek in Jasper County in the heart of the Port Royal Sound. 

Just off the scenic stretch of Sheldon Church Road, where the past lingers in the ruins of an 18th-century church and ancient oaks stretch their limbs overhead, something new is taking root.

Each spring, as we sleep under the stars of the South Carolina coast, something extraordinary happens above us. Millions of birds are in motion—flying, pushing their bodies to the limit, following ancient paths in the sky.

There’s something special about stepping outside to explore, especially when it’s in a place that feels untouched, where the air smells like saltwater and the land tells its own stories. In the Lowcountry, we’re fortunate to have places like this left to explore.