CONSERVATION EASEMENTS

A conservation easement is a legal document bound to the deed of a designated property, where the land owner and a land trust agree to protect the ecologically significant property and all development rights are forfeited perpetually. The majority of the land NFLT protects are preserved through conservation easements. There are significant Federal and State tax deductions for people who place their land into a conservation easement.

Here is a comprehensive list of our conservation easements:

The Hugh White River property, a 100-feet wide and 3600-feet long buffer adjacent to the Catawba River, was the first easement granted to the Nation Ford Land Trust in January 1995. The property contains 8.26 acres of predominantly mixed hardwoods.
In 1996, the NFLT obtained the Banks Road site where the USFWS endangered Schweinitz’s sunflower grew on 11.26 acres of land from Close Family Realestate. The property provides an opportunity to manage the endangered species.
A 11.41-acre easement was granted to Nation Ford Land Trust in February 1996 on a mixed hardwood and pine woodland on Vista Road in Fort Mill. The Beaty, or White, property provides a buffer along a small creek that lies between commercial and residential development.
In December 1998, the Lang property was obtained. A buffer along 3,633 feet of the Catawba River and 922 feet of Sugar Creek, which contains 54.19 acres, the property was the site of a Catawba Indian Nation village known as Sugar Town.
Another buffer, 350-feet wide and 2,300-feet long, adjacent to the Catawba River containing 18.5 acres of mixed hardwood forest called the Ardrey River property was granted by easement in September 2000.
A buffer 300-feet wide and 3,275-feet long adjacent to the Catawba River off of Mount Gallant Road in Rock Hill, Zellner River, or Westminster, was granted by easement in December 2000. An additional twenty-nine interior acres was added to the easement in December 2003 to total up to 56.9 acres. This diverse property includes mixed hardwood forests and open land.
A working cattle farm containing 309 acres of pastures and woodlands south of Rock Hill, the Whisonant property was placed in a conservation easement in July 2001. The farm has been in the same family since the 1880s.
1,647 acres located on Broad River southwest of Hickory Grove, called Dalton Ranch, was placed under an easement in July 2001. Now owned by York County, the property has been named “Worth Mountain” and is maintained by the SCDNR as a WMA. Directions to the property are available at: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/mlands/managedland?p_id=175.
“Nanny’s Mountain” County Park located off of Highway 49 was placed under a conservation easement in July 2001. York County acquired the property in November 1997 and has constructed an access road, trails, and picnic facilities. The 94.7-acre property was the site of ore mines operated during the Revolutionary War. Directions to the property are available at: http://www.sctrails.net/trails/ALLTRAILS/hiking/Midlands/Nanny’sMountain.html.
A preservation and maintenance easement was placed on the historical McCelvey Center in 2001. This 0.5 acre, 500-seat theater is located on East Jefferson Street in York. Directions to the theater are available at: http://chmuseums.org/mccelvey/.
An 8.925-acres sunflower site located at Historic Brattonsville was placed in a conservation easement in August 2002. More information on the site is available at: http://chmuseums.org/faq-hb/#q12
115.6 acres located in a 8,700-foot long buffer between the Huntington Farms subdivision and Sugar Creek was placed in an easement in December of 2002. This property is predominately forested in mixed hardwoods.
Confederate Park on Main Street in Fort Mill was placed in an easement in August 2003. The 0.36-acre park was established in 1891 on property donated by Captain Samuel E. White. The monuments were erected between 1891 and 1900.
A conservation easement was placed on 285 acres adjacent to the York town limits in December 2006. This diverse property, called Stuck or Flying King Ranch, has pastures which are leased for cattle grazing, wildlife food plots, two ponds, and mixed hardwood forests. An additional 515 acres adjoining the original easement was placed under a conservation easement in December 2007.
The largest easement held by Nation Ford Land Trust was placed on 1,981 acres of the Anne Springs Close Greenway in September 2007. This well-known outdoor recreation area provides visitors with access to miles of hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding trails, as well as the opportunity to explore pioneer cabins, a grist mill, and a renovated dairy barn. Events and programs open to the public are hosted by Leroy Springs Company, Inc. year round. More information on the Anne Sprigs Close Greenway is available at: http://www.ascgreenway.org.
A landowner the Nation Ford Land Trust had partnered with before on two York County conservation easements approached the land trust in 2006 about accepting another conservation easement on 289 acres located on Daufuskie Island. This unique property contains a mixed maritime forest, pine woodlands, and forested and non-forested wetlands. An additional 174.5 acres on Daufuskie Island was placed in a conservation easement in 2008.
A forty-five-acre tract, named the Olson property, that borders Historic Brattonsville and includes pasture land and mixed hardwood and pine forest was placed under a conservation easement in October 2007.
A conservation easement was granted on a 63.5 acre tract northeast of McConnells, also called the Forlines, in December 2007. The property is forested in mixed hardwoods and pines.
The Darby Farm 305-acre tract on the York and Chester County line was placed in an easement in December 2007. The farm has been in agricultural production by the family for over 120 years. Recent land use has been primarily for cattle and cotton production.
Another family farm, the Wilson or Abel Farm, near the York and Chester County line was also placed under an easement in December 2007. This 230-acre property is a mixture of open land utilized for crop production and mixed hardwoods adjacent to a creek drain. This property is a portion of a larger farm which has been farmed continuously by family members since 1882.
An easement called Rhyne, the 100 Oaks Plantation was granted in December 2007 on 315 acres located south of McConnells Highway and adjacent to Turkey Creek. The property is actively managed for timber production and wildlife habitat. The owner has partnered with SC Department of Natural Resources for youth deer hunts and made the property available for local outdoor education programs.
A 360-acre tract northeast of York on Highway 49 called the Thomason property was placed in a conservation easement in December 2007. The property has been in the family since the 1850s and the family home was constructed in 1866. The property is forested in planted loblolly pine and natural mixed hardwoods. Wildlife food plots are scattered across the property. The owners granted an easement on an adjoining 23.6 acres in December 2009.
The 214.53-acre Chappell Farm southwest of Rock Hill was placed in a conservation easement in April 2008. The land has been in the family and continuously farmed since the 1920s.
A 10.17-acre rock outcrop in small town Clover was protected by a conservation easement in September 2009.
The Sherer property, 91.62 acres located southwest of Sharon, was placed in a conservation easement in October 2009. This diverse property includes natural pine and hardwood stands, fields planted in a variety of nursery species, and a tributary to Bullock Creek, a major watershed in western York County.
A 282-acre tract purchased by York County in August of 2013, located on North Burris Road in western York County. The tract adjoins the 357-acre Kirsh Wildlife Management Area and will be managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources as an extension of the Kirsh property.
A total of 109 acres owned by the Catawba Land Conservancy located adjacent to Lake Wylie in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, called the DiMicco property, was placed in a conservation easement in 2011 and 2012. This property protects the watershed within several large coves of the lake and also protects a significant contiguous acreage adjacent to a rapidly developing lake front community.
Newcombe Preserve and Addition, a 21.66-acre parcel of piedmont forested land, is located between McAlpine Creek and the CSA OrthoCarolina Sportsplex in Fort Mill. The property protects a large stretch of natural forest as well as watershed from McAlpine.
Roddey Tract, a family farm containing fifty-seven acres and a historic home built in 1812, was placed in an easement in December 2015. The property is located at the city limits of Rock Hill and protects a quarter mile of Wildcat Creek, as well as the traditional land uses of the area.
A conservation easement was accepted by the NFLT in January 2016 on fifty-three acres of the historic Miller farm in Rock Hill. The landowner’s grandfather, an emancipated slave, began acquiring land in the 1870s and 1880s and his farm eventually totaled over 200 acres, of which 100 acres remains. At 95 years of age, the landowner wanted to ensure that a portion of her family farm would be forever protected as open space in a rapidly growing part of York County. The project received funding from the SC Conservation Bank and the York County Forever Commission.
25.2 acres northwest of the Catawba Indian Reservation was put into a conservation easement in August 2016. The Rankin property is a recognized Century Farm and possesses a natural underground spring.
The White, or Hagler, property, 166 acres off of McConnells Hwy, was placed into an easement in November 2016. This was made possible through York County Forever Commission funds.
1,000 acres in Chester County were placed into a conservation easement in June 2017. The Boyd Farm property is primarily farmland and possesses the productive and rare Blackjack soil. The funds for this conservation easement were provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the South Carolina Conservation Bank.
23.5 acres were placed under a conservation easement named the Jackson Blackjack Preserve between NFLT and Catawba Lands Conservancy in December 2017.
315 acres, called the Anderson Property, off of Steele Village Rd. in Rock Hill was placed into a conservation easement using South Carolina Conservation Bank funds in June 2019.
350 acres outside of Sharon were placed into a conservation easement with Bob and Debbie Stuck in May 2019.
12.58 acres along the Catawba River, adjacent to the Masons Bend subdivision, was placed into a conservation easement with Duke Energy.
28.6 acres along the Catawba River, North of Lansford Canal, was placed into a conservation easement with Duke Energy.
1,700 acres were preserved in a conservation easement with a partnership between NFLT and York County. This property borders the Catawba River for over five miles. The new Riverbend Park features primary forests, seasonal wetlands, ponds, enormous pines, and expansive meadows.
The Stuck Family partnered again with NFLT, this time to add 2,700 acres, making the largest conservation easement in NFLT’s history. This site combined with other Stuck family easements results in a total of 3,830 acres of beautiful countryside protected in-perpetuity. The protected acres help to form a greenbelt around York that preserves the southern approach to the City.
In the shadow of our Nanny’s Mountain conservation easement, another property, owned by Dorsey Patrick and aptly named the Patrick Property, continues the easement with 24 acres to add on. The property acts as a significant viewshed to Nanny’s Mountain and contributes towards Lake Wylie’s open space initiative with plans for a public, 5-acre dog park to contribute towards community recreation.
In December 2020, Joseph and Annie Laura Hamrick put their 458.16-acre home site into a conservation easement with NFLT. The site holds several historical features like the original Smith Ford and the several Native American fish weir traps in the Broad River. The property has been with the Hamrick family since the 1950s, but the farmhouse on the property was built in 1790 and has been a location of historical significance during the American Revolution and the Civil War. The Smith Ford was used by troops throughout the two wars.
The Rocky Farm is a 185-acre tract that was placed into a conservation as an offset to an adjacent, proposed Vulcan Materials 909-acre mining site. The property is currently used for hunting and loblolly pine production since it is a typical piedmont woodland with prized wildlife like white-tail deer and turkey vulture as well as flora like loblolly pine timber and other tree species. A dam on the property create a pond that takes up roughly two-acres as well.

Acreage Under Conservation Easements: 14,739.13 acres