Why save land from development?
That’s a question people have been asking for years, haven’t they?
Growing up in Atlanta, I saw the results of unmanaged growth, and those experiences shaped my view of the Lowcountry when I moved here some 30 years ago. I’ve worked with other individuals and organizations to better manage growth. During the Great Recession of more than a decade ago, the land diagonally across from Rosebrock Park on the Ashley River, which had been slated for development for a gated community, went into bankruptcy, so conservationist Coy Johnson and I, both on the board of Rosebrock, saw an opportunity and called on the Dorchester County Council to buy that land from the bank. They did.
After many twists and turns too long to explain here, but with Council members David Chinnis, George Bailey, and Jay Byars, as well as Eric Davis, former parks director, leading the way, that tract today witnessed a ribbon-cutting by the Dorchester County Council and others as the new Ashley River Park. Many current supporters, including parks staff and friends, were on hand.
It’s to be passive and nature-oriented, complete with a stocked freshwater pond for fishing and nature trails through the woods and along the Ashley.
It was a good day. Conservation is about the future, isn’t it? What kind of future do we want?
McDaniel Consulting LLC is a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and its broader constituents. 