Andrea Cooper honored with Resolution of Commendation and Appreciation

At our Fall 2024 reception honoring members of the Wyche Society, former Upstate Forever Executive Director Andrea Cooper was honored with a Resolution of Commendation and Appreciation passed by the Board of Directors.

Under Andrea’s leadership, UF protected approximately 12,600 acres across the Upstate, realized a $1.5 million settlement for water quality in Anderson County, and helped secure millions of new dollars for land conservation. Those are just a few of her many accomplishments.

We are forever grateful for Andrea's visionary tenure at UF.

RESOLUTION OF COMMENDATION AND APPRECIATION FOR ANDREA COOPER
UPSTATE FOREVER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | 2015-2024

WHEREAS, Andrea Cooper has been a conservation champion for her entire adult life; and

WHEREAS, Andrea’s career has included conservation work as well as engagement in the commercial real estate development industry; and

WHEREAS, the combination of those elements of her background came together in 2015 as Upstate Forever sought the first successor to its founding executive director; and

WHEREAS, Andrea served in that role with distinction until March 2024; and

WHEREAS, throughout that period, Andrea enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Upstate Forever Founder Brad Wyche, cultivating and enhancing his continued productive engagement in the organization; and

WHEREAS, Andrea’s tenure as executive director saw immense growth in the organization, including the recruiting and maintaining of excellent staff experts in each programmatic and administrative function; and

WHEREAS, under Andrea’s leadership the organization’s finances tripled and became more unrestricted, allowing the organization to grow strategically; and

WHEREAS, through Andrea’s leadership the Upstate Forever board of directors as well as numerous organizational practices and policies became institutionalized; and

WHEREAS, Andrea successfully oversaw Upstate Forever’s strategic plans in for 2018-2022 and 2023-2027; and

WHEREAS, Andrea took the visionary view that the key to timely and effective conservation in our growing region is funding, advocating successfully for significant funding for conservation and resiliency at the local, state, federal, and private giving levels; and

WHEREAS, in the interest of increasing quick-strike conservation funding, Andrea spearheaded the Upstate Land Conservation Fund, an Upstate Forever-managed direct funding source which has raised over $2 million, greatly enhancing landowners’ abilities to overcome financial hurdles in protecting their properties and providing much-needed matching dollars for state and other funders; and

WHEREAS, Andrea also provided leadership and integral support in the establishment and initial funding of the Greenville Historic and Natural Resources Trust and, through her advocacy, helped support direct funding for conservation in Spartanburg County’s budget as well, resulting in millions of new dollars for direct land conservation in the Upstate; and 

WHEREAS, alongside other partners and through the leadership of Board Member Glenn Hilliard, Andrea helped secure funding and political support for the Saluda Grade Trail, a planned 31-mile rail trail years in the making, which is set to transform the Upstate’s outdoor recreation landscape and economic opportunities; and

WHEREAS, in concert with The Tyger River Foundation and other Spartanburg leaders, Andrea was a key figure in laying the groundwork and gaining support for the Tyger River Recreation Region, a planned project that would cover 20 river miles and serve as a regional destination for education, recreation, and event-based eco-tourism; and

WHEREAS, through her tenacity and negotiation, Andrea helped realize a $1.5 million settlement fund to protect and remediate water resources in Anderson County — the Anderson County Watershed Protection Fund — as a result of a Clean Water Act lawsuit in response to a 2014 gasoline spill from a Kinder Morgan pipeline; and

WHEREAS, Andrea was instrumental in ensuring that a tract of land near the iconic Glassy Mountain in Pickens County, once slated for a controversial real estate development, was instead permanently protected by a conservation easement; and

WHEREAS, during Andrea’s tenure, Upstate Forever closed/protected approximately 12,600 acres identified by the innovative Critical Lands Mapping Project as exceptionally significant for water and habitat quality, including sizeable additions to Jones Gap and Paris Mountain State Parks; critical riparian lands like Nesbitt Shoals, Eastatoe Headwaters, and the Saluda Mitigation Bank; and important habitat for endangered species like the bunched arrowhead, Oconee bell, and dwarf heartleaf; and iconic properties like Grant Meadow, Soapstone Church, and Oconee Town; and

WHEREAS, through all of the above and much more, Andrea presided over an incredibly successful growth period for Upstate Forever and, thus, led an inspiring organization to become a chief catalyst for smart growth, environmental advocacy, and land and water protection in the Upstate;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Upstate Forever Board of Directors expresses its heartfelt appreciation to Andrea Cooper for her inspirational leadership and many accomplishments as Upstate Forever Executive Director. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that while the Board acknowledges the continuing threats to our natural resources in the Upstate, it also acknowledges with grateful appreciation that Andrea Cooper’s contributions as Upstate Forever Executive Director have enhanced the Upstate’s trajectory towards a bright future.

BE ALL OF THIS RESOLVED this tenth day of September 2024.

The Upstate Forever Board of Directors