The Upstate Update: February 2022

The Upstate Update is a digital newsletter curated and shared each month that offers insights into Upstate Forever's recent work, highlights upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, and shares other conservation and advocacy news.

We post the Upstate Update here on the Upstate Forever blog each month. If you would like to receive the Upstate Update directly in your email inbox, please sign up for the mailing list.

Upstate Forever's nationally accredited land trust protected a record amount of acreage last year

Our Land Conservation team protected 3,598 acres of private and public forests, farmlands, and green spaces across Upstate South Carolina last year. What's more, additional projects where Upstate Forever was integral to the effort’s success comprise nearly 900 additional acres.

These projects span the region, including a historic home and property in Travelers Rest, hundreds of acres that will someday expand one of the Upstate's most loved State Park, lands critical to local agriculture, water quality, animal habitat, and more.

See the 2021 protected properties

Click here to view this month's Upstate Update

Also in this month's update: 

• Contact Greenville County Council
  Council had the opportunity this week to advance a streamlined zoning process, which residents in unzoned, mostly rural areas of Greenville County have requested for years. Frustratingly, six Council members blocked the effort without explanation. Click here to read more and contact Greenville County Council.

• Free trees in Greenville & TR
  On Friday, Feb. 25 from 3:00-6:00 pm and Saturday, Feb. 26 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm, stop by ReWa in Greenville or Trailblazer Park in Travelers Rest to pick up 4 free bareroot trees per household. We're proud to partner with Friends of the Reedy River, TreesUpstate & others on this initiative to to help reforest the Reedy River watershed. More details here

• Honoring the local contributions of Black conservationists
  This Black History Month, we aim to celebrate and amplify the stories of several Black trailblazers who have contributed to conservation in the Upstate and across the country. Read more in the February newsletter

And more!

Click here to view this month's Upstate Update