The Upstate Update: January 2021

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.

2021 is off to a great start!

We're delighted to announce our first completed conservation project of 2021: The protection of the 20-acre Spring Park and Spring Park Inn on Main Street in Travelers Rest.

The late owner Nell Anderson Gibson generously donated the Spring Park Inn and its adjacent 20 acres to the Travelers Rest Historical Society and worked with Upstate Forever to protect the property through a conservation easement. A grant from the South Carolina Conservation Bank made possible the conservation easement that protects the land from future residential and commercial development. 

The Spring Park Inn will be restored and used by the Travelers Rest Historical Society as a house museum and educational space. Located just steps from the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail and in the heart of downtown Travelers Rest, the sprawling open space adjacent to the inn will someday be transformed into a park for the community to enjoy.

Click here to read more about this historic property and its protection

View this month's Upstate Update

Also in this month's update: 

• Our 2021 advocacy priorities
  We decide to engage in advocacy issues based on alignment with our mission and strategic goals. In each case, we assess whether the initiative is likely to have a measurable local impact to the ten-county Upstate region’s land and water resources. Read our advocacy priorities

• Conservation funding for Greenville
  Last month, Greenville County Council voted unanimously to establish the Greenville County Historic and Natural Resources Trust. This recent article from the Greenville Journal features Executive Director Andrea Cooper and local leaders discussing what the Trust could mean for our region's quality of life and economy. Read the article

• Save the date: Environmental justice digital panel discussion on 2/24
  Mark your calendar and plan to join us on Wednesday, February 24 at 12:00 pm for a virtual discussion about environmental justice issues impacting communities, often communities of color, in Upstate SC. Panelists will include leaders from the National Action Network, Greenville's New Washington Heights Community, South Carolina Environmental Law Project, and Sustaining Way, and the conversation will be moderated by UF Board member Chris Richardson. More information and registration details to come!

View this month's Upstate Update

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