The Lowcountry Forest Conservation Partnership proposes to conserve the forest biodiversity in a 2.9 million-acre coastal plain landscape of South Carolina. The landscape encompasses four watersheds:

1) Winyah Bay including the lower Waccamaw, Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee, Black and Sampit rivers;
2) Santee-Bulls Bay including the lower Santee River and streams draining the Francis Marion National Forest (FMNF);
3) ACE Basin including the Ashepoo, Combahee, and lower Edisto rivers; and the
4) Savannah Basin comprised of the lower Savannah, May, Cooper, Pocotaligo, Coosawhatchie, Tullifinny, and Broad rivers.

The project area has high landscape integrity with 81.6% forest cover overall, including 53.8% cover of upland forests and 27.8% cover of forested wetlands.

The partnership will work to conserve the overall biodiversity values of four forest types: bay forests and pocosins; bottomland hardwood and cypress-tupelo forests; longleaf pine forests; and maritime forests. The initial three types are identified as endangered by the Southern Forest Resource Assessment (Wear and Greis 2001). The fourth type, maritime forests, is included due to its rarity and unique diversity values (Bellis 1995). Overall, South Carolina ranks high in diversity, with more than 2,500 native plant species and 670 vertebrate species (Stein et al 2000). The Winyah Bay watershed supports 123,000 acres of bottomland hardwood and cypress-tupelo swamp with 40,000 acres within the proclamation boundary of the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS, unpublished data; USFWS 1997). The FMNF harbors more than 30 of the 67 natural communities identified by Nelson (1986) in South Carolina, including 37,000 acres of longleaf pine forests. Associated communities support 32 species of orchids, 22 species of ferns and 12 species of carnivorous plants. The FMNF supports two federally endangered plants: pondberry and American chaffseed. Eighteen other plant species have been identified as “sensitive” and most are candidates for federal listing (USDA 1996). The National Audubon Society’s 12,000 acre Beidler Forest Sanctuary, in the Edisto River watershed, supports the largest stand of virgin growth bald cypress and tupelo gum in the USA. Three hundred twelve plant species from 99 families have been documented on the sanctuary, which is a Registered National Natural Landmark (Porcher 1981). The Savannah Basin supports extensive, high quality longleaf pine communities including a 4,000-acre savanna flatwoods complex that is one of the largest intact examples of this community type in the world. This site also supports the largest known population of American chaffseed in the world (Aulbach-Smith 1984). This watershed also encompasses extensive floodplain forests supporting at least 32 plant communities and 316 species of vascular plants (TNC, unpublished data). Maritime forests occur on mainland areas adjacent to estuaries in all four watersheds. These forests are composed of salt spray tolerant species including components that are particularly important to neotropical migrants. Some, such as the painted bunting, are highly ranked by the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners in Flight.

The four targeted forest types harbor rich vertebrate communities. Bay forest-pocosin, bottomland hardwood and cypress-tupelo, longleaf pine, and maritime forests support 64, 232, 142, and 52 species of amphibian and reptiles, respectively (Wilson 1995). Three federally endangered or sensitive amphibian species (the flatwoods salamander, eastern tiger salamander, and gopher frog) are found in the FMNF (USDA 1996, USFWS 1999). These forest types also support 108, 149, 297, and 148 bird species, respectively (Hamel 1992). Floodplain forests, particularly well represented in the Winyah Bay watershed, support the highest breeding densities of neotropical migrants of any habitat in the southeast (USFWS 1997). The FMNF and two adjacent State Wildlife Areas support one of the highest concentrations of the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. The FMNF alone supports 395 woodpecker clusters and 333 breeding pairs (USDA 1996). Each of the four watersheds comprising the target landscape annually provide foraging and migration habitat for 8,000 to 10,000 federally endangered wood storks. Ten wood stork rookeries, fledging an average of 2.0 young per year, are supported in the forested wetlands systems within the project area (T. Murphy, Pers. comm.). The project area includes five sites totaling 500,000+ acres designated as Globally Important Bird Areas by the American Bird Conservancy (Dr. R. Chipley, Pers. comm). Major rivers in each of the four watersheds also provide habitat for the federally endangered shortnose sturgeon.