In the final months of 2025, local conservation nonprofit Upstate Forever worked with landowners and partners to close on more than 2,100 additional acres of conservation easements across seven counties: Anderson, Oconee, Greenville, Laurens, Pickens and Spartanburg in SC, and Polk County in NC.
“We had a great year-end in 2025, with nine new and amended conservation easements closing over the course of a few months,” Scott Park, Upstate Forever’s Glenn Hilliard director of land conservation said. “We are honored to work with dedicated landowners and partners to protect some beautiful properties that reflect the diversity of this region.”
The protected properties include mostly active agricultural land as well as forested and mixed landscapes that safeguard waterways, wildlife habitat and rural character throughout the Upstate.
Properties include:
Moore Farm at Horsepen Creek is a 110-acre rural property in Greenville County with nearly 70 acres of prime farmland. It plays a significant role in buffering Horsepen Creek from nearby suburban development and stormwater runoff, preserving important riparian habitat. The conservation easement has short- and long-term impacts for water quality and native species preservation in Greenville County. Project funders include the Greenville County Historic & Natural Resources Trust, the South Carolina Conservation Bank (SCCB), and Upstate Land Conservation Fund (UULCF).
"The Lomas family's decision to honor their uncle's desire that his farm remain in its natural state speaks volumes about what is important to them,” Carlton Owen, former chair and current technical advisor of the Greenville County Historic and Natural Resources Trust said. “That decision also leaves a lasting legacy to current and future generations, who may never know the Lomas family or their ancestors but all benefit from their action."
RML Timber, comprising 1,219 acres in Laurens County, is Upstate Forever’s second-largest conservation easement to date. It is a prime example of working lands in the Little River-Saluda River Watershed. Biodiversity thrives on the property, where timber is sustainably managed, allowing its forests, ponds, and shrublands to support native wildlife. This project was supported by SCCB, Sustain SC, and ULCF.
“Sustain SC's Land and Water Action Platform is a conservation funding initiative that connects corporate investment with tangible conservation outcomes across South Carolina,” Kristen Austin Gunter, Sustain SC's senior vice president of conservation said. “Sustain SC is proud to support the conservation protection of the RML Timber and Duck Haven projects through the Land and Water Action Platform. We applaud Upstate Forever and the landowners for conserving this vital part of South Carolina's natural landscape.”
Warrior Mountain Amendment 2 in Laurens County adds more than 57 acres to an already protected 376-acre property, further preserving hardwood forests, a pond, riparian areas and a rocky ridge habitat with a monadnock known as Little Knob (historically called Warrior Mountain). This amendment ensures the protection of additional natural habitats in the area and was a full donation by the landowner.
Foster Fields in Spartanburg County is 85 acres of pasture, mixed hardwoods, and stream frontage along Black Branch, Whitestone Spring Branch, and unnamed tributaries that all flow into Fairforest Creek. The conservation easement preserves working farmland, wildlife habitat, and a pond for migratory waterfowl, while maintaining the property’s rural character amid growing development pressures near Croft State Park. Project funding came from ULCF.
The 2025 totals are in — Upstate Forever protected more than 2,700 acres via conservation easements last year, including the properties listed above and others previously announced.
In addition to enacting and stewarding conservation easements, Upstate Forever works to further cooperative regional land protection by supporting conservation partners on projects that benefit the Upstate. In these instances, Upstate Forever does not take on a new conservation easement but provides other support integral to the effort’s success.
In 2025, these additional projects with conservation partners — including the SC Farm Bureau Land Trust, Upper Savannah Land Trust, Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE), PAL: Play. Advocate. Live Well, and Conserving Carolina — comprised more than 2,500 additional protected acres across the region.
