1. Creating the Jasper County Natural
Resources Comprehensive Plan
July 20, 2009
Coastal Zone ‘09
April L. Turner
S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program

2. Presentation Overview
• S.C. Sea Grant Quality Growth
Initiative
• Why Jasper County?
• Locally Led Conservation Effort
• Plan Development Process
• Outcomes – Results & Benefits

3. Background
• S.C. Sea Grant Quality Growth Initiative
– National Sea Grant Extension Funding Support for Smart Growth
Project
– Planning effort begun in 2004
• Why Jasper?
– Rapidly Developing County
• Clemson University Growth Projection Model
– Opportunity for setting multi‐jurisdictional innovative planning
policies

4. Jasper County Description
• 662 square miles
• Bound by Savannah River (west), Hampton &
Beaufort Counties (north and east)
• Population: 24,000
• Predominately rural
– Urban centers in Hardeeville and Ridgeland
• Abundant natural and cultural resources

5. Predicted Urban Growth in the BJC Region

6. Urban Growth Projection Model
3:1 Ratio
Allen and Lu, 2006

8. Locally Led Conservation
• Community Leadership from the Jasper Soil & Water
Conservation District (JSWCD)
• Community Stakeholder Involvement is a critical element
– Community stakeholders are best suited to deal with local resource
problems.
• Primary focus should be to identify natural resource concerns,
along with related economic and social concerns
“Never doubt that a small, thoughtful group of concerned citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
--Margaret Meade

9. Goal & Objectives
Goal:
• Assure preservation and conservation of the County’s water quality,
wildlife populations, natural areas, and working farms and plantations.
– By educating local decision‐makers about innovative quality growth policies,
tools, and strategies.
Objectives:
• Multiple agency and multi‐jurisdictional cooperation and collaboration.
• Develop a conservation plan that will serve as a platform for making
decisions about local priorities and policies for conservation strategies at
the local level.
• Conserve not just land, but the economy and quality of life.

10. Initial Steps…
• Formation of partnerships
 Jasper County Soil & Water Conservation District
 S.C. Sea Grant Consortium & S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program
 S.C. Department of Natural Resources
 USDA‐Natural Resources Conservation District
• Stakeholder involvement
 Input of more than 100 stakeholders.
 Representing local and regional government
officials and staff, state and federal resource
agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations,
local businesses private land owners,
and concerned citizens.

11. Collaboration – The Key To Success
• Jasper Soil and Water Conservation District • SC Department of Health and Environmental
• USDA‐Natural Resources Conservation Service Control Bureau of Water and Office of Ocean
& Coastal Resource Management
• SC Department of Natural Resources
• Jasper County
• SC Sea Grant Consortium
• Town of Ridgeland
• SC Sea Grant Extension Program
• City of Hardeeville
• USDA‐ Farm Service Agency
• NOAA – Coastal Services Center
• American Farmland Trust
• Town of Bluffton
• USFWS – Refuges and Ecological Services
Divisions • Beaufort County Planning Department
• Clemson University Cooperative Extension • Beaufort County Open Land Trust
Service • AgSouth
• The Nature Conservancy • AAC Building Service
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • SC Coastal Conservation League
• SC Forestry Commission • Lowcountry Council of Governments
• Good Hope Corporation • Trust for Public Land
• Turkey Hill Plantation • Fife Plantation
• Okeetee Plantation Club • Kinghorn Insurance Companies
• Spring Hill Plantation • LowCountry Institute
• Nada Williams Realty • Mead‐Westvaco
• Private Landowners • Copper Station

12. Planning Process
• Community Stakeholder Driven Process
• USDA‐NRCS Conservation Needs Assessment format
Five Basic Steps:
1) Assess the natural resources and conservation needs in the
County;
2) Set community conservation goals;
3) Develop an action plan – a countywide conservation plan;
4) Implement the plan – integrate the plan into the new
comprehensive growth plan; and
5) Measure success.

13. Planning Process: Workshops
• Held three public workshops to:
 educate and inform stakeholders about quality growth
planning strategies and natural resource conservation
planning.
 gather input about the conservation concerns and issues
participants felt needed to be addressed to develop a
conservation needs assessment for the county.
• Broad range of stakeholder representation

14. Planning Process: Focus Groups
• Identified Focus Group members and convened frequent
meetings to:
 Tailor the plan based on the information gathered during the
workshops.
 Identify gaps in the collected information, enlist expertise, and
research resources to fill those gaps.
 Identify priorities, set measurable goals, and objectives, and identify
useful strategies to achieve the goals and objectives to be
incorporated into the conservation plan.
 Write, review, and edit plan components.

15. Targets of the Plan
• Identify the natural, cultural and historic resources of
Jasper County
• Actively manage urban growth by utilizing “quality growth
tools”
• Protect traditional and critical land management tools
• Identify critical areas that need permanent protection
• Develop an environmental education action plan
“A concerted community effort to protect the natural resource base in Jasper
County for generations to come….”

16. Critical Plan Components
 Jasper County Description
– Location, Land Use, Climate, and Protected Lands
 Resources, Conservation, and Management
– Streams, Rivers, Watersheds
– Wetlands and Hydric Soils
– Critical Ecosystems, Habitats and Flora/Fauna
– Prime Farmland, Timberland, Private Plantations
– Archeological, Historic, and Cultural Resources
 Urban Growth Management
 Natural Resources Economics
 Environmental Education

17. Streams, Rivers, and Watersheds
• Low Impact
Development
• Stormwater
Program
• Minimum Buffers

18. Urban Growth Management
• Growth Boundaries
• Natural Resources
Review Team
• Customized Land
Preservation
Agreements
• Impact Fees
• County Conservation
Bank
“If you are protecting what is inevitably an island in the midst of
“If you are protecting what is inevitably an island in the midst of
degradation, you’ve lost.” –Bruce Babbitt
degradation, you’ve lost.” –Bruce Babbitt

19. Resource, Conservation, and
Management Strategies

20. Economics of Natural Resources
• Expand & Diversify
Recreational Opportunities
• Grow Tourism Options
• Update Economics Study

21. Education
Blue Heron
Learning Center
www.blueheronnature.com

22. Outcomes
•Municipal Moratoriums
•Landowner meetings for land preservation
•Public interest, educational programs
•Farmer’s market, fishing rodeos
•Interest from other communities and state
leadership

23. Questions?
April L. Turner
Coastal Communities Specialist
S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program
287 Meeting Street
Charleston, S.C. 29401
Phone: (843) 953-2078
Email: april.turner@scseagrant.org