南卡羅萊納的一大片土地現(xiàn)在已歷經(jīng)了幾代人

南卡羅萊納的一大片土地現(xiàn)在已歷經(jīng)了幾代人

Estill, South Carolina — The descendants of John Winthrop, founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony nearly 400 years ago, recently set aside 14,000 acres along the Savannah River that will forever remain undeveloped. It's the largest private conservation easement in South Carolina history.

約400年前馬薩諸塞灣殖民地的創(chuàng)始人約翰·溫斯洛普的后裔，最近在薩凡納河沿岸劃出了14000英畝的土地，這些土地將永遠(yuǎn)得不到開發(fā)。這是南卡羅來納州歷史上最大的私人保護(hù)地役權(quán)。

Groton Plantation fronts 24 miles of the Savannah River in South Carolina (Photo: Dan Chapman/USFWS)

Its significance, though, goes well beyond the creation of a natural bulwark against overdevelopment and forest loss.

然而，它的意義遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了建立一個(gè)防止過度開發(fā)和森林消失的天然屏障。

"Most people who live in Beaufort or Bluffton might never visit this part of South Carolina in their lifetime," said David Bishop, a conservation director with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in South Carolina who helped cobble the deal together. "But clean water here is a service to them. It takes a lot of forethought to invest upstream in Allendale."

“大多數(shù)住在波弗特或布拉夫頓的人可能一輩子都不會(huì)來南卡羅萊納的這一地區(qū)，”大衛(wèi)·畢曉普說，他是南卡羅萊納自然保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)(TNC)的一名保護(hù)主任，曾參與促成了這項(xiàng)協(xié)議。“但是干凈的水對(duì)他們來說是一種服務(wù)。要想在上游的阿連德投資，需要有很多先見之明。”

'A gorgeous piece of property'

“一份華麗的財(cái)產(chǎn)”

Cypress knees rise from Groton Plantation swamp. (Photo: Dan Chapman/USFWS)

Bishop toured the lower half of Groton Plantation one recent sunny afternoon, through the quail and deer "courses," across the cypress-kneed swamp and along an oak-filled bend in the Savannah River. A bald eagle was spooked from its nest. An alligator splashed from a log into the swamp. A massive turtle slid into the river. The Winthrop family had earlier protected 7,400 of these acres along the Savannah via a conservation easement donated to the Conservancy.

最近一個(gè)陽光明媚的下午，畢曉普參觀了格羅頓種植園的下半部分，穿過鵪鶉和鹿的“路線”，穿過柏樹腿沼澤，沿著薩凡納河一個(gè)滿是橡樹的河灣。一只禿鷹被嚇出了巢。一只短吻鱷從一根圓木上濺落到沼澤地里。一只巨大的烏龜滑進(jìn)了河里。溫斯洛普家族早先通過捐贈(zèng)給大自然保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)的保護(hù)地役權(quán)保護(hù)了大草原上的7400英畝土地。

"The family has a long history of conservation," said Frank Range, a family friend and plantation business manager who joined the tour. "It's a gorgeous piece of property and the family has taken good care of it over the years."

“這個(gè)家族有很長的保護(hù)歷史，”家族的朋友、種植園業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)理弗蘭克?“這是一處漂亮的房產(chǎn)，多年來家人一直悉心照料。”

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The Martin family cemetery at Groton Plantation. (Photo: Dan Chapman/USFWS)

The hilly uplands mix longleaf, loblolly and hardwoods with fields of sorghum and soybean as food for quail and deer. Two-thirds of Groton's upland is burned annually to foster longleaf and restore the undergrowth favored by quail and woodpeckers. Pepper Hill, the plantation's high point, conjures a pristine savannah with wiregrass and other sedges carpeting the ground between longleaf pines. Range listed a slew of birds, endangered and otherwise, that frequent Groton: painted buntings, bald eagles, anhingas, blue herons, ospreys. A voluntary Safe Harbor agreement between Groton and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protects the population of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, currently estimated at 55 clusters.

多山的高地將長葉、火炬樹和闊葉樹與高粱和大豆田混合在一起，作為鵪鶉和鹿的食物。格羅頓三分之二的高地每年都要燒掉，以培育長葉植物，并恢復(fù)鵪鶉和啄木鳥喜愛的灌木叢。胡椒山是種植園的最高處，它讓人聯(lián)想起一片原始的大草原，在長葉松之間，野草和其他莎草覆蓋著地面。Range列出了大量瀕臨滅絕或其他格羅頓經(jīng)常出沒的鳥類:彩繪彩帶、禿鷹、美洲獅、藍(lán)鷺、魚鷹。格羅頓和美國魚類及野生動(dòng)物管理局之間的自愿安全港協(xié)議保護(hù)了瀕危紅頭啄木鳥的數(shù)量，目前估計(jì)有55群。

'What the world used to look like'

世界曾經(jīng)是什么樣子

Stuart Atkinson (from left) and Frank Range get a tour of the property from David Bishop of The Nature Conservancy. (Photo: Dan Chapman/USFWS)

A slew of conservation nonprofits, including TNC, the Clean Water Fund, the South Carolina Conservation Bank and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, raised $3.5 million to defray the costs of the conservation easement. Private foundations and corporate donors, including Walmart and International Paper, channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars through the conservation groups.

包括TNC、凈水基金會(huì)、南卡羅萊納保護(hù)銀行和國家魚類及野生動(dòng)物基金會(huì)在內(nèi)的一系列保護(hù)非營利組織籌集了350萬美元，用于支付保護(hù)地役權(quán)的費(fèi)用。包括沃爾瑪和國際紙業(yè)在內(nèi)的私人基金會(huì)和企業(yè)捐贈(zèng)者，通過環(huán)保組織輸送了數(shù)十萬美元。

"Groton was a big hole in the center of the corridor," said the TNC's Bishop as the tour ended. "In the future, river systems will become really critical as climate corridors and allow deer, turkey, endangered species and plants to shift further and further inland. The land linkages are there. The opportunity is there too."

“格羅頓是走廊中央的一個(gè)大洞，”全國過渡委員會(huì)的主教在參觀結(jié)束時(shí)說。“未來，河流系統(tǒng)將變得非常重要，因?yàn)闅夂蜃呃葘⒃试S鹿、火雞、瀕危物種和植物越來越深入內(nèi)陸。與土地的聯(lián)系是存在的。機(jī)會(huì)也在那里。”