A land conservation group has an agreement to buy 600 acres for a new state park in South Carolina that would emphasize the culture of the state’s Catawba Nation tribe.
The property had at one time been targeted for a 1,000-home development in Lancaster County, but the Open Space Institute says it has secured an option to buy the land for protection.
The institute expects to purchase the property and finalize the deal by the end of this year. The organization would then own the land until the property is sold to the state for the new park. The cost of acquiring the land from a local family has not been disclosed.
Located south of Charlotte, the property is near Van Wyck Road in Lancaster County. It includes a mile of waterfront on the Catawba River across from the Catawba reservation, which is in York County.
Deposits of clay historically used by the Catawbas to make the tribe’s widely recognized pottery are on the land. The property is heavily wooded with mature hardwood forests, a five-acre pond and some trails. An American beech tree on the land is so large, it takes four people to get their arms around the trunk, the institute’s Maria Whitehead said.
Duane Parrish, South Carolina’s parks agency director, said he looks forward to developing a state park on the 600 acres. The property being protected is Catawba ancestral lands.
“With the Catawba Nation’s engagement and support, we envision creating a state park in Lancaster County that weaves together the Park Service values of stewardship and service with the preservation and celebration of the Catawba’s cultural connections to the land and river,’’ Parrish said in a news release announcing the plan Monday.
The Catawba Nation was briefed on the plans over the weekend. The Nisbet family, the land’s owners for more than a century, struck the deal with the Open Space Institute.
The news release did not provide details on how the Catawbas would be involved with the park. Bill Harris, the Catawba tribe’s chief, said in the news release the deal will protect resources long-associated with the tribe.
The Catawba Indians have lived near the river that bears the tribe’s name for 6,000 years. The Catawbas are the only federally recognized tribe in South Carolina. The tribe’s reservation is in York County near the river.
The Open Space Institute’s involvement in protecting land follows other high-profile efforts by the national organization in South Carolina. The institute has protected some 50,000 acres in the state. It was instrumental in preserving land to substantially expand the Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve in Cayce and it is working to protect wetlands near Congaree National Park to offset the loss of wetlands for a new electric vehicle plant in Blythewood.
The institute has secured some of the money for purchasing the Nisbet property from the Knobloch Family Foundation and the Arras Foundation, as well as from Duke Energy and Lancaster County. It is now seeking money from the SC Conservation Bank, the news release said.
Neither the state parks department nor the Open Space Institute would provide a map showing the exact location of the proposed state park, saying negotiations were still under way.
But one issue that could surface is the proposed park’s proximity to the New Indy paper plant. The plant, a source of public complaints about odors and pollution, is in York County downstream from the Catawba reservation. The odors have diminished, to some degree, but concerns remain about dioxin and other pollutants on the New Indy property that could affect the Catawba River.
Paul McCormack, who heads PRT’s parks division, said the agency is always concerned about environmental issues. He said the agency has not “been engaged with adjacent property owners at this time’’ about the state park. The Open Space Institute declined comment on the New Indy plant.
Betty Rankin, a critic of New Indy, said a new state park sounds like a good idea, but the state needs to keep an eye on the industrial plant.
“I have no problems with it,’’ she said. “But the problem of New Indy has to be addressed sometime.’’
This story was originally published July 17, 2023 9:00 AM.
