Car Accident Attorney inSlater, SC

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A major push is underway to bring a high school back to north Greenville County.

Slater-Marietta High School closed in the 1970’s, forcing students to travel miles to the next closest public high school.

People in this community told 7NEWS, that they were promised another one would be back but it’s not and they want that to change.

The yearbooks for Slater-Marietta High School hold a lot of memories. Especially for people in the community like Vanessa McFarland’s family.

“My mother went to Slater-Marietta High School along with many people I live around. I went to elementary school here, my brother and I,” Vanessa McFarland told us.

McFarland add even her own kids went there.

But it wasn’t always an elementary school. It was a high school. In fact, the only option for north Greenville County residents.

“We want to give the rural people good education because it’s going to keep the rural areas, rural,” said Gina Norris Hinton, President of the Slater-Marietta Community Association.

But Gina Norris Hinton with the Slater-Marietta Community Association said it closed in the early 1970’s, as students merged with Travelers Rest High School.

“For some, it’s almost an hour drive. Our lines go all the way up to the North Carolina lines,” Norris Hinton explained.

On top of some high school students and their families now having to drive miles to school, Greenville County Councilman Joe Dill said the population there is growing. He believes now is the time for a high school to open again to keep up with the demand.

“New housing, new subdivisions from Travelers Rest all the way to the North Carolina line. This is creating a situation where the school district is going to need to do some kind of long-range plan, as to how they’re going to address all the long-term growth,” said Greenville County Councilman, Joe Dill.

McFarland agrees. Her family knows that high school commute all too well.

“It takes us 30 minutes to get to school and back. I rode the school bus when I was in school, it was a two hour ride in the morning and a two hour ride in the afternoon,” McFarland told 7NEWS.

Plus, she loves where she lives and hopes one day, her family can once again call themselves, Slater-Marietta High School alumni.

“I’ve been here 44 years. I don’t have plans on leaving, I hope my kids stick around,” said McFarland.

School board members with the Greenville County School District have said they will take these concerns into consideration. Councilman Joe Dill said what’s next in all of this is waiting for the district to come back with their long-range facilities plan.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Open Space Institute (OSI) announced a joint, two-phase effort to permanently protect more than 7,300 acres in Coastal South Carolina’s Hampton and Jasper counties. The protection of the property, known locally as “Buckfield,” will link ecologically significant landscapes, creating a 12,000-acre stretch of protected land in this fast-growing region, and make way for publicly accessible recreation land in the near future.

On June 30, TNC acquired 3,654 acres, marking a bold first step in the permanent protection of Buckfield.

“Buckfield’s enormous size, extensive river frontage and healthy longleaf pine forests have long made it a property of interest for conservation in county comprehensive plans and by the conservation community,” says Dale Threatt-Taylor, TNC's executive director in South Carolina. “We’re thrilled to be joining OSI in this significant conservation achievement and to be opening these lands to the people of South Carolina in the near future.”

OSI intends to acquire the remaining 3,672 acres later this year. The entire Buckfield property (parts I and II), along with the adjacent 5,000-acre Slater property secured by OSI last year, is expected to be transferred to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) to become an approximately 12,000-acre WMA. The land will be open for public access.

“The conservation of Buckfield in this vulnerable region is a momentous achievement on its own. When combined with Slater, these 12,000 acres offer largescale connectivity and limitless public recreation opportunities,” said Nate Berry, OSI’s senior vice president. “This is an unparalleled triumph for the people and wildlife of this region."

Buckfield is an ecological treasure with upland longleaf pine forests providing habitat for rare gopher tortoise populations, 36 miles of river frontage on the Coosawhatchie River and Tulifinny River, and many braided streams. This immense watershed drains into the Port Royal Sound, providing clean, abundant water for citizens downstream and replenishing the estuaries on which recreational and commercial fisheries depend.

Additionally, the property, along with adjoining protected properties, creates a “nature bridge” of undeveloped land that spans from the 300,000-acre Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto (ACE) Rivers Basin to the 450,000-acre South Lowcountry-Savannah River (SOLO).

Until recently, the area between the ACE Basin and the SOLO—where Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties intersect—had few protected properties and almost no publicly accessible land. It also faces development pressure from the rapidly growing communities of Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head, located less than 20 miles away.

“Buckfield is a huge success and helps fulfill Jasper County’s community vision for the protection of land for public recreation, water quality and economic development," commented Andy Fulghum, Jasper County administrator. “We applaud TNC and OSI for partnering to get this deal done and look forward to working together on future conservation victories.”

In 2021, OSI purchased three properties, known as the Slater assemblage, totaling slightly more than 5,000 acres, in the heart of this unprotected region. The Slater project kickstarted the acquisition of adjacent Buckfield.

As development continues throughout the Lowcountry, an organization recently announced its $16 million purchase of land in Jasper County to be protected for public use.

The Open Space Institute said it closed May 20 on the 3,800-acre Slater tract in northern Jasper County. The purchase makes it "one of the largest conservation investments in state history," according to the institute.

The institute said it plans to transfer the property to the South Carolina Department of Resources as funding becomes available.

"The purchase and use of the property as a wildlife management area accomplishes goals identified in the county’s 2018 comprehensive plan as well as the county’s Natural Resources Conservation Plan of 2007, which specifically recognized the Slater tract as a primary longleaf pine protection area," Jasper County administrator Andy Fulghum said.

Fulghum said the land will be protected and programmed for use by residents and visitors. It encompasses 3,800 acres of mature upland pinelands, bottomland forests and cypress/tupelo swamps, a news release said.

Eleven miles of the Coosawhatchie River and its tributaries are within the borders of the property, OSI said, and the swamp and upland forests "mitigate downstream flooding and to sustain water quality in Port Royal Sound."

“The Slater property fully incorporates every characteristic that justifies land protection in South Carolina,” OSI senior vice president and Southeast Office director Nate Berry said in the release.

Berry said the tract "expands public access in an area where public lands are relatively scarce; it protects water quality and fisheries in the Port Royal Sound estuary and the Broad River; it secures habitat that is essential for hundreds of varieties of plants and animals, and it helps mitigate climate change by storing hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon.”

The release said the closest public property is a 40-minute drive for most Jasper County residents. It said the Slater tract will provide opportunities for fishing, hunting and other recreation.

"The property will be quickly designated as a heritage preserve and wildlife management area by the state, making it perpetually available for public enjoyment for hunting, fishing, hiking, wildlife watching, and significant public educational opportunities to include academic research and local school outdoor lab opportunities," Fulghum said.

The tract "is the anchor property for a larger initiative in this region to permanently protect habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species of plants and animals," the release said.

"Multiple aquatic systems and sensitive species along five miles of frontage on the Coosawhatchie and Tulifinny rivers will be protected while the diversity of wildland recreation opportunities in Jasper County will be expanded, increasing tourist attraction, stimulating the economy, and providing an opportunity to educate all on the wise use and management of our natural resources," Fulghum said.

The property includes a sand ridge that hosts a growing population of 150 gopher tortoises. A federally designated “at risk” species, gopher tortoises excavate burrows that provide habitats for dozens of other animals, making it a “keystone” species, the release said.

“We are excited about the protection of the Slater tract and appreciate the partnership of OSI to ensure this tract remains a key piece for natural resources, such as the state endangered gopher tortoise,” DNR director Robert Boyles said.

Other rare animals at the site include southern hognose snakes, federally protected Rafinesque’s big-eared bats, bald eagles, Florida pine snakes and eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, OSI said.

The Slater tract links the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge with the Southern Lowcountry Focus Area, according to the release. Combined, they "cover more than a tenth of South Carolina’s land area, and constitute one of the largest undeveloped, ecologically intact regions on the East Coast."

“The protection of Slater is not just a game changer for future ecosystem protection and land use in this region. It is the game changer,” said Chris Marsh, director of the Spring Island Trust and the Lowcountry Institute said. “OSI’s protection of the Slater Tract is a huge win for all those who love the outdoors in the region because it represents the first critical step in protecting the headwaters of the Port Royal Sound.”

Sumter County Sheriff's deputies say 23-year-old Derrick Slater was found dead along Scales Road around 11 a.m. Saturday. He was reported missing October 22.

Sumter County, SC (WLTX) -- In Sumter County, an investigation is underway into the death of a missing man.

Sumter County Sheriff's deputies say 23-year-old Derrick Slater was found dead along Scales Road around 11 a.m. Saturday.

RELATED: Missing Sumter man found dead, ruled suspicious

They say his body was found a short distance from his car off Coon Ridge Road. The vehicle was located Friday.

Officials say they're ruling Slater's death as suspicious and say it appears to be the result of a robbery.

"I don't understand, I don't know what happened. I don't know what went wrong," said Slater's mother, Shandel Porter.

Porter says her son was a big teddy bear, and never harmed a soul.

Credit: Family Members

"His nickname is 'Snacks'," she said. "The reason why we call him Snacks is because I have a convenience store. He used to always come out here and get my snacks and take them and sell them at school. "

A Rembert native and graduate of Crestwood High School, Slater's dream was to be a rapper and promoter.

Loved ones say everyone fell in love with his energy and personality.

"He was a loving young man. Everybody, and when I say everybody, everybody fell in love with him," said Porter.

Slater was a hard worker, his mother says. He was recently promoted to manager at a McDonald's in Camden.

Credit: Family Members

"One day we had a conversation and he said, 'Mom, I started from the bottom at McDonald's making $7.25. Look where I am today'," said Porter.

Slater was about to become a first-time father. His baby boy is due November 29.

Officials say persons of interest have been identified in this case, but wouldn't release the names to the public.

A candlelight vigil for Slater is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. at The Yellow Store off Pisgah Road in Rembert.

OPINION AND COMMENTARY

Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters.

This is part of the Lowcountry Swamped series. Read about the problem of over development in the Lowcountry and the history behind a tract of Jasper County land being considered for conservation.

For once, a yellow-throated warbler bid me good morning deep in the South Carolina Lowcountry instead of the usual full-throttled leaf blower.

I was touring a great new wonder — the 5,000-acre Slater tract in northern Jasper County that will not only be saved from development forever but also be open to the public.

“It’s one of the most beautiful pieces of property I’ve ever seen,” said Dana Beach, the retired founding director of the Coastal Conservation League.

He calls it “the epicenter of biodiversity in the South,” and retired Lowcountry Institute director Chris Marsh says it has “an incredible mosaic of habitat because of the topography” that make it as critical as any land in the state.

And since that tour more than a year ago, the adjacent 7,000-acre Buckfield tract is also being purchased for preservation, and public access.

This is the answer the problem of Lowcountry sprawl.

This is the only way the Lowcountry will be saved from the Atlanta-style development that has swamped Bluffton and Hardeeville and is now snaking its way into unincorporated Jasper County.

We’re at a tipping point and the saving grace, if it happens, will be public land ownership, public acquisition of development rights, and private landowners setting up voluntary conservation easements.

We now know the future of the Slater and Buckfield tracts.

They sit almost a dolphin’s leap from Exit 28 on Interstate-95. It’s easy to envision intense development there. We’ve witnessed the dark and lonely McGarvey’s Corner intersection half an hour away morph into an overcrowded cloverleaf outside Sun City Hilton Head.

And these tracts are laced with the Coosawhatchie and Tulifinny rivers, forming a horseshoe of environmental protection around the headwaters of Port Royal Sound.

“We’re trying to change people’s mindset,” said Charles Lane.

He was an early instigator of the ACE Basin movement that has protected 320,000 acres between Hilton Head Island and Charleston over the past 30 years, and active in the Slater and Buckfield deals.

“If people think development is inevitable, they are unlikely to be a player for conservation. If they think conservation is a more likely outcome, they are more willing to talk.

“What Buckfield and Slater do for us is provide an anchor up here. We can build on that.

“And we’re going to have to find other anchors.”

Land conservation has a lot of momentum in South Carolina.

The Slater and Buckfield deals show it.

It helps conservationists when land is still held in large tracts, as it is in the Lowcountry. Big tracts were often plantations, then tree farms or hunting preserves, now often owned by interests nationwide as timber investment management organizations (TIMOs).

Hampton County native Wise Batten, who owns a forestry management and real estate brokerage firm based in Estill, calls them “a timber hedge fund.”

They would approach pension plans, endowments, insurance companies and very wealthy people and say ‘we can earn you 5% over a long period.’”

In Beaufort County and in Hardeeville, former timber land was often sold in big tracts to developers who got it annexed into a town with a development agreement in hand, then flipped parcels to national homebuilders such as D.R. Horton and neighborhoods sprang up overnight.

On the other side, a couple of national organizations that made the Slater and Buckfield deals possible came seeking long-term conservation of environmentally sensitive land for it to remain in traditional uses and thwart sprawling development.

The Open Space Institute (OSI) bought the Slater tract in three chunks for about $20 million. It will get that money back when the state buys the land and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources manages it for wildlife and land protection, as well as public uses such as hiking, fishing and hunting.

The Nature Conservancy bought half of the Buckfield land for about $16 million and OSI is expected to buy the rest by the end of the year. The state is to buy that tract as well, setting up a 12,000-acre wildlife management area with public access.

To make this possible, private foundations and donors got help from the federal government with the aid of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, and allocations from the state legislature, the state Conservation Bank, and the S.C. Heritage Trust program.

“We’ve seen an unprecedented amount of state resources for conservation,” Lane said — more than $100 million recently. The same is true at the federal and county levels, he said.

The Lowcountry also has a collaborative conservation community, with OSI, the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, land trusts, and private property owners working together with state and local governments — and working across county lines.

“There is more money than there ever has been to do this at the federal, state, local and private level,” Beach said. “And there’s more landowner awareness. There’s a more competent big-land conservation movement now.

“If we look back and see the evolution of the protected land base, it’s not only better zoning and better public policies, but also a better attitude with local citizens and local government.”

The Lowcountry’s golden goose is not the beach or military that have drawn so many people here.

It is the land itself, with graceful trees and stirring wildlife, its meandering creeks and rivers, and marshes cackling with life.

And private property owners who appreciate that have led the way in land conservation.

“South Carolina has quite a conservation story to tell the nation,” said Kate Schafer with the Open Land Trust based in Beaufort.

The ACE Basin story is based on private landowners making individual conservation easements.

Batten and his wife have placed a large tract near Estill in a permanent easement, for example, and he points to neighbors doing the same, such as the John D. Carswell family.

The Slater tract was sold by Glover Real Estate LLC of Bluffton.

Buckfield is being sold by Richard L. Chilton Jr. of Connecticut, owner of a global investment management firm. He also owns White Hall Plantation in Colleton County, and Bull Island in the May River near Bluffton.

He told The Island Packet in 2001, “We’re preservationists, not developers.”

Jasper County administrator Andy Fulghum sees the future 12,000-acre Wildlife Management Area as a perfect fit for the region.

He says it is part of recreational economy, which includes private hunt clubs and the Congaree Golf Club nearby, where the PGA Tour recently held its second tournament.

Combined with the quiet industry of solar panel farms that produce about $1 million annually for the county without demanding any services, Jasper County now sees a better option than hoping residential development will pay for itself, which it never does.

“Slater is going to be huge for us as sort of economic development and for providing recreational amenities for folks that we don’t have to pay for as local taxpayers,” he said.

Michelle Sinkler, special projects manager for OSI, said, “This is not only an anchor for homeowners but an anchor for leadership, to show Jasper and Hampton county leaders that this can be done. So when they do have, perhaps, a nonconforming project come in front of them, they have confidence in saying ‘no’ perhaps to annexations or inappropriate development proposals.

“We hope 12,000 acres in public lands can inspire leaders to make hard decisions.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2022, 5:00 AM.