It all starts
with the land
Defined by three historic rivers and set amid 20,000 acres, Palmetto Bluff is secluded in the truest sense, and that is surely one of the reasons this land remains so pristine today.
For more than a century, the Bluff has been known to a privileged few as one of the wildest and most beautiful places in the South Carolina Lowcountry. With a dedication to conservation versus development, at Palmetto Bluff, every adventure, inside joke and story stays rooted beneath the shelter of century-old live oaks. From calling wild turkeys to calling in your family for a freshly caught dinner, the adventures had here will become the legacies that last generations.
How We Do It
Maximizing but utilizing our natural resources
We use traditional conservation methods to enrich the flora and the fauna, for their benefit and ours. While preservation leaves Mother Nature to fend for herself, our conservation methods enrich nature’s bounty for humans and their wild neighbors.
Why We Do It
Good land ethic
As good stewards of the land, it is up to us to make sure all of our inhabitants are healthy.
COME SEE FOR YOURSELF
Ensuring our vision
of conservation stays intact
Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
At Palmetto Bluff, we manage the land for the eastern wild turkey. The eastern wild turkey is an umbrella species, meaning all species will benefit from Conservancy efforts.
Healthy Herd
Healthy Herd
We study and manage certain species to ensure their population doesn’t exceed the carrying capacity of the land.
Wildlife Corridors
Wildlife Corridors
Palmetto Bluff boasts an interconnected system of green spaces that runs north, south, east and west for animals (and humans) to move freely through the landscape and developed areas. Hundreds of thousands of edges are created by these corridors.
Habitat Management
Habitat Management
Prescribed fire management is our most important tool in habitat management. Periodic, gentle burning opens the forest floor to sunlight and encourages a new, diverse understory. Overstory trees and all land animals benefit from this necessary practice.
People Behind Land Management
Meet our team of dedicated professionals
Palmetto Bluff is a community unlike any that has come before it: a vibrant residential and recreational preserve enriched by wilderness and wildlife, enhanced by our commitment to conservation, unspoiled rivers and salt marshes, and the sounds and smells of nature. This extraordinary land is the platform for Palmetto Bluff's higher purpose: to allow people to experience the magic of the Lowcountry in its ultimate form.
Lydia Moore, Research & Education Coordinator
Lydia Moore joined the Conservancy team in 2018, where she works as a researcher, educator and community ecologist with a focus on bat conservation. Lydia has a background in conservation and ecology and earned her master’s degree studying bats in South Carolina’s coastal plain.
Meet Lydia Moore
James “Jay” Walea, Executive Director
Jay Walea is the executive director of the Conservancy, where he has worked the past 30 years to develop, implement and manage programs relating to the environment and stewardship. Jay works with all parties to identify and preserve natural resources within Palmetto Bluff’s 20,000 acres.
Meet Jay Walea
Mary Socci, Ph.D. Archaeologist and Historian
Mary Socci, Ph.D., completed her undergraduate studies at Princeton University and graduate work at Yale University. She has been the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy’s archaeologist since 2004 and is responsible for the archaeological sites and cemeteries at the Bluff.
Meet Dr. Mary Socci
Aaron Palmieri, Conservancy Educator
Aaron Palmieri began working for the Conservancy as an intern in 2012, helping to monitor bald eagle nests. After graduating from Oregon State with a degree in fisheries and wildlife sciences, Aaron is now the Conservancy educator, working to inform others about the land and wildlife.
Meet Aaron Palmieri
curious about life at the bluff?
