The Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment is a region of spectacular beauty and biodiversity. This region stretches from the Pacolet River north of Spartanburg, SC, westward to the Chattooga watershed in Georgia, and from the upper Piedmont of SC to the escarpment ridges of NC. The abrupt wall of mountains is set at an aspect that captures moist Gulf air, giving the region the highest rainfall east of the Pacific Cascades. The diversity in elevation, high rainfall, rushing rivers cascading through deep gorges, and extensive forest blocks create habitat for numerous rare species and a wide diversity of amphibians, mammals, birds and reptiles. There are over 300 occurrences of rare species and natural communities, as many as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Southern Blue Ridge ecoregion is recognized as one of the “hotspots” for biological diversity in North America and the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment is truly a hotspot within a hotspot.

The rare species along the Escarpment are a unique mix. Some are endemic to this region of the Southern Blue Ridge and Upper Piedmont. They include the well-known Oconee Bells (a species lost to science for almost a hundred years), the Mountain Sweet Pitcher Plant and several rare Trilliums. Other species are at the southern end of their range, such as the Swamp Pink (common in the New Jersey Pine Barrens) and Bog Rose (a Canadian species). The most surprising are a handful of tropical species, all ferns or mosses that have had their spores blown to this moist humid landscape. This unique natural area is also home to other species such as the black bear, native brook trout, green salamander, peregrine falcon and Rafinesque’s big-eared bat. Although comprising less than 2% of South Carolina’s acreage, approximately 400,000 acres, the mountains are habitat for more than 40% of the rare plants in the state.

There is already a decades-long history of conservation action in this landscape by many partner organizations, and The Nature Conservancy has played a role here for 30 years. There are 85,000 acres of National Forest, over 30,000 acres of the Department of Natural Resources Jocassee Gorges Gameland, several state parks encompassing over 10,000 acres, 2,400 acres of Heritage Trust Preserves, and Ellicott's Rock, a 9,000 acre Wilderness Area on the Chattooga River at the boundary of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Public conservation partners include the U.S. Forest Service, S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources, S. C. Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission, and the N.C. State Parks Department. The city of Greenville, SC has protected its two watersheds of over 30,000 acres that supply the drinking water for the city. Private partners include among others Naturaland Trust, Upstate Forever, Pacolet Conservancy, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Highlands Land Trust, and the Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy. The combined conservation record of these public and private organizations is already impressive.

This website has been funded by BMW of North America