BRACK: Protect the magnificence of beautiful, local places

Marsh at Botany Bay, by English Purcell.

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  We are blessed in the Lowcountry to have beauty all around — green, teeming marshes filled with a bounty of wildlife, water vistas to soothe the soul, caverns of greenery in maritime forests.  Beauty is so abundant here that we sometimes forget its magnificence.

Families who visit the area have no shortage of outdoorsy things to do that area residents take advantage of frequently.  Just marvel at these natural assets:

County parks are scattered throughout Charleston County’s 916 square miles of land and 442 square miles of waterways.  In February, Caw Caw Interpretive Center offers world-class viewings for migrating birds. Visitors can learn daily about the area’s deep and troubled history at places like McLeod Plantation Historic Site.  Or they can stroll beaches at parks on Isle of Palms, Folly Beach and Kiawah Island.  

State parks and sites, like those at Charles Towne Landing, Botany Bay and Hampton Plantation, offer a hearty blend of history and nature, just as you can find at federally-protected sites from Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie to hundreds of thousands of area acres at Francis Marion National Forest. To the north of the peninsula are the delights of barrier islands at the 66,000-acre Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.  To the south is the 11,000-acre Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge.

Then there are parks, big and small, throughout Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant, all of which buzz with historic buildings and areas where people can learn the region’s rich history.  And to top it all off are attractions filled with nature, such as the historic plantations on the Ashley River and nearby Beidler Forest.  

Yes, we are blessed.  But can we do more?  You bet.  Let’s redouble our efforts this year to protect more land, protect more beauty and create new vistas for people to relish.  At the same time, let’s fight to thwart the overdevelopment and hotel-building that are making parts of the area look like shortened urban canyons that blight big cities up and down the East Coast.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents, and publisher of the Charleston City Paper.  Have a comment?  Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.