Oconee Soil and Water Conservation Commission Attends Conference in Charleston

Oconee Soil and Water Conservation Commissioners recently attended a Partnership Conference in Charleston including SC DNR and the SC Natural Resource Conservation service, a division of the US department of Agriculture. One of the tours on St James Island from DNR proved to be a South Carolina PROUD moment: South Carolina has a 90% oyster bed restoration to our coast to protect the oyster population. SC is #1 in restoring the habitat to ensure oysters for the future. The only comparison program is in the Chesapeake Bay area where they have restored 3%. OPUS TRUST, local nonprofit focused on preservation and conservation participated in the Oyster Shell restoration project after a recent oyster roast fundraiser for the Salem Auditorium Restoration. The oysters came from Louisiana Bay area, but the shells went to our coast in SC.

(This article was written as a special submission to 94.1 The Lake by the Oconee Soil and Water Conservation and Commission.)