CONSERVING THE SATILLA RIVER CORRIDOR
By Dr. Doug Tarver
SRK Board Member and Professor, South Georgia College

Front and Center
One of the first priorities set by the leadership of SRK was to move toward the development of a conservation corridor for the Satilla River. The main problems facing the Satilla are the altered flow and quality of the water in the entire watershed. Some of the benefits of establishing a corridor will be to increase water quality, including the reduction of soil erosion, help restore and maintain natural flow and flooding, and enhance wildlife habitat. Part of, and central to, these important benefits would be to preserve and reestablish stands of bottomland hardwoods and old growth conifers. Huge acreages of old growth exist along the Satilla, but substantial amounts of land are currently under the hand of human activity, be it timber culture or other disturbance. Acreages preserved and fostered in this way would also help halt future development in the flood plain, preserving the Satilla's ability to "breathe" and clean itself as it floods and subsides, simultaneously providing habitat for some of the most amazing and notable plant and animal communities in North America.

The diversity and productivity of plants and animals in this southern river bottom are truly astounding. Throughout the year, over the same piece of ground, you can see feeding and breeding by a swallow-tail kite, a wild turkey, a redbreast sunfish, and a southern leopard frog. And, there are few other places in the world that can match the beauty and tranquility of the Satilla River bottom as it passes through seasons of swamp azaleas in the spring, shady cathedrals of bald cypress in the summer, the blazing autumn colors of sweetgum and wild grape, and the stark January tableau of deep-green longleaf pines, swamp cedars, and loblollies against the backdrop of sleeping cypress and hardwood, each in their turn.

This stellar performance is perhaps best exemplified in the redbreast sunfish population that calls the Satilla home. Several other rivers in the southeastern U.S. vie for top billing in the redbreast world, but the well-informed, professional fisheries biologists at the Waycross office of DNR's Wildlife Resources Division recently told Gordon Rogers, Executive Director and RIVERKEEPER® for SRK that the Satilla is "redbreast city," where habitat features "appear to be perfect" and standing biomass and adult individual size are out in front of all other comers. There are many important things that SRK is doing, and will do in the future, but surely preserving the corridor of the river must be one of the highest priorities.

Don't Think of a Thin Green Line (of Trees)
Preserving a river and stream corridor is much more than not cutting a few hundred feet of vegetation along the river. We are talking about, where we can, restoring and protecting the entire floodplain bottom of the main river, feeder creeks, and tributary swamps. There are many ways for present or future landowners to assist in this effort. As a shareholder in the Coffee County Hunting and Fishing Club, I have taken my interest in this topic and worked to put it into results on the ground. The Club and I have worked together to explore the several options available to achieve our goals, and select from among them. The goals of our Club include not only protecting the land, but also generating income in the process, income to be used to expand our land holdings, leveraging additional protected areas as we move forward.

For us, the avenue that currently offers the best opportunity is the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture. For land to be eligible for the WRP, and to compete well among other applicants, it must have high benefit, or be restorable, for wildlife habitat and hydrologic functions. This includes: (1) repairing and protecting areas which link wetlands that are already protected by conservation ownership, easements, or other set-asides, (2) uplands that are adjacent to or imbedded in protected or proposed-protected wetlands, and (3) crop and timber lands that were converted from wetlands, or are adjacent to wetlands that are protected or proposed-protected.

How do the easements work? With NRCS there are several ways: PERMANENT EASEMENT: NRCS pays 75 to 100 percent of the appraised value of the land and assumes management responsibility. THIRTY-YEAR EASEMENT: NRCS pays 50 to 75 percent of the appraised value, again assuming management responsibility. LESSER-TIME ARRANGEMENT: NRCS pays lesser amounts based on formulae and negotiations, typically cost-sharing habitat improvements in exchange for landowner assurances. In all of these scenarios, the land owner retains ownership, pays the taxes, can sell the land (remember, easements attached!!), hunt, fish, camp, hike, use preexisting structures, lease those use rights, and generally enjoy it as before. Land owners cannot develop the property or perform other land-disturbing activities, such as timber management, unless such activity is part of the pre-negotiated plan for the tract, a management plan which is designed to move the tract toward its natural functions and/or preserve those functions.

Which brings us to another topic: the financing of the easement transaction can also include the NRCS paying for the expense of implementing the management plan for the tract, above the negotiated funds for easement purchase. For example, the finance package might include expenses for restoring natural hydrology by removing canals, ditches, or roadbeds, thinning or removal of undesirable trees, plantings of desirable vegetation, reestablishment of buffers, and certain other wildlife habitat enhancements.

So you can see that we are talking about large tracts of land that are considered key to the ecological health of the Satilla River, looking at the situation on a wide scale. Restoring and preserving these natural functions is key to the core mission of SRK, restoring the natural flow and quality of the water flowing throughout the Satilla system. These bottoms, swamps, and vegetated streambeds can best be thought of as the "kidneys" of the living Satilla River, filtering sediment and pollutants, and regulating the flow of the water. Only restoration and preservation on a wide scale will get the job done, and conservation easements are an important tool. The important thing, right now, is to get the ball rolling, providing protected areas that other landowners can attach to, boosting their score values for the WRP program (if that's the route they choose), and rapidly expanding areas under protection. And, as you may have guessed, there are other, companion, ways to get this job done, ways that may suit some landowners more, but provide just as much protection for the Satilla.

Other Ways to Get There
There are programs other than that offered under the WRP that can help you achieve similar preservation and conservation goals. Some landowners may be uncomfortable with government programs, have no interest in the direct financial benefits associated with such a program, or have tax, charitable and family goals that are incompatible with what our government offers. Private land trusts provide the same opportunity for achieving protection, but do not necessarily involve payments for easement rights. The Camden County Land Trust (CCLT) of St. Marys, is partnering with SRK and can provide easement transfer, ownership, and management services, or accept outright gifts of land, in a private format, throughout the Satilla watershed. Rodney Sheffield, Eloise Thompson, Jim Bailey, and Alan Bailey are key operatives within the CCLT, and were some of the early supporters of SRK. They clearly see the link between restoring and preserving land, and restoring and preserving the Satilla. They are working very closely with SRK to achieve these goals. Their charter enables them to work with landowners throughout the watershed, not just in Camden County. Jim's level of commitment to the overall cause has extended to serving on the Board of SRK. These are hometown folks working to preserve the larger home we call the Satilla.

Alan and Jim have informed us that in the private format, easements and other ownership transfers are negotiated to achieve the goals of both the owner and the Trust. Multiple goals including tax benefits (income, real estate, and inheritance), support of a favorite charity, and preserving natural functions for a long period of time can be achieved on one transaction.

There are also other government programs that can be dovetailed with a WRP deal or a private transaction. Several state and federal programs targeting the recovery or conservation of specific animals and plants, including providing funds for special habitat management activities, can be part of an overall conservation program on private land.

One common misconception about government and private easement programs is that access to the public is one of the results. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The rights that are transferred in an easement are nothing more or less than what the landowner desires. If the landowner wishes for the property to remain open only to friends and family, or to no one at all, it will be so. The primary purposes of conservation easements are to restore and preserve the natural functions and values of the land. Preserving access to the land for the landowner and their heirs can be equally central to the package that is crafted.

Regardless of the route taken, landowners should consult carefully not only with co-owners, family, government representatives, and Trust personnel, they should also seek the advice of accounting and legal counsel with regard to transfers of rights, tax benefits and consequences, and any other matters of concern.

At the Coffee County hunting and fishing club, located upriver from the U. S. highway 82 bridge in Brantley County, we are in the process of placing land in the WRP's 30-year program. Our plan is to use the cash we obtain to "roll it on up the river", acquiring additional parcels, and closing complimentary transactions. Our hope and prayer is that additional landowners see the value of what we are trying to do within the CCC and SRK, and begin to "link up" with us along the river and up into the tributaries. We need "connecting landowners" to "link wetlands" like a continuous chain of jewels. Imagine this folks: a combination of private and government resources that helps restore and preserve nature, and maintains private property rights and uses at the same time. Seem impossible?? Not at all. Let's work together to establish a protective corridor for the Satilla. She richly deserves it.

For more information contact SRK at riverkeeper@satillariverkeeper.org or 912-778-3126), or call me at 912-389-4255. You can contact the CCLT at cclt@camdencountylandtrust.org or go to their website at www.camdencountylandtrust.org. You can find out official information on the WRP in Georgia by navigating on the web to www.ga.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/wrp.html, or SRK can help you get your hands on one of their brochures.

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