Okatie’s ‘wild forest’ joins a network of old growth parks

By Gwyneth J. Saunders CONTRIBUTOR

Light rain filtering through the tree canopy overhead was pretty much ignored as a small group on a walking tour entered the Okatie Regional Preserve off Cecil Reynolds Drive in Bluffton. The thick, lush green of the leaves and vegetation also filtered most of the adjacent highway noise as the visitors were introduced to a future passive park.

The preserve is 187 acres of mixed pine and hardwood upland forest, bottomland hardwood forest, and salt marsh at the headwaters of the Okatie River. In January, the preserve was designated as the newest member of the Old-Growth Forest Network.

“We are a national nonprofit that focuses on our oldest forests across the country, trying to ensure that every county that can grow a forest will one day have an oldgrowth forest,” said Sarah Adloo, executive director of the Old-Growth Forest Network. “This particular property for this county represents some of the older, untouched wild forest that will soon be open to the public.”

The designation makes the Okatie Regional Preserve only the second South Carolina park to be part of the network The other is Congaree National Park, which includes in its 27,000 acres the largest intact expanse (11,000 acres) of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States.

There are 199 forests in 33 states in the network.

“One of the reasons why we chose this particular forest is because of the white oaks that are on this property,” said Stefanie Nagid, Beaufort County passive parks manager. “They’re not unique to the Midland or Upstate folks, but down here in the Lowcountry it’s kind of a unique tree species, and we don’t see many large ones because they grow in an area that is highly prized for development.”

At the head of the group, Beaufort County arborist and Passive Parks Manager Michael Murphy began pointing out some of the unique qualities of the trees along the rough trail.

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The John Paul II Catholic School Model United Nations team had a strong showing at the recent MUN Conference held at Winthrop University in Rock Hill. Several students spoke during the General Assembly, and the club had a resolution pass through the Human Rights committee. Members include Johana Trejo, Monica Jimenez, Maura Clark, Paige Weniger, Marcela Carbajal, Ru Bennett, Mya Jenkins, Samantha Reilly, Kathleen Hammett, Lili Lutheran, Karoline Rustad, Ben Villalobos, Cole DeTurris, Collin Anfinson, and Bodie Daniel. History teacher Bill Damude is the school’s MUN moderator.