New paths to conservation

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that "few people know how to take a walk." Now there is another place to learn -- a lovely place at that.

The Mount Pleasant Waterworks this week is giving a 57-acre conservation easement to the Mount Pleasant Land Conservancy. In doing so, it is giving the public a chance to take a short walk through a maritime forest to the edge of an expanse of marsh. They might come upon a deer. Or they might spot an opsrey or even an eagle.

All walkers need, according to Mr. Emerson, is "endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much."

And in the case of the Waterworks Marshview Trail, they don't even need much endurance. It is only slightly longer than a football field.

The trail is expected to be used for school field trips as well as for a casual stroll. The more people who are inspired by the trail, the greater the momentum should be to secure further easements that would enhance the area's beauty and quality of life.

The Mount Pleasant Land Conservancy is working to find "publicly accessible nooks and crannies in the increasingly urban East Cooper area," according to director John Girault. This is the conservancy's second acquired easement.

Charleston County citizens showed wisdom and foresight in 2004 when they approved a sales tax to be used for greenbelt properties as well as roads and public transportation. Some significant properties throughout the county have been put under conservation easements using Greenbelt funds.

Dorchester County Council is now considering a referendum to issue $5 million in bonds to buy land to use as parks and to be protected as natural areas and wildlife habitat. It won't be easy in light of the county's financial troubles. But the payoffs for conserving natural spaces are manifold economically as well as environmentally. And in a sprawling area like Dorchester County -- like Mount Pleasant -- there is little time to waste.