Federal funds could fortify Savannah River Basin forests in fight against climate change

An environmental organization aims to enhance the pollution-absorbing capacity of bottomland forests in coastal South Carolina with the help of $39 million in federal funding.

The Savannah River Basin, which supplies drinking water for more than a half-million residents, is among the potential areas that will be considered for “ natural climate solutions ,” said Sarah Hartman, assistant South Carolina director at the Nature Conservancy .

Trees pull heat-trapping pollution from the atmosphere by sequestering carbon in new growth every year. As a tree gets bigger, it stores more carbon in its tissue. That makes forests a prime protector against climate change.

With the funding, TNC aims to identify and protect 18,000 acres of carbon-rich forest in the state.

But just like climate scientists who fear time is running out to slow warming of the atmosphere before Earth experiences irreversible damage, TNC is looking for short-term “big wins,” Hartman said.

“We want to have more five-year impacts, and have it keep growing beyond that,” she explained.  “We don't want to shoot for ones where we're like, ‘Oh, well, it's a great project, but it's not really going to start capturing carbon until 2040.’ That's just a nuance we have to consider.”

Forest filter: Preservation of 1,200 acres aims to protect Savannah River

Both sides now

Bottomland forests – swampy areas dominated by hardwoods – are particularly effective at sequestering carbon. They also filter out impurities before they reach drinking water supplies like the Savannah River. That makes swaths along the South Carolina side of the Savannah River prime targets for TNC’s project.

“It's so different on the South Carolina and Georgia sides,” Hartman explained. “It's just the way that rivers carve their way down from the mountains and the soils underneath. Georgia has more of the bluffs, and South Carolina has all of the floodplain.”

But conservation on the South Carolina side impacts both states.

“You get the recreational benefits, the wildlife benefits, wildlife viewing, water quality, all of those things,” Hartman said, adding that several property owners who have agreed to preserve areas in South Carolina live in the Savannah area.

The $39 million in South Carolina funding is part of a $200 million Enviromental Protection Agency grant to the Nature Conservancy aimed at “nature-based climate solutions, supporting significant reductions of carbon emissions” in South Carolina, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.

“Projects across the states will focus on improved forest management, peatland restoration and tidal wetland enhancement, which are three areas identified by TNC as having the highest potential greenhouse gas benefits,” the organization said in its announcement of the grant.

In all, the projects are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 28 million metric tons by 2050 – the equivalent of heat–trapping pollution generated in electricity production for 5.5 million homes over a year.

“In TNC’s 55 years of conserving South Carolina, we’ve seen how our forests can shelter wildlife, protect against flooding, keep our drinking water clean and offer opportunities to get outside,” said Dale Threatt-Taylor, executive director for TNC in South Carolina . “With this investment, these incredible resources have the potential to do even more. The same natural features that make South Carolina a wonderful place to live also can store carbon and lessen climate impacts.”

John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or jdeem@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Federal funds could fortify Savannah River Basin forests in fight against climate change