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Summer/Fall, 2000 Volume 1, Number 2

��������������Information and News about the Jocassee Gorges

Upstate South Carolina developer Jim Anthony - whosedevelopment Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards is adjacent to the JocasseeGorges - recently donated $100,000 to the Jocassee Gorges TrustFund.

“The job that the conservation community has done at JocasseeGorges has really inspired me,” said Anthony, president of CliffsCommunities. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be here atthe right time and to be able to help like this. We’re delighted toplay a small part in maintaining the Jocassee Gorges tract.”

John Frampton, assistant director for development and nationalaffairs with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, saidAnthony’s donation will “jump-start the Trust Fund. This will be aliving gift, because we will eventually be able to do many good

Developer donates $100,000to Jocassee Gorges Trust Fund

things at Jocassee with the interest fromthe Trust Fund.

“We are excited about CliffsCommunities becoming a partner with theDNR on the Jocassee project,” Framptonsaid. “Although there is a substantialamount of acreage protected in theJocassee Gorges, some developmentaround it is going to occur. The citizensin this state are fortunate to have adeveloper like Jim Anthony whoseconservation ethic is reflected in hisproperties. In the Cliffs Communities’developments, a lot of the green space andkey wildlife portions are preserved andenhanced. Jim Anthony has long beenknown as a conservationist, and thisgenerous donation further illustrates hiscommitment to conservation andprotection of these unique mountainhabitats.”

Approved in 1997 by the S.C. NaturalResources Board, the Jocassee GorgesTrust Fund will provide money to managethe area and perhaps add to it if additionalproperties become available.

Those wishing to contribute to the fundmay make a check to the S.C. Departmentof Natural Resources and send it to:Jocassee Gorges Trust Fund, DNR, POBox 167, Columbia, SC 29202. In the“For” section of the check in the bottomleft corner, write “Jocassee Gorges TrustFund.”

A $100,000 donation by Cliffs Communities to the Jocassee Gorges TrustFund will mean a living legacy for the upstate natural area. At the recentdonation presentation were (from left) Sam Stokes Sr., DNR regional wildlifebiologist; John Frampton, DNR assistant director for development andnational affairs; Jim Anthony, Cliffs Communities president; Dr. JoabLesesne, S.C. Natural Resources Board chairman; and Billy McTeer, DNRdeputy director for wildlife and freshwater fisheries.

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The Jocassee Gorges lost one of its best friends when longtime DNRconservation officer Franklin L. Gravely of Sunset died July 30th.

Gravely, who retired as aconservation officer with the S.C.Department of Natural Resources in1988 after 42 years service, was alegend in the South Carolinamountains. The stories of his searchand rescue efforts and of his lawenforcement prowess in the vastmountain expanses of upperGreenville, Pickens and Oconeecounties could fill many volumes.

He was instrumental instocking deer and wild turkeys inthe mountain region, as well as

preserving black bear habitat, and he helped to protect wildernessareas in the Upstate for future generations to enjoy.

In 1980, the state named the Franklin L. Gravely WildlifeManagement Area in his honor. This public hunting area is withinthe Jocassee Gorges tract.

A South Carolina Wildlife magazine article called Gravely “amountain man’s mountain man, a living legend throughout therugged wilderness of northwestern South Carolina.”

Memorials may be made to the Jocassee Gorges Trust Fund, POBox 167, Columbia, SC 29202-0167.

Legendary Jocassee-areaconservation officer dies

Franklin L. Gravely

Conservation officer Franklin Gravely spent most of his life patrolling thearea now known as Jocassee Gorges, and his ef forts to preserve and protect thearea are still bearing fruit today. The Franklin L. Gravely WildlifeManagement Area in the Jocassee Gorges is named in his honor.

Clemson University’s BiodiversityInitiative and the Jocassee GorgesProfessional Management and ResearchWorking Group are developing a workingconcept for a South Carolina BiologicalSurvey.

The two groups met April 26-27 atClemson University, hearing twopresentations: the first an overview of theIllinois Natural History Survey, and thesecond one reporting on a detailedregional survey known as the GreatSmoky Mountains All Taxa BiodiversityInventory.

The proposed South Carolina BiologicalSurvey would be headquartered atClemson and incorporated into DNRprograms and budgets. It would be builtaround a core staff of scientists withfaculty status, coordinating a program ofsurveys centered initially on the BlueRidge Escarpment, with funding fromdiverse sources. Such a survey would havea strong built-in public involvement,contributing specimens to Clemsoncollections and data to a DNR databasesystem.

Among the expected benefits of a SouthCarolina Biological Survey would be: astore of data to guide managementdecisions; semi-independent source ofscientific information for resource decisionmaking; baseline of biological data againstwhich to measure changes; source ofeducational materials; increased supportfor graduate and professional education infield biology, taxonomy and ecology; anda better understanding of threats tohuman health and economic well-being.

Biological Surveyfor South Carolina

proposed

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Jocassee brochure availableThe Jocassee Gorges brochure, published by the S.C.

Department of Natural Resources with funding from ClemsonUniversity Biodiversity Initiative, is available.

The brochure features a full-color map showing the JocasseeGorges tract and surrounding conservation lands. Included inthe brochure is a driving tour of Jocassee Gorges andinformation on nearby state parks, camping opportunities,fishing, hunting, bird watching and other recreationalopportunities.

Copies of the brochure may be obtained at DNR and StateParks offices in Columbia, and at Clemson University, Keowee-Toxaway, Devils Fork, Oconee, Jones Gap, Caesars Head andTable Rock (SC 11 Visitors’ Center) state parks, Walhalla StateFish Hatchery, Duke Power’s World of Energy, U.S. ForestService Andrew Pickens Ranger District, DNR Clemson officeand Clemson Extension offices in Oconee, Pickens, Greenville,Anderson and Spartanburg counties.

Staff from the S.C. Department ofNatural Resources and the S.C.Department of Parks, Recreation andTourism have been meeting to discussways to use Keowee-Toxaway State Park asa gateway to the Jocassee Gorges.

Keowee-Toxaway State Park is on SC11 in Oconee County, and is adjacent tothe Jocassee Gorges natural area.

A joint DNR/PRT committee metseveral times during the summer to discussa cooperative project at Keowee-Toxaway,which would include education and publicoutreach in association with JocasseeGorges. Preliminary plans call for avisitor’s center on the northwest side ofSC 11 that would be able to accommodateboth school groups and general visitorsand would include interpretive space andclassrooms.

Clemson University will also be apartner in the educational aspect of theKeowee-Toxaway project.

Funding support for the project will besought in the 2001 session of the SouthCarolina General Assembly.

DNR, PRT discuss usingKeowee-Toxaway as

Jocassee gateway

Clemson University master’s student Anna Huckabee listensfor bird calls during her bird research work along the FoothillsTrail in the Jocassee Gorges. Helping her in this effort was herfather, retired Lexington veterinarian Dr. Eddy Huckabee.In her research, Huckabee is field testing predictions made byPaul Hamel of The Nature Conservancy in his manual forbiologists, “The Land Manager’s Guide to the Birds of theSouth.” The manual predicts that 1) habitat characteristicswill determine what birds will be found within a particularlandscape; and 2) if the ranges of the birds species in questionfall within their optimal habitat and all conditions foroccupancy are met, then these bird species should be presentwithin that landscape.

Bird research

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United States Sen.Fritz Hollingsrecently helped theU.S. Forest Serviceacquire a 3,998-acre tract inOconee Countythat is adjacent toboth the JocasseeGorges tract andexisting lands inthe Andrew

Pickens District of Sumter National Forest.Part of the tract is along the North Caro-lina state line.

Purchased from Duke Energy’s Cres-cent Resources for $6.6 million, the landswill help protect wildlife habitat, protectthe watershed and enhance public access torecreation on the forest.

“Senator Fritz Hollings was instrumen-tal in obtaining the appropriations toacquire these Forest Service lands adjacentto Jocassee Gorges,” said John Frampton,DNR assistant director for developmentand national affairs. “From the verybeginning, the Jocassee Gorges projectwas represented as a partnership, whichincluded the acquisition of lands by theU.S. Forest Service, by the state and byThe Conservation Fund. Senator Hollingshelped make this recent land acquisition areality by securing the necessary appropria-tions over a two-year period.”

According to the U.S. Forest Service, aspecial appropriation helped fund thepurchase, under the Weeks Law of March1911, designed to protect watersheds.

Hollings helps ForestService acquire

4,000-acre Jocassee tractSouth Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officers

in Oconee and Pickens patrolled 749 hours in the Jocassee Gorgesbetween May-August 2000, wrote 59 summons, 54 warnings, madeeight arrests for simple possession of marijuana, investigated fourboating accidents on Lake Jocassee, and responded to two calls ofinjuries on the Foothills Trail.

One of the injury calls reported that a female subject had fallenfrom Laurel Fork Falls, which turned out to be she was struck in theface with a tree branch from a hiking companion. Another injury callreported that a male subject fell from Laurel Fork Falls and wastransported to the hospital for treatment.

Officers also searched for Boy Scouts from Charlotte who werelost and were later located about 10 miles from were they wheresupposed to be. Also, a female juvenile had an asthmatic attackwhile hiking on the Foothills Trail. South Carolina DNR officersresponded by boat to retrieve the subject and returned her to Devil’sFork State Park.

Officers are diligently patrolling this area to deter any action thatwould be detrimental to the natural resources of the JocasseeGorges.

(Compiled by DNR First Sergeants Larry Snipes and Larry Holbrooks)

Jocassee Gorges DNR lawenforcement activity reported

The 122nd Engineer Battalion of the S.C. Army National Guardworked in the Jocassee Gorges this summer to improve roads andconstruct three emergency helicopter pads.

The helicopter pads will provide access in the event of accidentsand will provide landing and fueling areas near water sources in theevent of wildfires. Work by the National Guard and the DNR isscheduled to continue through the summer of 2001.

Persons operating vehicles on the Jocassee Gorges roads shouldrealize that many of the roads are in need of improvement, andcooperative road improvements by the National Guard and DNRwill take several years. Extreme caution is warranted by vehicleoperators due to the poor condition of some of the roadways andthe ongoing construction activities.

National Guard improving roadsin Jocassee Gorges

Sen. Fritz Hollings

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The Jocassee Journal is building its mailing list. If you would like to receive the Journal twice a year, complete theform below. Please indicate if you prefer to receive by mail or electronically. See below for contact information.

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Phone ________________ ❑ Fax ______________Please mail completed form to:Greg Lucas, SCDNR, PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202-0167.Or, send both sides by FAX to Greg Lucas at (803) 734-3951.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources and its role in theJocassee Gorges conservation project were honored recently by TheConservation Fund in partnership with Kodak and the NationalGeographic Society.

The award, “America’s Parks for the 21st Century,” was presentedSept. 12 in Arlington, Va., to the S.C. Department of NaturalResources (DNR) for its leadership in the Jocassee Gorges projectand efforts to create a nationwide network of trails and greenways.On hand to accept the award were Dr. Paul Sandifer, DNR director,and John Frampton, DNR assistant director for development andnational affairs. The award is part of The Conservation Fund’sAmerican Greenways Program.

“The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has a long traditionof success in protecting the state’s unmatched rivers, wetlands andforests from the Lowcountry to the highlands,” said Ed McMahon,director of The Conservation Fund’s American Greenways Program,in presenting the national award. “In doing so, it has createdinnovative greenways that link the state’s natural treasures. Mostrecently, in a partnership that included South Carolina’s governor,key legislators, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, foundationsand a major regional corporation, the DNR spearheaded efforts toprotect more than 44,000 acres of environmentally and ecologicallysignificant land in the Jocassee Gorges area of northwestern SouthCarolina, creating one of the largest protected areas in theSoutheast.”

In accepting the award, Sandifer recognized individuals andgroups who played key roles in the Jocassee Gorges project: The

Jocassee project receives nationalconservation award

Nature Conservancy, the Richard KingMellon Foundation, Gov. Jim Hodges, theGeneral Assembly, the state’sCongressional delegation, former DNRdirector Dr. Jim Timmerman, and JohnFrampton.

Pinnacle Mountain, in the Jocassee Gorgesnatural area, appears to hold a treasure-trove ofmysterious markings called petroglyphs. Dr. JoabLesesne, S.C. Natural Resources Boardchairman, and Dennis Chastain, take a look atsome of the stone etchings on Pinnacle. For adetailed story on the petroglyphs, see the “Signsin Stone” in the November-December 1999edition of South Carolina Wildlife magazine.

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We’re glad you picked up this issue of the Jocassee Journal, and hope you found it informative. Please take amoment to let us know a little about yourself, and send us your comments, requests, ideas regarding the JocasseeJournal or the Jocassee Gorges area.

(optional) I am active in the following:

❑ bird watching❑ camping❑ canoeing/kayaking

Comments, requests, ideas:

(Editor’s note: Clemson graduatestudent LayLa Waldrop is currently writingthe thesis for her two-year Cane Creek plantsurvey. The following is an abstract of herresearch project.)

The Cane Creek Watershed is one ofthe four existing watersheds includedwithin the Jocassee Gorges natural area.The Cane Creek Watershed consists of

about 7.6 miles of stream associated with the Keowee Riversystem of the Savannah River Drainage system. A two-yearsurvey of the vascular flora of the watershed was initiated in1998. This investigation resulted in the collection of about 500plant species presently including 98 plant families. Investigationwas primarily based on plant availability and distribution.Consideration was made to note endemics and disjuncts com-prised within the watershed boundaries.

At present the list includes 16 species of state, regional ornational concern. These species include Asplenium monanthes,Carex austrocaroliniana, Carex bromoides var. montana, Carexradfordii, Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis, Gaultheriaprocumbens, Galearis spectablis, Hepatica acutiloba, Juglanscinera, Juncus gymnocarpus, Lygodium palmatum, Panaxquinquefolia, Saxifraga micranthidifolia, Shortia galacifolia,Trillium discolor, and Xerophyllum asphodeloides.

Plant communities are also detailed within the study inrelation to distribution and composition.

Cane Creek Watershedplant study nears conclusion

Clemson University master’s student LayLaWaldrop prepares to press a fern during her two-year survey of the Cane Creek Watershed’s plantlife in the Jocassee Gorges natural area. Researchprojects like Waldrop’s help scientists gain a broaderunderstanding of the biological diversity of JocasseeGorges, providing guidance for future man-agement strategies.

Hepatica americana

❑ conservation group❑ fishing❑ hiking

❑ horseback riding❑ hunting❑ OHV/ATV recreation

❑ mountain biking❑ rock climbing

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rattlesnakes, fish communities,amphibians, small mammals,terrestrial mollusks and breed-ing birds. Some of theseprojects will continue into2001.

These studies will provide dataneeded so that Gorges State Parkand new Game Land may be ef-fectively managed for the con-servation of their nationallysignificant natural resources.

For more information,contact:

Seth LambiaseN.C. Division of Parks and

Recreation, in Raleigh, N.C.,at (919) 715-8693 or

Seth.Lambiase@ncmail.net.

Natural resource inventories underwayin North Carolina Jocassee Gorges

Red salamander

By Scott AbellaAlthough forests in Jocassee Gorges

appear pristine, most of the property hasbeen clear cut or selectively logged severaltimes since the late 1800s. Manycommercial forest industries ownedJocassee Gorges before its purchase by theS.C. Department of Natural Resources,and the property has supplied timber tobuild factories, houses and even sewingmachine cabinets. A primary objective ofDNR is to enhance and restore forestsnative to Jocassee Gorges. But what foresttypes would occupy Jocassee Gorges todayhad the property not been logged?

The purpose of my forest resourcesmaster of science project at ClemsonUniversity is to classify the different forestecosystems that occur in Jocassee Gorges.Research plots will be established in someof the older forests of Jocassee Gorges thathave not been cut recently, and the projectwill inventory trees, understory plants,soils and topography in each plot. Usingcomputer programs, research plots will begrouped into ecosystem types that occupysimilar soils and elevations and containsimilar vegetation. The different foresttypes of Jocassee Gorges can then bemapped to help predict which ecosystemswould occupy logged sites had the sitesnot been altered by logging.

Upon project completion, theseecosystem models may help DNR planforest management and restoration inJocassee Gorges. Southern Appalachianforests such as those in northwesternSouth Carolina are a center of biodiversityin North America, and in Jocassee Gorgesthere are incredible opportunities toenhance and restore native ecosystems.(Scott Abella is a master’s student inClemson University’s Department of ForestResources.)

Jocassee ecosystemdiversity to be researched

Three-lined salamanderWhile “charismatic megafauna” such as black bears and white-tailed deer drawmost of the attention, the Jocassee Gorges is teeming with seldom-seen wildlifesuch as red salamander (left) and three-lined salamander (right). The state ofNorth Carolina is currently conducting numerous research projects to catalogthe Jocassee Gorges biological diversity on the nearly 10,000 acres that it acquiredin 1999. (Photos by Seth Lambiase, N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation)

In the 1960s and 1970s,a suite of biologicalstudies of the JocasseeGorges were supportedby National ScienceFoundation grantsawarded to the HighlandsBiological Station inHighlands, N.C.

On April 29, 1999, the stateof North Carolina purchased9,749 acres of the JocasseeGorges in Transylvania Countyfrom Duke Energy Corp. Anew, 7,091-acre Gorges StatePark was created, as was a new,2,658 acre state Game Land tobe managed by the N. C.Wildlife Resources Commis-sion.

In the 1960s and 1970s, asuite of biological studies of theJocassee Gorges were sup-ported by National ScienceFoundation grants awarded tothe Highlands BiologicalStation in Highlands, N.C.New natural resource surveys,intended to update andcomplement past studies, havebeen funded by the N.C.Natural Heritage Trust Fundand coordinated by the N.C.Natural Heritage Program andthe N.C. Division of Parks andRecreation.

In 1999 and 2000, researchhas been or is being conductedon area geology, natural com-munity mapping, rare plants,

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Information and News about the Jocassee GorgesS.C. Department of Natural Resources

Dr. Paul A. Sandifer, DirectorEditor: Greg Lucas

Funding for this publication provided by:

SCDNR, Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resourcesprohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color,gender, national origin, disability, religion or age.Direct all inquiries to the Office of Human Resources,PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202.

Total cost:Total copies:Cost per copy:

S.C. Department of Natural Resources1000 Assembly Street • PO Box 167Columbia, SC 29202-0167

Printed on 100% tree free paper. (50% sugarcane and 50% post-consumer recycled.) 00CE3127

Just like zoos haveentrance gates andmuseums have exitdoors, the JocasseeGorges natural area has

its own gateways. There are five SouthCarolina State Parks that serve as“gateways” into the Jocassee Gorges.

A visit to Oconee Station State HistoricSite takes you back to a time when all ofthe upstate was as wild as the JocasseeGorges. Oconee Station was the westernfrontier of the Americas in the late 1700’s.If you time your trip right you can wanderthrough this old trading post whilesoldiers cook over open fires and trapperstrade with the Indians.

The wood floors and stone fireplaces ofthe cabins at Oconee and Table RockState Parks help you change gears from

the 21st century to simpler times while still providing some creaturecomforts.

If you don’t need the creature comforts or can’t whittle out anentire weekend from your busy 21st century life, pick up a“Parkview” publication and join a guided hike through the area.State Park Naturalists lead hikes that last a few hours to excursionsthat take you through fall foliage and deep into the Jocassee Gorges.

If you want to create your own adventure, Devil’s Fork andKeowee-Toxaway state parks offer direct access to the JocasseeGorges by boat and by foot. It is only fitting that with the JocasseeGorges now a property of the people that the South Carolina StatePark Service provides the doorways. Which door are you going tochoose?

State parks serve as ‘gateways’ to Jocassee Gorges

For a complete list of state parks and a copy of thecalendar of events, call South Carolina State Park

Service, toll-free, at 1-888-88-PARKS, orcheck out state parks on the Web at

http://www.southcarolinaparks.com

Jocassee Project Sponsors

THE CONSERVATION FUND