Whetstone Preserve

The Whetstone Creek Preserve will protect 155 acres that were recently designated a conservation priority by the US Forest Service (USFS) in the Sumter National Forest. This project will help eliminate a major source of pollution into the Chattooga River and protect a potential site of a Cherokee Village where a Cherokee trading trail once passed. Through a multi-faceted partnership of NRCS, Upstate Forever, the Oconee Conservation Bank, and the US Forest Service, this project unites the goals of federal, state, and non-profit groups to improve water quality, protect wildlife corridors, and secure property once utilized by the Cherokees and now adjacent to a National Forest.

The Chattooga River is a designated wild and scenic river forming the South Carolina and Georgia border. It is one of the longest and most free-flowing rivers in the Southeast, but its health is largely determined by inputs of creeks and other tributaries along its course. In South Carolina’s Upstate, the main tributary to the Chattooga is the Whetstone Creek watershed. Unfortunately, this creek is one of the worst polluters to the River through unsustainable farming, cattle, and land management practices.

In many cases, as is with the proposed Whetstone Creek Preserve, agriculture and cattle have encroached right up to the waterway, causing erosion, sedimentation, and infusion of fecal matter, pesticides, and herbicides into the creek. This project aims to protect 155 acres along Whetstone Creek to reestablish a robust riparian buffer and ensure best management practices eliminate negative impacts to Whetstone Creek and its terminus at the Chattooga River. In addition, one of our top priorities is to determine whether or not it was a site of a Cherokee village. We have worked with the Museum of the Cherokee in the past and will allow them and their staff to survey the property for artifacts or historical markers.