Growth is moving at breakneck speed in our state. Land in the Pee Dee is being developed at six times the population increase. Small towns, rural farmland and some of our most important wild areas will be lost.

No place will escape the changes. The new southern route of Interstate 73 planned for Marion and Horry [counties] near S.C. 917 will impact some of the most important wilderness areas in Marion County: namely the Little Pee Dee Heritage Preserve on S.C. 917.

Recognizing the value of large land tracts to biodiversity, this 3,700-acre tract, known as the Vaughn tract, was put into Heritage Trust in 1995. It is one of only two large public preserves in Marion County, the other being the newly acquired Woodberry tract.

The heart of this tract is a series of fluvial sand ridges interspaced between pocosin bogs, bay forests and wetland, a vanishing phenomenon in South Carolina. The most unique diversity of plants and soils make up this pristine natural area. Populations of rare species of plants such as Carolina wicky, Pickerings' dawnflower and longleaf pine can be found here. Wildlife abounds due to the unbroken area of this preserve.

So why should this matter to anyone but frogs? Why should we care about wetland, or any land put into trust?

We are losing some of our most important wild lands at a staggering rate. Wetland areas, which are nature's most productive ecosystems, are disappearing at a rate of 100,000 acres a year, 300 acres a day in South Carolina.

Wetland areas are giant sponges, storing water, filtering out pollutants and recharging and aerating our water, making it cleaner and clearer for drinking. They provide us water for recreation, fishing, swimming, and kayaking. They are also essential to flood control, as we learned painfully from Hurricane Katrina.

Recently, wetland areas, particularly the peat bogs and Carolina bays, have been recognized for their role in regulating global climate by storing large amounts of carbon in their peat deposits. Carbon is suspected as one of the contributors to global warming.

Special places like the Little Pee Dee Refuge are put aside in trust, not just for wildlife, but for people. A land trust ensures that future generations will be able to appreciate and enjoy these unique, natural areas of refuge, quiet and beauty.

The Little Pee Dee River is a priceless treasure, one of the most scenic rivers in the state, and if it were a perfect world, I would rather it stay exactly as it is. I would wish that all land in public trust not be violated by highways or development, as it is just as easy to lose something one small piece at a time. S.C. 917 was not my first choice, but since this highway will go through sensitive wetland, the mantra should be minimal impact, no net loss.

In other words, I would like to see mitigation done not just by reserving another wetland area, but by restoring already damaged wetland.

Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land, says [noted environmentalist] Aldo Leopold.

If we truly value the special places in South Carolina, then we need be aware of the rapid changes happening around us and make our voices known. Only by involving ourselves in the present can we have any effect on the future.