By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

The 160-acre Noisette Creek Preserve near the old Navy base in North Charleston has long been neglected, after suffering decades of environmental degradation stemming from filling, utility and road-crossing construction, erosion and contaminants in runoff.

The Noisette Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to sustainability, has embarked on a mission to change all that.

In May, the foundation launched a $30 million, 20-year plan to restore the preserve, whose waters, wetlands and woodlands fall within the Noisette Co.’s 3,000-acre master plan for North Charleston’s revitalization.

The preserve’s restoration is a collaborative effort involving: the foundation’s Micheaux Conservancy, created in 2002 as a steward of the preserve; Keep North Charleston Beautiful; the Clemson University Restoration Institute; the Audubon Society; the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration; students in the College of Charleston’s Master of Environmental Sciences program; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Trust for Public Land; and a host of environmental groups, government agencies and nonprofits.

The restoration will involve research efforts and community education programs showing the beauty and importance of the overlooked preserve, said Jim Augustin Jr., vice president and co-founder of the Noisette Co.

Funding for the project will come from tax increment financing, Charleston County’s half-cent sales tax initiative, the South Carolina Conservation Bank, Vought Wetlands Funds, the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Noisette Foundation and other government and nonprofit sources.

Ecology 101

Ecological health is a key component in the Noisette Co.’s long-range plan to transform North Charleston into a community where connected neighborhoods, energy-efficient buildings, green spaces and parks, walkways and bicycle paths and the natural beauty of the environment work together to create what the company calls “the New American City.”

That is why the restoration of Noisette Creek, a tributary of the Cooper River, is vital to the Noisette Co.’s master plan, said Ashley Pennington, president of the Noisette Foundation.

“The preserve plan moves the realization of the Noisette Community Master Plan another step closer,” Pennington noted. “With the preserve, we have an historic opportunity to reverse the damage of past generations by restoring the creek.”

The restoration includes two stages. The first involves restoring vegetation, wildlife habitats and ecological systems. The second is a maintenance stage.

The plan also includes the installation of storm-water treatment trains, a series of ecologically designed swales used to channel storm water through grasslands, forests and wetlands; an interpretive nature center, an educational facility overlooking Noisette Creek; walking and biking trails; and a native plant nursery.

Potential paradise

The foundation announced its restoration program on May 19 during “Noisette Creek Day,” an event hosted by North Charleston’s Academic Magnet High School and Lowcountry Earth Force, a youth-based nonprofit environmental organization.

During the event, attended by NOAA and Audubon Society representatives, students performed water, plant and animal studies and developed a greater appreciation of the Noisette Creek Preserve, Augustin said.

Augustin acknowledged that the long-neglected preserve could become a paradise the entire community could enjoy.

Having community groups gather at the preserve to promote its beauty and value is part of the restoration plan.

“We want people to see the preserve and say, ‘This is a cool place to be!’” Augustin said.

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.

SUBSCRIBE | REPRINTS | CONTACT US

Phone: 843-849-3100    Fax: 843-849-3122