No matter how much Charleston County grows in the future, the coastal area of Little Goat Island is likely to remain a pristine, undisturbed sea island.
In late March, owners Gary and Kim Chesson donated Little Goat Island to Lowcountry Land Trust as a full conservation easement, with the intention of preserving its natural wildlife habitat, beauty and water quality, such that it will look the same 200 years from now as it did 200 years ago.
“The land trust acts as the steward of the land’s conservation status,” said Elizabeth Cross, senior marketing manager with Obviouslee, a Charleston marketing company affiliated with Lowcountry Land Trust. “The Chessons will retain ownership of the island but have given up the right to develop or alter the land in certain ways in order to protect its conservation values.”
Narrowly situated between Isle of Palms and the Intracoastal Waterway, Little Goat Island comprises 28 acres of upland habitat surrounded by 393 acres of salt marsh…