Aiken Land Conservancy

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Aiken Land Conservancy Aiken Land Conservancy works to protect and celebrate the natural landscapes and open space of Aiken and surrounding communities for generations to come.

ALC is nationally accredited by The Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Since 1991, Aiken Land Conservancy (ALC) has been instrumental in protecting thousands of acres of rolling meadows, towering pines, shady hardwoods, and scenic vistas in Aiken County through conservation easements granted by landowners and privately funded acquisitions of significant properties. ALCโ€™s mission is to nurture a positive quality of life and conserve natural and historic resources for future generations. We invite you to join us in our efforts to preserve Aiken Countyโ€™s special places.

๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ ๐’๐๐ˆ๐ƒ๐„๐‘ ๐Ž๐… ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐–๐„๐„๐Š: ๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ค-๐š๐ง๐-๐˜๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐†๐š๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง ๐’๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ž๐ซ!Talk about a spider that knows how to make an entrance! ...
10/22/2026

๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ ๐’๐๐ˆ๐ƒ๐„๐‘ ๐Ž๐… ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐–๐„๐„๐Š: ๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ค-๐š๐ง๐-๐˜๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐†๐š๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง ๐’๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ž๐ซ!

Talk about a spider that knows how to make an entrance! This striking beauty, Argiope aurantia, is hard to miss with her ๐›๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ฅ๐š๐œ๐ค-๐š๐ง๐-๐ฒ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ and impressive web.

You may also know her as the โ€œ๐ณ๐ข๐ ๐ณ๐š๐  ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ž๐ซโ€ because of the distinctive white zigzag of silk woven across the center of her web called the ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐Ÿ•ธ

And here's the good news: this intimidating-looking spider is actually a friend to your garden! Black-and-yellow garden spiders are ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐š๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž and help keep insect populations in check by catching bugs in their webs.

โœจ Fun fact: The ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Œ๐”๐‚๐‡ ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ. In fact, the female can grow to more than an inch long, while the male is tiny by comparison.

So, if you spot one of these spectacular spiders in your yard or garden, take a moment to admire her handiwork before you walk on by.

Our wonderful volunteer, Patti Bennett, recently visited Barnwell State Park as part of a Girl Scout event. She snapped ...
10/20/2026

Our wonderful volunteer, Patti Bennett, recently visited Barnwell State Park as part of a Girl Scout event. She snapped photos along the Fern Hill Trail, where Aiken Land Conservancy and our partners worked with South Carolina State Parks staff to reintroduce prescribed fire. When it comes to the health of that ecosystem, we think that the photos speak for themselves!

๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ Spider of the Week: Spiny-Backed Orb WeaverThis tiny but unmistakable spider is a spiny-backed orb weaver (Gasteracan...
10/15/2026

๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ Spider of the Week: Spiny-Backed Orb Weaver

This tiny but unmistakable spider is a spiny-backed orb weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis). This small, black and white orbโ€‘weaving spider is easily recognized by its hard, crabโ€‘shaped abdomen with six prominent spines.

Spiny-backed orb weavers may be small, but they are skilled web-builders. They construct orb-shaped webs among shrubs, trees and along woodland edges, where they wait for insects to become entangled.

And October is actually a great time to spot them, so keep your eyes peeled.

10/13/2026

๐Ÿชถ ๐€ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ž๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐š๐ญ ๐‚๐š๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ.

Sometimes the best part of a walk is simply slowing down and watching.

Itโ€™s just one more reason special places like this are worth protecting. ๐ŸŒฟ

๐Ÿข๐ŸŒฟNature Rocks! ๐ŸŒฟ๐ŸŽจWe had so much fun getting creative with the kids at Nature Rocks! With a little imaginationโ€”and some ...
10/12/2026

๐Ÿข๐ŸŒฟNature Rocks! ๐ŸŒฟ๐ŸŽจ

We had so much fun getting creative with the kids at Nature Rocks! With a little imaginationโ€”and some recycled materialsโ€”they turned everyday items into adorably creative critters. ๐Ÿ›๐Ÿฆ‹๐Ÿธ

We loved seeing all the creativity, laughter, and love for nature on display. Take a moment to look at some of the amazing animal creations the kids made with Aiken Land Conservancy! ๐Ÿ’š



City of Aiken, South Carolina Government Friends of Hopelands & Rye Patch, Inc.

Today is the day! Join us at Nature Rocks in Hopelands Gardens from 2-5pm.
10/11/2026

Today is the day! Join us at Nature Rocks in Hopelands Gardens from 2-5pm.

Tomorrow's Stewardship Shelf Book Club has been CANCELLED due to inclement weather!
10/09/2026

Tomorrow's Stewardship Shelf Book Club has been CANCELLED due to inclement weather!

๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ Spider of the Week: Lined Orbweaver (Mangora gibberosa)These small spiders are known for building relatively small, d...
10/08/2026

๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ Spider of the Week: Lined Orbweaver (Mangora gibberosa)

These small spiders are known for building relatively small, delicate webs close to the ground between stalks of tall grass or weeds.

Like other orb-weavers, it uses silk to construct an intricate web for catching insects. They play an important role in healthy ecosystems by helping control populations of tiny flying insects including gnats, mosquitoes, and flies.

Sometimes, the smallest creatures play an important role in the bigger picture.

๐ŸŒฟ Welcome, Ann Marie!Aiken Land Conservancy is excited to welcome ๐€๐ง๐ง ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ž ๐๐š๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐„๐๐ฎ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ!Ann ...
10/07/2026

๐ŸŒฟ Welcome, Ann Marie!

Aiken Land Conservancy is excited to welcome ๐€๐ง๐ง ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ž ๐๐š๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฒ ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐„๐๐ฎ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ!

Ann Marie recently moved to Aiken from Anderson, SC, where she served as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Anderson Soil and Water Conservation District for the past two years. ๐ˆ๐ง ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž, ๐ฌ๐ก๐žโ€™๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐›๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ก๐š๐ฉ๐ž ๐€๐‹๐‚โ€™๐ฌ ๐ž๐๐ฎ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ for people of all ages to learn about, explore, and connect with nature.

As we build our new education program, weโ€™re looking forward to ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ, ๐ž๐๐ฎ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐š๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ to explore how ALC can bring conservation education to our community.

Interested in connecting with Ann Marie or learning more about what our new education program could offer? Reach out to her at ๐š๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ž@๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž๐š๐ข๐ค๐ž๐ง.๐จ๐ซ๐ .

Weโ€™re thrilled to have Ann Marie on the ALC team and canโ€™t wait to see whatโ€™s ahead! ๐Ÿ’š

Aiken Land Conservancy wishes to congratulate Barry Clark for being awarded South Carolina District 5 Tree Farmer of the...
10/06/2026

Aiken Land Conservancy wishes to congratulate Barry Clark for being awarded South Carolina District 5 Tree Farmer of the Year! Barry's Aiken County farm contains stands of restored longleaf pine, which he burns regularly to maintain their ecological integrity. Barry serves as President of the Aiken Prescribed Fire Cooperative and is an active member of the Forestry Association of South Carolina, The Longleaf Alliance, and many other conservation groups.

ALC Advisory Board member, Bennett Tucker, spoke to the assembled group about managing the longleaf pine ecosystem with fire and ALC Advisory Board member, Jennie Haskell, spoke about the broader longleaf pine ecosystem.

Thank you, Barry, for setting a wonderful example of land stewardship here in Aiken County!

Address

304 Laurens Street NW
Aiken, SC
29801

Telephone

(855) 252-5263

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