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Description:
The ACE Basin is one of the largest undeveloped wetland ecosystems remaining on the Atlantic coast. The refuge is part of the ACE Basin Project, a partnership among the FWS, South Carolina DNR, Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, and private landowners to preserve and enhance the 350,000 acre ACE Basin area. The refuge has two units, one on the Edisto and the other on the Combahee River. Presently at 11,019 acres, the refuge may encompass 18,000 acres upon completion of additional purchases. The enormous natural values found on the refuge today are still here because past private landowners tended the area so wisely. Undeveloped and unpolluted, the habitat remains diverse and extremely productive. Part of the historical values of the ACE Basin were also protected. The refuge office, a former rice plantation house built in 1828, is one of only three antebellum mansions that survived the civil war in the ACE Basin area. Former owners ensured it would be preserved by placing it on the National Register of Historical Places. Directions:
From Highway 17 take SC 174 (sign will read "To Edisto Beach), stay on SC 174 through the town of Adams Run. When you come to intersection with flashing light, turn right onto Willtown Road. Entrance road to refuge is approximately 2 miles on your left (has a wooden sign with "The Grove"). Office is located in the Plantation House approximately 2.2 miles down dirt road.
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