Volvo Manufacturing Facility Landscape Mitigation Plan

RES was selected to supply the mitigation offset solution for Volvo’s manufacturing plant in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The 1.5 million-square-foot facility was developed on a 575-acre tract in the Lowcountry.

RES supplied a comprehensive mitigation work plan for the preservation, enhancement, and restoration of 2,488.04 acres of protected land, with six protected tracts. This included enhancement and preservation of the Bannister and Dean Swamp tracts and preservation of the Long, Mims, Singletary, and Salisbury tracts within the Four Hole Swamp watershed.

The primary mitigation tracts (Bannister) placed 1,668.84 acres under a permanent protective agreement with SCDNR to dedicate the tract as a Heritage Trust Preserve. The other tracts include the protection and enhancement of approximately 819.21 acres in the Four Hole Swamp watershed. These tracts will be owned and managed as part of the 17,000-acre Audubon Center and Sanctuary at Francis Beidler Forest, a RAMSAR Wetlands of International Importance and Globally Important Bird Area. The mitigation work plan included the preservation of bottomland hardwoods and the reforestation of the Longleaf Pine Savanah. A prescribed fire schedule was implemented that mimics the natural burn cycle.

Through a collaborative approach with the South Carolina Department of Commerce, leading private company experts, federal and state regulatory agencies, and regional conservation groups, Volvo was able to permit one of the largest economic development projects in South Carolina in record time. This mitigation plan resulted in the restoration and protection of 2,488.04 acres of land critical to protecting one of South Carolina’s natural treasures, Four Hole Swamp.