Date of Award
5-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Committee Member
Dr. Robert Baldwin
Committee Member
Dr. Brett Wright
Abstract
Mrs. Margaret Lloyd was a philanthropist in South Carolina society who developed strong pro-environmental behaviors after a mid-life environmental epiphany. She passed away in 2014 and toward the end of her life she donated an 853-acre property - named Hardscramble - in Camden, South Carolina to Clemson University. The land and an associated endowment are valued at approximately $10 million dollars. There are stipulations that the donation be managed in accordance to her wishes, but they are vaguely identified legally as conservation values. Since her death there have been conflicting opinions among stakeholders as to her vision and values that should drive the conservation plan for Hardscramble. To give voice to Mrs. Lloyd ’s wishes and have the conservation plan for Hardscramble be vernacular in nature, the purpose of this research case study is to uncover and elucidate Mrs. Lloyd’s vision for the land and gift. This was accomplished through artifact analysis and interviews with people that knew Mrs. Lloyd and her vision for the land. Operationalizing Lloyd’s vision has implications for the management of educational and recreational activities as well as the conservation practices on Hardscramble. Results of this research indicate that environmental education and preservation of the natural components of the conservation area are of critical importance. The socially co-constructed results delineate that activity on the land should be facilitated with the integrity of the natural ecosystem in mind. Results were organized using Mrs. Lloyd ’s own words for overlapping, agreed-upon guiding principles. Contextualized within the increasingly emerging trend of intergenerational land transfers as an aging national population makes decisions about the legacy of their properties, this research also contributes to the scholarship of utilizing vernacular methods to establish conservation values to inform the management of protected areas.
Recommended Citation
Parker, Taylor Andrew, "Hardscramble: a case study of eliciting conservation values through vernacular conservation methods" (2018). All Theses. 2870.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2870