Work and Play

Left: Kayakers pause to admire the scenery as they paddle through an autumn day on the glassy waters of the Edisto River.
People come to the refuge for special events such as an annual fall hunt sponsored by the South Carolina Disabled Sportsmen. Visitors also fish, bird, study nature, and, Jane hopes, gain new respect for the relationship of land, humanity, and wildlife.

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford wants to reconnect his own youngsters to his ACE Basin boyhood home, Coosaw Plantation. "We called it a farm," he recalls with a smile. "There wasn't any sipping of juleps on that place. You were handed a paintbrush or a hammer instead."

He hopes the same soil that stains his hands in work and play will also seep into the souls of his children. "All my life's lessons came from that place," he remarks wistfully of his childhood. "I think to really bond children to the land, you've got to have them work it. Beautiful land, as in the ACE Basin, creates that much deeper a bond."

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