The Pacolet Area Conservancy (PAC) announced Tuesday, May 21 the appointment of Mary Arrington Walter as the organization’s new executive director.

Walter formerly served as executive director of SPACE, the Spartanburg Area Conservancy, a conservation land trust based in Spartanburg, S.C.

There she led that organization to national accreditation with the Land Trust Alliance. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of conservation to PAC.

Walter, who was born in Greenville, S.C. is a graduate of Presbyterian College.

She currently lives in Spartanburg, and has ties to the Tryon area. She said she knows and loves the foothills, and her career has been focused on preserving the natural resources of the area.

She was named an Outstanding Woman in Conservation by Audubon of South Carolina in 2005.

“I am delighted to be joining the team at PAC. I have long admired the great land conservation work that has been done here,” Walter said. “The Pacolet watershed and its headwaters are such an incredibly beautiful part of our world that must be preserved. To know that PAC has already permanently protected over 8,400 acres is amazing. I’d like to see that number greatly increased in the coming few years. With the help of willing landowners and a community that supports the efforts of the conservancy, this goal can certainly be attained!”

PAC, the Pacolet Area Conservancy is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization (land trust) founded in 1989 to protect and conserve the area’s natural resources (PAC’s mission).

PAC works with area landowners to ensure the long-term protection of their property through voluntary conservation easements (agreements) which enable, landowners to maintain ownership of their property, preserving precious natural resources: open lands, forests, wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, farmland and stream banks . . .  saving the places you love.

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