The Mission

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A SOUND DIFFERENCE

The Port Royal Sound Foundation’s mission is to preserve the Port Royal Sound for the environmental, cultural and economic well-being of our area.

Support

Our History

The heart of the Port Royal Sound Foundation started beating many decades before becoming a 501(c) 3 nonprofit in 2011.



1970

1970 - Port Royal Sound Environmental Study

Port Royal Sound Environmental Study was commissioned by governor as a result of BASF’s plans to build chemical plant on the Colleton River.

See study here.



1995

1995 - Beaufort County & Clean Water Task Force formed

in reaction to the state’s closure of 500 acres of shellfish beds in various Beaufort County waterways.



1997

1997 - The Task Force published “A Blueprint for Clean Water: Strategies to Protect and Restore Beaufort County’s Waterways".

See document here.



1999

1999 - Beaufort County’s Special Area Management Plan developed

to focus on implementing 10 (out of 50) recommendations from “A Blueprint for Clean Water: Strategies to Protect and Restore Beaufort County’s Waterways”.

See document here.



2000

2000 - Friends of the Rivers formed

as a stewardship group in response to the Special Area Management Plan to carry on the mission of water-quality protection and land planning.



2011

2011 - Name change to the Port Royal Sound Foundation.

After 11 years of successfully educating the county and municipalities on the importance of protecting the marine waters of Beaufort County, the board of directors of Friends of the Rivers chose to expand its effort to include all of the natural, cultural and historical resources of the Port Royal Sound system. Because the mission, bylaws and directors were to stay and due to the need to maintain a tax-exempt status, the IRS and the state of South Carolina approved a simple name change to the Port Royal Sound Foundation.



2014