With the announcement of a new name, a new president and the signing of two major land conservation agreements, the Aiken County Open Land Trust has stamped out its place as a major player in local land conservation issues.

Officials with the newly-named Aiken Land Conservancy (ALC) and other individuals who have been instrumental in its process met at The Willcox to applaud what the organization has already done and what it can do in the future.

The name change stemmed from a desire to make things simple, said Executive Director Dacre Stoker. People were confused over the meaning of the words "open" and "trust" so they were dropped.

"Although trust us," Stoker said, "We're going to do a good job."

Along with the recognition of new president Paul Rideout - who is taking the reigns from Dr. Harry Shealy, who has served as president for the past six years - former presidents were also recognized.

Stoker revealed that past president Lee Dane intends to sign a conservation easement for 300 acres of her Ridge Spring area farm that includes several streams and the North Fork of the Edisto River where large hardwoods near the water will, in her words, "be preserved as long as they can stand."

"The hardwoods are old enough to have started their growth during the Civil War," Dane said. "Those are old trees."

It was also announced 53 acres of recently preserved land in The Ridge at Chukker Creek will be named the Freeman Preserve after past president Iris Freeman and her husband Mike Freeman. Also, area resident Scott Riviere has agreed to sign an easement on his 17 acres along Grace Avenue in the heart of Aiken's horse district.

Property owners can place conservation easements on their land to protect and preserve it from any future development in perpetuity, basically meaning forever. Such easements help advance one of the Aiken Land Conservancy's main goals: preserving the rural character of Aiken County.

Since its creation in 1991, the Aiken Land Conservancy has preserved over 1,200 acres and is currently working with Aiken County to acquire and conserve land in both Boyd Park Pond (formerly known as the ORA Complex) and Langley Pond.

The County and ALC are in the final stages of purchasing 409 acres of Langley Pond, 64 acres of which the Land Conservation will retain for passive recreation. On its acreage, the County plans to develop a boat house, grandstand and other amenities to bring the rowing program to the international level.

At Boyd Pond Park, the County has agreed to convey more than 92 acres to the ALC to be used for passive recreation.

For more information on the Aiken Land Conservancy, visit www.conserveaiken.org.