Photo source: Islander magazine of Hilton Head Island

Al Stokes will detail the brief history of how one family sold their Victoria Bluff property to the state of SC to locate the BASF chemical company.  A battle ensued from unlikely citizen groups who banded together to defeat the political forces behind the push for an industrial site to be located on the Colleton River, between Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. BASF’s defeat was a victory for the environment and changed the way the state courted future industry. It also gave rise to the Friends of the River, which eventually would become the Port Royal Sound Foundation!

Al Stokes is the retired manager of the SCDNR’s Waddell Mariculture R&D Center, resident of Victoria Bluff for 45 years, member of the Open Land Trust Board and the Town of Bluffton Stormwater Advisory Committee, and world renown shrimp mariculture consultant.