Lowcountry conservationist to lead Upstate green group

COLUMBIA, SC Upstate Forever, one South Carolina’s leading environmental groups, has named a new executive director after a four-month national search.

The group announced Tuesday the selection of Andrea Cooper, who has worked with the S.C. Coastal Conservation League and has been involved in the league’s GrowFood Carolina initiative.

Cooper, who is married with two children, is a former board chair of the Conservation League in Charleston.

Cooper replaces Brad Wyche, a Greenville lawyer and conservationist who founded Upstate Forever in 1998. Wyche announced his retirement earlier this year. Cooper starts work in October, Upstate Forever said.

“I am honored and enthusiastic to lead this great organization and to build upon its remarkable success,’’ Cooper said in a news release. “I strongly support Upstate Forever’s position that we can have it both ways—we can prosper both economically and environmentally. But we have to be proactive to achieve this goal.”

Upstate Forever is an environmental advocacy organization focused on the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson area of northwest South Carolina. The Conservation League has similar functions in Charleston and in the Lowcountry.

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 3:47 PM.