2025 Fellows: Frederick P. Huffman, FASLA, South Carolina Chapter
Earth Design, Pickens, SC
Fredrick "Rick" Huffman has been a passionate advocate for and practitioner of conservation and environmental protection throughout his thirty-year career. As founder of Earth Design, Rick has positioned his firm at the forefront of environmental design and landscape architecture, specializing in sustainable practices that integrate native plants, bioengineering, and ecological principles. In 1996, he founded the South Carolina Native Plant Society (SCNPS), a science-based conservation nonprofit dedicated to promoting, preserving, restoring, and educating the public about native plants. His efforts have transformed South Carolina's landscapes, promoting native plants in green infrastructure, riparian buffers, watershed protection, and soil conservation. He served for nine years on the Natural Areas subcommittee for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Heritage Trust Program, where he helped shape land acquisition and management strategies. In the early 2000s, Rick and Earth Design worked with Upstate Forever, a land trust and conservation advocacy organization, to create the Green School Building Guideline for Greenville County Schools, emphasizing sustainable practices like site orientation to take advantage of natural light, geothermal energy, stormwater wetlands, heat island reductions, and green roofs. His generous service has been recognized. In 2006, Rick received the "South Carolina Governor's Award for Environmental Awareness" for his outstanding contributions to education, professional practice, conservation, and the promotion of native plants. In 2024, Rick received the Lifetime Achievement for Conservation Award from the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, capping a career dedicated to environmental and social service. And his work with the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina (EEASC) conducting environmental education retreats and workshops, led to his "2003 Environmental Educator of the Year" award.
