South Carolina Conservation Bank Opening For Business in July 2004!

     One of our State’s most important conservation programs will finally become a reality this summer. The General Assembly passed the South Carolina Conservation Bank Act in 2002 but deferred funding it for two years. The waiting period will end this July when the Bank opens for business!

The program will provide, for the first time in the history of our state, a regular and significant source of funding to acquire either title to, or conservation easements on, important natural and historic resources in South Carolina. The funding will come from a portion of the state’s deed recording fees, which are collected when real estate is sold in the state. It is an eminently sensible source of funding for conservation because the fees are collected when land is sold, often for development.

	Beautiful open spaces such as this one in northern Spartanburg County can be protected through the Conservation Bank.

The program is 100 per cent voluntary – all transactions will be between willing sellers and buyers. Applications for funding will be reviewed on a competitive basis in light of the specific financial and conservation criteria set forth in the statute.

A lot of work has taken place since the law was enacted. All twelve members of the Conservation Bank Board have been appointed. The Upstate representatives are Ben Geer Keys of Greenville and Tommy Miller of Anderson. The Conservation Fund, a national conservation organization with an office in Columbia, kindly provided funds for administrative support, which allowed the Board to hire Marvin Davant as the full-time Executive Director. He can be reached at 803-734-3986. Application forms, review criteria and other information are now available on the Bank’s website, http://sccbank.sc.gov.

This is no time for resting on laurels. A bill has already been introduced in the legislature to defer the funding again, and there may even be an effort in the upcoming session to repeal the law, so please contact your representatives in both the House and the Senate and urge them to oppose these efforts.

The South Carolina Conservation Bank is a huge step in the right direction toward a better balance between development and conservation in our State. Let’s give it a chance to work!