Message From the Executive Director
A Great Day For Conservation

     December 9, 2004 will be remembered as one of the great days for the conservation movement in South Carolina. The Conservation Bank Board met that day in Columbia to consider and act on the first group of applications for funding under the program. At the end of the day, they had approved $11 million to protect over 25,000 acres in our state. Upstate Forever is honored to be one of the approved applicants.

It was a day many of us had dreamed about for a long time but frankly weren’t sure would ever happen. The effort started in 2001, when business leaders, conservationists, and interested citizens from across the state joined forces to support passage of the Conservation Bank Act, whose champion was Representative (and now Senator) Chip Campsen from Charleston.

The Act encountered strong opposition from a determined and vocal group of legislators in the House of Representatives, but the proponents eventually prevailed and the Act was signed into law in April of 2002. Again, I want to thank the many Upstate Forever members who contacted their legislators – your voice was heard!

The Bank provides a dedicated source of revenue to acquire, or protect through conservation easements, a broad range of resources in our state –environmentally sensitive areas, farmlands, forests, historic sites, and so forth. The Bank also can be used to acquire lands for parks, hunting and fishing areas, greenways and open spaces for public use and enjoyment.

It is funded entirely by a small portion of the real estate transfer fee that is collected every time land is sold in the state. It is an eminently sensible source of funding that is widely used by many other states and localities in the country. No tax increase is involved, and all transactions are between willing sellers and buyers.

Even though the law was on the books in 2002, the program still wasn’t a reality. Because of the state’s budget difficulties, the legislature deferred funding for two years. This gave the opponents another opening to delay or even rescind the program, and sure enough they tried. But again, their efforts were defeated, and on December 9 the dream came true with the Bank Board’s approval of the first applications.

I believe that the Conservation Bank will prove to be one of the most important programs of any kind ever established in our state. And I am confident that as more projects are approved and as the benefits mount, the program will be expanded. As wonderful as the Conservation Bank is, South Carolina still lags far behind Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and many other states in conservation funding.

For both environmental and economic reasons and to improve the quality of life for all of our citizens, we need more public parks, and we need to protect and preserve some of our state’s important resources and special places. The Conservation Bank is helping us meet that need.