Support more conservation funds
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Gov. Mark Sanford may be the most frugal state chief executive in memory, but he clearly recognizes the necessity of increasing the state's contribution for land conservation. His proposal to add $50 million to the Conservation Bank next year underscores the importance of the bank's mission, as well as his own commitment to protecting land from development.
The governor's proposal also acknowledges that the Conservation Bank has done a great job protecting tracts that are important to the state's heritage, as habitat and as a barrier to unrelenting growth. Since 2004, when it began to receive state funds, the bank has protected 134,000 acres.
It has done so on a shoestring, with an annual allocation of around $15 million. It operates with two staff members at the direction of a citizens board appointed by the governor, the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore.
Gov. Sanford's budget proposal would bring the total allocation next year to $65 million, and enable the bank to achieve its goals more rapidly in the face of unrelenting growth. The governor cites a projected population increase of 1 million by 2020.
The level of development currently is causing the conversion of 200 acres of forest and agricultural land to urban and suburban uses every day, he said.
"A key part of our quality of life and our competitive advantage with respect to other states lies in preserving the way South Carolina looks and feels as a state," the governor said Monday. "This additional funding would go a long way toward building upon that legacy of stewardship for generations to come."
The Conservation Bank achieves its land preservation goals through a competitive grant process, providing support for land purchases by the state and conservation easements from private landowners. It has done so at a startlingly low price: $527 per acre, according to the governor's estimate.
The bank is funded by a fraction of the proceeds from documentary stamps required to record land sales. The governor wants to give a one-time allocation of $50 million from the general fund in the next budget. In his comments Monday, he said the recent decline in the real estate market may give the state an opportunity for better deals.
Banks funds have been used to leverage far greater resources from the private realm for land conservation. For example, its contribution of $1 million for a state park along the Ashley River helped gain additional funding for a conservation easement on Poplar Grove, initially planned as a large residential development.
Working with Ducks Unlimited, the Coastal Conservation League, the Lowcountry Open Land Trust, and private landowners, the Conservation Bank helped gain permanent conservation protections on thousands of acres at the edge of urban Charleston, and at a minimal public expense.
Locally, the bank also has contributed to the pending transfer of Morris Island from a private landowner to the public realm. The bank has helped preserve land across South Carolina.
It's possible the Conservation Bank could provide similar benefits for the 70,000-acre East Edisto tract in Dorchester County. A plan for the selective development of the tract is being prepared for owner Mead-Westvaco, but residents have said they want even more protections, to prevent sprawl and traffic congestion and to cut the public expense of development.
During its brief existence, the Conservation Bank has made an important contribution to South Carolina. There has been no shortage of worthy applications for its support, and providing extra funding will enable it to achieve conservation goals across a larger landscape, before it disappears.