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Conservation Bank could lead to more funds for preservation efforts
BY J. ALEX McMILLAN
Consistent annual funding for the state Conservation Bank is crucial to the ongoing efforts to preserve South Carolina's important natural endowments.
Morris Island is a current example. A prior effort to buy and protect it fell through due to the absence of local funds needed to match funds from the Trust for Public Land and a potential federal grant sponsored by Sen. Ernest Hollings.
Last month, the Civil War Preservation Trust named Morris Island one of the 10 most threatened Civil War battlefields in the United States, and support to protect it is again developing. That designation could place Morris Island and Battery Wagner in the company of some 55 battlefields, such as Manassas, Va., Antietam, Md., and Bentonville, N.C., that have received crucial matching funding through the CWPT to head off permanently destructive development.
Last year, Bentonville and Averasboro in North Carolina, the last major engagements between Sherman's Federals and Johnson's Confederates in Sherman's march through the Carolinas, received $900,000 and $500,000, respectively, in matching funds from the CWPT and its allies in Congress. It was only possible because North Carolina had previously funded its Natural History Trust Fund, which voted to match an amount of $400,000 for Bentonville and $500,000 for Averasboro. Together this enabled over 650 acres of beautifully preserved core battlefield to be protected. Many South Carolina units participated in these engagements.
Had North Carolina not set aside funds on a regular basis in prior years, and had the U.S. Congress not pre-funded the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, the opportunity would have eluded our best intentions. The window for most preservation efforts is very narrow, so much so that government is often unable to react quickly enough to do the job. Developers often move with greater speed than Jeb Stuart or Wade Hampton. Often, they can be persuaded to aid in the effort or to do something else.
That's why the CWPT and other notable preservation allies exist. And we can only be effective where there are significant state and local matching funds. The outside funds help those who help themselves. CWPT has been particularly decisive in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia where those states have stepped up. We have had success to a lesser degree where we must rely on private funds alone. The leverage of state or local funds with outside funds is usually substantial. The North Carolina case is not unusual. Neither the CWPT nor most national funds will participate without strong local and state leadership.
Few states enjoy or support their natural environment more than South Carolinians. I sincerely hope the Legislature will support the leadership of Gov. Mark Sanford in funding the Conservation Bank this year and in future years and in using it solely for its intended purposes.
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J. Alex McMillan is a former trustee for the Civil War Preservation Trust. Also a former U.S. congressman and CEO of Harris Teeter, he is now a professor and holder of the Hipp Chair in Business Administration at The Citadel.
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Nora Kravec
Morris Island Coalition