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Conservation Bank officials and partners tell committee program leverages state dollars, protects working lands
Summary
The director of the South Carolina Conservation Bank described two decades of grants protecting 400,000 acres and $287 million in state grants leveraged to protect $1.1 billion in real-estate interest; multiple partners and beneficiaries testified in support and described local projects and federal matches.
Riley (Riley/Raleigh in the transcript) West, director of the South Carolina Conservation Bank, told the House Legislative Oversight Committee the bank’s mission is to protect the state’s natural and historic places through voluntary agreements with willing landowners and competitive grants.
West said the bank has awarded about $287 million in grants over roughly 20 years to protect around 400,000 acres, leveraging public and private matching funds so the bank’s funding has helped preserve roughly $1.1 billion in land value — a roughly 1-to-4 leverage ratio by his account. He described the bank as ‘‘private-property-rights friendly’’: most work is done by negotiation and compensation rather than regulation, including fee-title purchases and conservation easements. West said the bank awards grants statewide, funds projects in every county, and operates on a small staff (four employees plus a board). He emphasized the bank’s role in leveraging federal dollars — for example, acting as the nonfederal match to pull down Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) grants — and in recent years adding programs to protect working farms and coastal wetlands.
Board chair and long-time supporter Mike McShane and other conservation partners described recent results and local projects: McShane cited savings averaging about $326 per acre for conservation easements and about $3,500 per acre for fee purchases since reauthorization; other speakers described specific projects that drew federal REPI or other federal funds and county bonds. Partners from land trusts and forestry (PD Land Trust, Open Land Trust, South Carolina Forestry Commission) outlined work to protect tens of thousands of acres, to support military missions near training ranges and airspace, and to expand public access via fee acquisitions where appropriate. Private landowners and employers who have hired conserved-land workers praised the bank’s ability to act as a state coordinator and to convene agencies.
Members asked about the bank’s staffing, budget levels and outreach to underserved regions; West said the bank has a small in-house team of four staff plus an active board and seeks more funding to scale up. Board and partner witnesses urged the committee to continue support and noted county-level conservation funds and local bond measures that complement state grants. Several public commenters described successful partnerships that resulted in protection of farms, wetlands and military training buffers in the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions. West and supporters asked the committee to examine the bank’s priority map and to consider ways to expand visibility and funding to accelerate conservation outcomes amid rapid in-migration and development pressure.
Committee members and witnesses repeatedly framed the bank as a highly leveraged, voluntary tool that partners with federal, county and non-profit actors and with private landowners to protect landscapes and military readiness areas.
