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Forestry Commission asks legislature for $11.16 million to shore up wildfire prevention, forest health and conservation
Summary
State Forester Scott Phillips told the Senate Finance subcommittee the South Carolina Forestry Commission requests $11,160,000 in this budget cycle to convert federal positions to state-funded FTEs, expand prescribed fire capacity, strengthen forest health monitoring and support a major conservation project backed by a U.S. Forest Service grant.
The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Economic Development heard from Scott Phillips, state forester and executive of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, who outlined an $11,160,000 budget request that he said would address personnel, technology, wildfire prevention and land conservation needs.
Phillips told the committee the request includes seven recurring priorities, four nonrecurring priorities and one capital ask. "Our number 1 priority is $345,000 recurring, to retain our wildfire prevention staff," Phillips said, adding that federal funding for program staff is shifting to competitive grants and will no longer cover salaries. He said the commission needs to convert three prevention positions to stable state funding to avoid losing them.
The request matters because, Phillips told senators, losing prevention staff and other field capacity could increase the risk of larger wildfires and property damage. He pointed to recent fires, saying the commission’s newly funded single-engine air tankers were deployed on the Arcadia Plantation Fire in Georgetown County and the Covington Drive Fire in Myrtle Beach. "We've used those assets on multiple fires including the Arcadia Plantation Fire in Georgetown County," Phillips said, noting the aircraft took to the sky earlier this year.
Among the recurring priorities Phillips listed: $343,000 for recruitment and retention (including salary adjustments for mechanics and an added supervisory FTE); $550,000 for information technology and recurring software-as-a-service costs for computer-aided dispatch; $337,000 for forest health capacity; and $170,000 recurring (and $3.8 million nonrecurring) to expand prescribed fire capacity and contract crews. He also described a conservation package totaling $5,400,000 (about $354,000 recurring and roughly $5,000,000 nonrecurring/capital) to enable the agency to hold conservation easements and act quickly when large federal or private projects emerge.
Phillips said the commission received a $50,000,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service for a 62,000-acre project spanning Marion, Williamsburg and Georgetown counties, which he described as the largest conservation project ever done by a state agency. "This past year, we received a $50,000,000 grant from US Forest Service, to do a 62,000 acre project in Marion County, Senator Williams, Williamsburg County, and Georgetown County," Phillips said, and added the commission anticipated closing on the project in September.
Senators pressed Phillips on federal funding trends and local coordination. When asked whether the commission expects less federal program funding in the future, Phillips said federal grant programs are shifting toward competitive awards and that the commission has been moving some positions from federal to state funding "very successfully with the help of this subcommittee." On the difference a wildfire-preparation program can make, Phillips contrasted two Myrtle Beach-area neighborhoods, saying one was a certified Firewise community with a shaded fuel break and sustained no home losses while another that had not participated saw extensive home damage.
Senators also asked about the commission’s conservation role alongside other state agencies. Phillips described a standing conservation roundtable that includes Parks, Recreation & Tourism, the Department of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Conservation Bank, the Office of Resilience, Department of Agriculture and other partners; he said the agencies issued a joint memo to the committee this year outlining conservation budget requests.
Phillips summarized the final items: an economic development FTE to recruit forest-product businesses and stabilize markets for forest landowners, and no new provisos this year. He said his agency is requesting equipment and vehicle nonrecurring components tied to personnel requests when applicable.
No formal vote or committee action was taken during the presentation; funding decisions will be considered later in the legislative budget process.
The subcommittee’s discussion recorded questions about county receptivity to wildfire planning, use of Firewise community practices, and the need to shift stable funding for mission-critical positions as federal program dollars decline.
