State forester warns of elevated 2026 wildfire risk, outlines industry recovery steps
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Sign Up Free
Summary
State Forester Scott Phillips told a legislative subcommittee that 2025 was one of South Carolina's most active wildfire seasons, described new firefighting resources and equipment milestones, and detailed market losses after recent mill closures and the Forest Recovery Task Force's recruitment efforts.
Scott Phillips, state forester, told a Senate subcommittee that South Carolina faced an unusually active 2025 wildfire season and remains at elevated risk for major fires in early 2026.
"2025 was 1 of our most active seasons and decades," Phillips said, noting the Forestry Commission responded to nearly 1,600 wildfires that burned more than 32,000 acres and required evacuations during high-profile incidents such as the Covington Drive fire in Myrtle Beach.
Phillips credited newly funded single-engine air tanker contracts and other aerial resources with slowing fires so ground crews could secure lines, and announced an equipment milestone: "as we enter this fire season, we're on track to have 100% of our frontline firefighting units be the safer enclosed cab units," a transition he said was enabled by General Assembly funding.
Why it matters: The briefing tied two threads the legislature tracks closely — public safety and the economic health of the timber industry. Phillips warned that market contraction in wood-processing has short-term wildfire implications because fewer active timber markets reduce routine thinning and other forest management activities that lower hazardous fuels.
Phillips described a steep loss of demand after recent mill closures and curtailments: "we lost about, markets for about 10,700,000 tons of wood fiber," roughly one-third of the state's peak timber-product demand, he said. That contraction, he added, has pushed stumpage and mill-residual markets sharply lower, putting pressure on loggers, sawmills and private landowners.
The state response: Phillips described the Forest Recovery Task Force, formed after the West Rock mill closure, which brings supply-chain leaders, industry representatives and the governor's office together to stabilize existing firms and recruit new buyers for small-diameter wood and mill residuals. The commission reorganized its resource-development unit, hired a lead (Guy Saban) and plans to add an economic development officer funded in the FY26 budget.
Phillips said the strategy has produced some investment momentum: he cited roughly $1.25 billion in forestry-sector capital investment in 2025 and about 972 new jobs tied to those projects, including greenfield and expansion projects that can absorb residual material.
On exports and regulatory limits, Phillips told senators the key barrier to sending wood chips overseas is meeting phytosanitary protocols and federal trade negotiations: he said U.S. agencies including APHIS and trade representatives are engaged but gave no timeline for opening European Union markets.
What comes next: Phillips said his agency requested budget authority for exclusive-use hand-crew contracts, heavier bulldozers to penetrate hurricane-felled timber, and continued replacement funding to sustain the equipment cycle. He invited committee members to a March 3 Forestry Commission equipment demonstration at Owens Field.
The committee did not vote on any measure during the briefing. The session moved on to industry presenters after Phillips's Q&A.