Brad Wyche, Palmetto Land & Water Legacy Alliance
March 8, 2017
The Palmetto Land and Water Legacy Alliance has been established with only one mission—to reauthorize the SC Conservation Bank with no sunset and with no death clause.
In 2002, in recognition of the environmental and economic values of conservation, the General Assembly established the South Carolina Conservation Bank. The Bank is funded by a portion of the state’s share of the deed recording fee, which is paid every time land is sold in South Carolina. It’s a policy that uses funds collected when land is sold (often for development) to protect other lands in the state. No tax dollars are used.
A Board of volunteer South Carolina citizens reviews applications from land trust organizations, state agencies and local governments for grants that are used to acquire either title to, or a conservation easement on, properties with conservation and/or historic significance.
The Conservation Bank has faced more than its fair share of roadblocks. There was no funding at all during the first two years (2002-3). The law includes a “death clause” which provides that whenever half or more of other state agency budgets are cut, the Conservation Bank receives zero funding. (No other state agency is subject to such a restriction).
It is set to expire next June 2018.
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