Camo Coalition Forms to Defend South Carolina’s Outdoor Heritage

 

Partner groups represent over 100,000 hunters and anglers

COLUMBIA - Seventeen fishing and hunting organizations announced they will begin working together to protect South Carolina’s outdoor legacy.  These are many of the state’s largest and best-known sportsmen’s organizations, representing over 100,000 members statewide.  The partnership will be known as the South Carolina Camo Coalition, Partners working to Conserve Fish and Wildlife.

Formation of the Camo Coalition was announced Tuesday at the State House in Columbia with Dr. Jim Rex, State Superintendent of Education and about 15 legislators in attendance.  Earlier in the day, the seventeen groups endorsed a Charter stating “there is a need for today’s conservation leaders to unify their collective strength and apply it to common challenges to protect water bodies, riparian zones, and wildlife habitat and the hunting, trapping and fishing heritage.

According to Ben Gregg, executive director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, “there is strength in numbers, and this coalition represents over 100,000 outdoorsmen in South Carolina.  The economic numbers can not be ignored either.  Over one-half million of the state’s residents hunt and/or fish. Spending by palmetto sportsmen totals almost two billion dollars annually, and this shot in the arm is especially critical in strapped rural areas of the state.”

Specific challenges that the Camo Coalition intend to address are loss of habitat, decreased access to recreational land and waters, invasive species on the increase, climate change, the loss of connection between young people and the out-of-doors and finally, the need for natural resource management decisions to be made by qualified professionals.

The Camo Coalition arose out of a meeting back in April when outdoor leaders from the different organizations sat around the table to discuss future challenges and realized it was time to mobilize as partners.  According to Gregg, “anglers and hunters are without exception dependent and self-reliant, and our structure reflects those traits.  Each organization will retain their own sovereignty, and the Coalition will focus on the ‘universal’ issues that bind us together as an outdoors community.”

The South Carolina Camo Coalition is modeled on a similar effort in Georgia.  Formed several years ago, Georgia Camo now has about 25, 000 members who are alerted when important legislative or policy issues are being decided.  Like Georgia, SC Camo membership will be free.

For more information about the Camo Coalition, call Ben Gregg at (803) 256-0670 or e-mail ben@scwf.org.
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Monday, Nov 24, 2008
Posted on Sun, Nov. 23, 2008

 

 

Camo votes to protect rivers, streams

THE CAMO COALITION, a task force of conservation organizations, will tackle issues involving water, wildlife and habitats, and sportsmen's rights in the 2009 Legislative session.

Meeting last week at Millaree Hunt Club, representatives identified four areas of concern and voted to support several other wildlife-related issues.

Topping the list is protecting the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the state's rivers and streams.

"The interest is growing in South Carolina on permitting large users of water," said Cary Chamblee, a lobbyist for several major conservation groups. "We are proposing that users of more than five million gallons of water per month must be permitted. As our water issues grow and with global warming this is becoming more and more important."

Once permits are required, water needs would be budgeted into the use of a stream, he said, adding water usage and in-stream flows must be regulated to protect fisheries and other wildlife.

Chamblee said the proposal would apply to new water users and existing large users would be grandfathered in. He pointed out that Georgia and North Carolina have water use regulations.

Legislation to address the water usage issue stalled earlier this year due to opposition from major industries.

The second priority will be to protect dwindling wildlife habitats and hunting opportunities and support funding of the South Carolina Conservation Bank, which purchases and protects wildlife habitats and natural areas. Funding for the bank was wiped out in budget cuts.

"I'd say about 90 percent of the legislators love the Conservation Bank and just a few don't like it," Chamblee said. "It's really important to keep this program up and running. Without our support it is dead in the water."

Similar projects are funded 5 to 10 percent higher in other states than in South Carolina, said Ben Gregg, executive director of the S.C. Wildlife Federation.

The third priority is to support funding for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and the S.C. Forestry Commission. All three were impacted by the budget cuts.

"DNR was cut 15.8 percent, the highest of any state agency," said Breck Carmichael of the agency's wildlife section. "The cuts will impact every aspect of the agency and over time, resources will have to be shifted around the agency to keep programs running, which will make it much harder to match federal grant money."

Wildlife officials pointed out the agency has a $22 million budget this year, $9 million less than in 2001.

The fourth priority will be to support efforts to infuse outdoor education programs into public schools. The Coalition will also support a Constitutional right to Hunt and Fish Bill, "only if it includes provisions providing the state the opportunity to amend legislation to manage species and methods of take as needed for sound wildlife management."

© 2008 TheState.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thestate.com/

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March 10, 2008

Honorable James H. Harrison, Chairman
Judiciary Committee, SC House of Representatives
512 Blatt Building
Columbia, SC 29201

 Re: H.4736-DNR Restructuring

 Dear Chairman Harrison:

 The SC Wildlife Federation represents 8,000 outdoor enthusiasts in our state, most of whom are hunters and fishermen and all of whom are constituents of the SC Department of Natural Resources. We share a common bond, and that is the love of the outdoors where we enjoy our land, water and wildlife resources. For more than one hundred years the public interest in these resources has been managed by the SC Department of Natural Resources and its predecessor agencies. This agency and its partners have been instrumental in preserving our natural heritage, protecting and managing our wildlife resources, providing sustainable populations for hunting and fishing, and providing opportunities to enjoy publicly owned wild places.

 We are concerned that many of these time honored values will be lost if the Legislature allows the Governor to appoint a Secretary of Natural Resources that then changes every four years. The current system, with the Governor appointing a Board that then appoints a natural resources professional to the executive director position provides a more open and consistent management system that does not necessarily change with gubernatorial administrations. Our reasons for concern are numerous and too lengthy to enumerate in a letter.

 I served on the DNR Board from 1999-2003, and feel that former and current Board members have a unique and informed perspective on this issue. I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this matter in more detail. I also would like to include Cary Chamblee, who is representing the Federation in this matter, in any meeting plans.

 Thank you for your close attention to this issue and for providing opportunities for input from sportsmen.

 Sincerely,

 
Ben Gregg, Executive Director


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March, 18, 2008

Senator Daniel B. Verdin III, Chairman
Senate Agriculture and Natural resources Committee
404 Gressette Bldg.,

Columbia, 29201

Re: S. 428 – SC Water Withdrawal, Permitting, Use and Reporting Act

Dear Senator Verdin:

The SC Wildlife Federation has 8000 members who fish, hunt, boat and enjoy wildlife. We applaud you and your colleagues on the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for your efforts to craft legislation that will rationally and fairly allocate the use of our state’s surface water resources.

Historically, our state has enjoyed an abundance of water in its rivers, streams and lakes. This abundance has provided sportsmen with ample opportunities to enjoy fishing and boating, while meeting the water requirements of industries important to our state’s economy and drinking water for our citizens. Fishing is important to our state’s economy. Based on 2006 data, fishing is a $1.5 Billion industry, enjoyed by over 800,000 people in SC and employs over 25,000 people.

Every day, vast amounts of water is withdrawn from South Carolina’s rivers with no oversight. Recent water shortages have prompted us to consider the possibility that in the future surface water withdrawals might leave too little for existing industrial users, traditional recreation, and fish habitat and boating. A severe and prolonged drought in South Carolina has contributed to record declines in both groundwater and surface water. More than half the state’s population relies on surface water for drinking, and our population is projected to increase 30% by 2030. Now is the time to protect and manage this critical resource.

To protect the interests of sportsmen, communities and the environment, S.428 must include strong minimum instream flow standards. These standards must protect the biological, chemical and physical integrity of our surface water. The current draft of the bill will allocate industry the use of 80% of the annual mean daily flow while allocating a woefully inadequate 20 % for fisheries and boating. This meager stream flow will could disrupt the function of our rivers for fish spawning and navigation. We urge you to listen to the experts on this subject at the Department of Natural Resources and consider their recommendations on the necessary minimum instream flows.

 We are also concerned that there has been inadequate opportunity for the public to be heard on the instream flow issue. This has been a moving target since the first hearing on the bill and only a few have had the opportunity to comment. This is a very important issue that will govern water use for years to come and the public needs to be involved.  We request that you hold a public hearing on the minimum instream flow issue before the full Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, so that the full Committee can hear the concerns of sportsmen and boaters.

 

 

 

Please consider the following for the benefit of the state’s sportsmen:

·        Hold a public hearing so that sportsmen can voice their concerns on the inadequate minimum intream flow requirements.

·        Amend the bill to increase the instream flow minimums to levels recommended by DNR.

·        Provide for input and representation of sportsmen in the instream flow arbitration process.

·        Provide for a rebalancing of water among users, if future instream flows are not adequate for fish and navigation.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these issues.

Sincerely, 
 

Ben Gregg, Executive Director

cc: Members, Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee


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