SC Protected Lands & Conservation Coordination Act Receives Favorable Vote from the House
Thank you to Representative Travis Moore and the South Carolina House of Representatives for voting in support of H.5069, the South Carolina Protected Lands and Conservation Coordination Act.
This bill, introduced by Representative Moore during this legislative session, garnered widespread bipartisan support, with more than 60 co-sponsors, proving yet again that conservation in South Carolina is a shared value rather than a partisan issue.
The Protected Lands Act recognizes the critical importance of natural resources to South Carolina’s environmental health, economic vitality, agricultural productivity, and quality of life, and will codify land protection benchmarks that move South Carolina closer to the goal of protecting ten million acres, or 50% of the state’s land area. Codifying these benchmarks will ensure that land protection remains top of mind at the Statehouse in two key ways: by allocating the necessary resources for land protection to the relevant state agencies and by pursuing policy that stewards and prioritizes our state’s natural resources.
The bill also creates provisions for coordinating land protection projects and annual reporting requirements for state resource agencies, ensuring that funding for conservation is used efficiently and effectively for the benefit of all South Carolinians.
CVSC thanks Rep. Moore for championing this legislation, the many co-sponsors for their support, and the entire chamber for their favorable vote. We hope to see continued forward momentum on this significant legislation as it moves over to the Senate.