CSF Priority Hunting Access Bill Clears First Legislative Hurdle in South Carolina

Why It Matters: Proactive efforts to conserve public hunting access will benefit both today’s and tomorrow’s sportsmen and women. South Carolina offers a wide array of excellent outdoor opportunities thanks in part to diverse public hunting access available to hunters from the upstate to the low country. Efforts to conserve public hunting access should remain top of mind for sportsmen and women of the Palmetto State.

Highlights:

• On January 30, South Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus (Caucus) Co-Chair and National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses(NASC) Executive Council Member Representative Bobby Cox and Caucus Co-Chair Representative Heather Bauer introduced House Bill 3872, which would limit the loss of available acreage open to hunting for South Carolina’s sportsmen and women.
• On February 18, HB 3872 was reported favorably out of the House Wildlife Subcommittee on a 5-0 vote, as amended.
• Prior to the Subcommittee hearing, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted comments in support of HB 3872.
• HB 3872 is now awaiting consideration by the full House Wildlife, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee.

South Carolina seeks to join other southern states like Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi in taking proactive approaches to conserving public hunting access in their respective states. The “No Net Loss” of publicly owned hunting areas, while new to South Carolina, has been an effective means of protecting hunting access for decades now in many other states across the nation.

As amended, HB 3872 applies to South Carolina managed lands which are defined as lands owned by the state in which the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) holds management authority and are enrolled in the Wildlife Management Area program. The following provisions also apply under HB 3872:

• SCDNR managed lands must be open to hunting access unless limited by the SCDNR for fish and wildlife management or otherwise limited by statute outside of the SCDNR’s authority;
• The SCDNR must exercise its authority in a manner that supports, promotes, and enhances hunting opportunities;
• SCDNR land management decisions must not result in the net loss of habitat land acreage available for hunting opportunities;
• If the loss of acreage for hunting were to occur, the SCDNR shall expeditiously find replacement acreage to compensate for the closure;
• And the SCDNR must submit to the Senate Fish, Game, and Forestry and House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committees a written report describing the acreage that was closed to hunting during the previous fiscal year and the acreage that was opened to compensate for the closure.

CSF thanks Representatives Bauer and Cox for their leadership on this issue as well as the House Wildlife Subcommittee for passing this important piece of legislation. We look forward to coordinating with the Caucus, the SCDNR, and our partners to continue to advance this critical measure.

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