The state’s new SCDNR Director is leading the way in galvanizing enthusiasm and partnering-participation in cleanup efforts around South Carolina
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
In the near-seven weeks since Dr. Thomas Stowe “Tom” Mullikin assumed the reigns as director of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), numerous new conservation projects and cleanup efforts have been launched around the state: This month alone with cleanup work gathering close to two-tons of trash and debris has been no exception.
“This is deliberate, ongoing, and will became an integral part of our SCDNR culture going forward,” said Mullikin from the road Saturday afternoon following cleanup work in Marlboro County. “SCDNR is said to be the principal advocate for and steward of South Carolina’s natural resources. That we are. That is what my predecessors strove toward, and that is precisely what we are going to be and do as we engage myriad partnering organizations in our efforts across the Palmetto State from here on out.”
For instance, on Saturday March 8, Director Mullikin met with Chesterfield County Councilman Eddie Kirkley and S.C. Representative Richie Yow at the Lynches River near the town of McBee, S.C. where they surveyed the historic waterway (named for Revolutionary War Captain Thomas Lynch, one of S.C.’s four signers of the Declaration of Independence). There they “discussed solutions” for removing the buildup of downed trees and accumulated litter impeding water flow and negatively affecting the health of the storied river and communities on either side of the river.
“If we can create the model here – and we will – for how to bring communities together, I think it can work very well for us throughout the state,” Mullikin said.
Community indeed. That same day, SCDNR officials, game wardens and other staff joined hands with ‘Mujeres Latinas de Carolina del Sur’ collecting more than a half-ton of trash and debris along a three-mile stretch of Halfway Creek Road in the Francis Marion National Forest. And yes, the 1,000 pounds of trash was officially weighed.
The following Saturday, March 15, SCDNR officials including the director were leading another major cleanup near the Lake Paul Wallace Dam along Crooked Creek in Bennettsville, collecting nearly another 1,000 pounds (officially 920 lbs.) of trash and debris.
According to residents, Crooked Creek has been the source of major flooding for decades.
“The problem has been a lot of trees and branches have fallen into the creek, and nobody has seemed to care,” said Bennettsville resident Willie Covington during a cleanup-day interview for WPDE-TV ABC News 15. “That [the debris] is what has caused the floods in our area. The water would overflow into our neighborhoods.”
Mullikin, who was also interviewed by News 15, added: It [cleanups like that of March 15] are very important for two reasons: One, to stop the flooding. We’ve had extreme weather, hurricane events. And as we find that our riverways, creeks, canals and culverts are blocked; that exacerbates the flooding and pushes water into the neighborhoods.”
Joining Director Mullikin and his team (including SCDNR law enforcement officers and the chief of the department’s Freshwater Fisheries Division Ross Self) were Bennettsville Mayor Tyron Abraham; Bennettsville City Administrator William Simon Jr.; officials from Marion County; S.C. Representative Jason S. Luck; S.C. Senator J.D. Chaplin; Ben Duncan, director of the S.C. Office of Resilience; Sarah Lyles with the litter-fighting nonprofit organization, Palmetto Pride; Conservation Voters; Global Eco Adventures; and the S.C. Army and Air National Guard represented by Maj. Gen. Jeff Jones, the state’s deputy adjutant general.
“Any day working with Team South Carolina is an awesome day,” said Gen. Jones. “It was so great to return to my birth home of Bennettsville and help clear waterways around the Lake Paul Wallace area of trash and obstructions. Honored to work under the great leadership of TEAM DNR and Director Tom Mullikin. They truly are South Carolinians at their best.”
Mullikin praised the executive level participation.
“None of these leaders are afraid to get their hands dirty because like me, they love and are passionate about our state and the perpetual need to protect our precious albeit finite natural resources as well as protecting the people and properties in often-isolated yet flood-prone communities,” he said. “But we want – and plan – to engage all South Carolinians from the mountains in the Upstate, through the Midlands, to the Lowcountry, our coastal communities, and all communities in between as we go forward. A single Saturday with us and anyone participating will be hooked.”
Mullikin, as the first-ever chairman of the gubernatorially established S.C. Floodwater Commission and retired commanding general of the S.C. State Guard, is widely held to be the state’s flood-response, counter-flooding expert. He has officially led SCDNR since Feb. 5, traveling since, meeting with local, state, and federal officials, presiding over cleanups within the Palmetto State, attending hunting and fishing seminars, meetings with the S.C. Sporting Dog Association and the Lake Darpo Coon Hunters Association, wildlife management workshops, youth sporting events, and directing SCDNR assets and collaborating with the S.C. Forestry Commission during the life-and-property threatening Carolina Forest wildfires near Myrtle Beach.
In a brief conversation Monday, March 17, Mullikin said: “We can create a model here for the rest of the nation with achievable goals and real solutions, and in fact that is exactly what we are doing.”
– For additional information about the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, visit https://www.dnr.sc.gov/.
