South Carolina Wildlife Federation
A short history: 1931-2021

The South Carolina Game and Fish Association, organized during the Great Depression in 1931, was the forerunner of today’s South Carolina Wildlife Federation. The concern at that time was that fish and game violations were threatening the bounty of South Carolina’s woods and waters. 

The rallying cry came from The State’s Harry Hampton, a self-described “swamp rat.” In his “Woods and Waters” columns of June–October 1931, Hampton urged that sportsmen in the state organize to press for amended laws that would fundamentally change natural-resources and game management policies.

On June 23, 1931, Harry Hampton spoke to the Sumter Rotary Club, which endorsed the idea of sportsmen’s clubs in every county. Sumter Rotary Club President R. L. McLeod appointed Mac Boykin to start the Sumter chapter of The SC Game and Fish Association, and enlisted Shep Nash, the area’s state senator, to help. 

On June 25, 1931, The State published a letter to the editor from A. C. (Zan) Heyward, of the Game Conservation Dept. of E. I. duPont de Nemours in Columbia. In this letter, Heyward urged Harry Hampton to use his widely read column to spearhead a campaign to bring about the organization of such county game and fish associations. The purpose of these associations, in Heyward’s view, would be to distribute a simple monthly publication that would keep members informed on what was, and wasn’t, being done to protect and increase game and fish populations. Heyward said, “Let’s stop talking about doing something and go ahead and do it.”

Harry Hampton accepted Zan Heyward’s challenge, and the two men traveled the state, spreading the word. Columbia organized the second chapter, and the Edgefield chapter had signed up 100 members by the end of July 1931. Within a few weeks, the state organization had 2,000 members.

The SC Game and Fish Association met formally in Columbia to organize on October 28, 1931, with 150 sportsmen attending from 25 counties. Governor Ibra C. Blackwood sent greetings to the convention—an important courtesy as the young Association was taking on much of the establishment at a time when wildlife was treated as a political plum and there was little consideration for the average sportsman. 

The purpose of the statewide organization was stated to be protection and propagation of the game, fish, and forests of the state. The goal adopted at the meeting was to ensure that decisions regarding game management in South Carolina were based on science, and to remove corruption from the process.

In the 1930s, the Sumter Association was instrumental in developing the 28,000-acre Manchester Forest tract as a Federal Land Utilization project. In this development, the Federal government purchased sandy, submarginal farm land and moved 130 farm families who had eked out a subsistence living there to better land. Then the Manchester Forest tract was developed as a multiple use area for forestry, recreation, and wildlife, including a fire control system with towers, trucks, and fire engines. Within the tract, a 1,000-acre portion was developed as Poinsett State Park. In the same area, a state forestry nursery was established to propagate trees that would grow well in the area. At the time, this was the largest nursery of its kind in the world.

The South Carolina Game and Fish Association was dormant through World War II, as many members joined the armed forces and the state concentrated its energy on the war efforts. The Association was reinvigorated in the mid 1940s through the actions of Havilah Babcock, a legendary English professor at the University of South Carolina and long-time contributor to Field and Stream magazine. In the Babcock era, the Association successfully opposed a proposed pulp plant on the Santee-Cooper, because of concern that the pulp mill’s effluent might pollute Lake Marion. This was the Association’s first battle against a polluting industry. 

Harry Hampton served as president of the Federation from 1956 through 1959. In his work with the Federation and through his columns, he spoke against unwise development and pollution of waterways. His lasting legacy was the preservation of the Congaree Swamp and the federal designation of 15,000 acres as the Congaree Swamp National Monument. The swamp is the last remaining remnant of the original bottomland hardwoods in the southeast, and has cypress trees that are hundreds of years old. Hampton’s actions were not without controversy, as he recalled in a 1976 newspaper interview: “Turning this area into a preserve might well mean the end of my roaming in the swamp. This idea was not popular with my old hunting buddies, and it aroused new unpopularity with less familiar members of the loose hunting club which enjoyed the hunting and fishing rights. But it seemed like someone should make the move. There was no sense of urgency to save the area.” He worked for the protection of this area for 21 years.

F. Bartow Culp, a chemistry professor at the Medical College of South Carolina (now MUSC) in Charleston, was a leading figure in the organizing of the Charleston County Wildlife Federation in 1954.  Culp was a longtime supporter of the South Carolina Conservation Camp program, and he recruited many members to the Federation with his encouragement and initiative.  He served as President of the Federation from 1965 through 1968. Buford S. Mabry completed Culp’s term as SCWF president when Culp was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). 

Dr. Jacqueline Jacobs, the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Executive Director from 1974–1983, was its first professional staff member and a significant reason for the success of the organization. She shaped the then-struggling organization and increased its membership and recognition throughout the state, working countless hours on behalf of the organization and the state’s natural resources. Her impressive credentials and leadership brought high respect and well-deserved credibility to SCWF’s programs.  Following in her footsteps as Executive Directors for SCWF were: Betty Spence, Trish Jerman, Angela Viney, Ben Gregg, and Sara Green.  

The South Carolina Wildlife Federation has always stood as an advocate for the public on the conservation of natural resources. This policy involved the Federation in protected battles against massive development projects. The activity that the Federation took on specific sites included efforts to protect the Congaree Swamp, preserve the Colleton River and associated salt marshes, stop the Russell Dam on the Savannah River, save the Wando River from ports development, stop the dredging of Savannah Harbor, and stop building in floodplains.

The Federation’s collaborations with other groups often involved long years of lobbying and negotiating to influence legislation and policy: The Tidelands Bill and the Beachfront Management Act grew out of such collaborative efforts.  Another collaborative effort was to ensure separation of powers between the legislature and an executive group, the Coastal Commission. The Federation has been a leader in the state’s coming to grips with our role in the disposal of the region’s hazardous waste. Another example was a statewide agreement between landowners and the agency responsible for protecting endangered species to improve habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker.

In addition to the long history of advocating for wildlife across the state, the Federation has also worked tirelessly to educate South Carolinians about our wildlife and their habitat, outdoor recreation, and conservation practices.  SCWF has partnered with the National Wildlife Federation on the Backyard & Schoolyard Habitat programs, National Wildlife Week, National Hunting & Fishing Day, and the distribution of Ranger Rick Magazines for decades.  In addition, some programs are unique to South Carolina, such as Wildlife And Industry Together (W.A.I.T.) which encourages corporate landowners to manage land for wildlife habitat; Carolina Fence Gardens, which incorporate official state symbols into habitat gardens; and the Palmetto Pro Birder Program, which trains citizen scientists to collect data for bird conservation. 

Above excerpts from: “SCWF history” compiled by Mr. Fred Kinard and Ms. Chris Thompson.