After Mike McShane heard Friday that two divisions of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources were merging and taking on a new name, his response could be seen as a harbinger of the agency’s future.

“Make sure you use up all that old stationery before you buy new stationery,” said McShane, the new chairman of the board that sets policy for the agency.

The 43-year-old Johns Island resident is all about economy and efficiency.

“It comes from my background in engineering,” said McShane, who was appointed in August by Gov. Mark Sanford. “I like to have things lined up.”

Natural Resources board meetings the past few years have been collegial affairs, run by chairman Joab Lesesne, former president of Wofford College. When things got too serious, commissioners Danny Ford or Russell Holliday threw in some down-home humor.

The revamped board includes four businessmen appointed by Sanford — McShane, Mike Campbell of Columbia, T. Smith Ragsdale of Georgetown and Stephen Davis of Greenwood. Sanford hasn’t replaced Lesesne, Malloy McEachin of Florence and Douglas Rucker of Lancaster, but none of the remaining appointees of former Gov. Jim Hodges showed up for Friday’s meeting.

The revamped board hints at a more business-oriented approach. McShane, whose business sells specialized medical devices, sees that as right for the times.

“The budget issues may have forced this agency to go through a revamp anyway,” McShane said. “But there’s no reason we shouldn’t be looking at streamlining.

“We want to make sure every employee of the agency makes themselves invaluable to the agency. And I don’t think that’s unrealistic.”

Like all state agencies, the Natural Resources Department has been hit hard by budget cuts. State funding for the agency dropped from $31.1 million in 2001 to $20.7 million this year.

The agency has shrunk from about 1,000 employees two years ago to 703 now. In its last meeting together, the old board approved a reorganization of the agency’s 17 field offices into four regional offices to save money.

“In a time of unbelievably tight budgets, the agency has got to reshape,” said John Frampton, who took over as executive director in the spring.

Frampton, McShane and the new board will be setting the course. Frampton has been with the agency for 29 years, starting as a field biologist and most recently focusing on land acquisition issues and acting as the agency liaison to Washington.

McShane is a newcomer to the board but not to natural resource concerns. An avid duck hunter, he’s part of a management team that runs the Nemours Plantation Wildlife Foundation. His late father-in-law, Eugene DuPont, put much of his 10,000-acre Beaufort County plantation under a conservation easement and set up the foundation to manage the property.

The foundation has taken the extra step of turning Nemours into a wildlife laboratory, hiring a full-time wildlife biologist and bringing in several college interns each year.

“A lot of times you have someone who has an academic background in land management,” said McShane, a Georgia native with a wife and three young daughters. “We want to get them exposed to private land management practices.”

The thought of a businessman focused on efficiency-setting policy for the Natural Resources Department might scare some outdoors enthusiasts. Those who know McShane aren’t worried.

“He’s got a strong, strong conservation ethic,” said Jane Lareau of the S.C. Coastal Conservation League. “His heart and mind absolutely are in the right direction on natural resource issues.”

Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366 or jholleman@thestate.com.