Congaree Swamp park plan clears hurdle

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A congressional conference committee voted unanimously late Monday to approve the park. The designation only needs a formal vote by the full House and Senate, and then the signature of President Bush.

"Congress has finally recognized what South Carolinians have known for a long time: the Congaree Swamp is a national ecological treasure, and it deserves to rank among the nation's most celebrated parks," U.S. Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., said in a statement.

Changing the park from a national monument to national park is unusual in that it comes in the Department of the Interior's funding bill, rather than by a stand-alone bill like other parks. The appropriations bill also expands the park by 4,576 acres and changes its name from Congaree Swamp National Monument to Congaree National Park, since the area is not a true swamp, but a tidal floodplain.

It would be one of the nation's smallest national parks, at about 25,000 acres.

Park Superintendent Martha Bogle could not be reached for comment Monday.

The Congaree Swamp lies along the north bank of the Congaree River, which flows through the midlands of South Carolina from Lake Murray to Lake Marion and is fed by the Saluda and Reedy rivers in the Upstate. The area is protected because of its forest, which is the last major virgin growth of its type in the Southeast.

Studies by the National Park Service have found no other area in the Southeast of comparable geological and biological significance, and the park has received national and international recognition.

Hollings co-sponsored the original legislation in 1976 that authorized the establishment of the Congaree Swamp National Monument.

Jason Zacher covers the environment and natural resources. He can be reached at 298-4272.