Beach nourishment should now be possible after a last-minute allocation of $5 million from the general fund. That proposal is expected to gain legislative approval and then it would need to survive the veto pen of Gov. Mark Sanford to become a reality.
State Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, did a good job of letting state leaders know how bad the problem had become at Hunting Island. She credits House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, with fighting for the allocation in the budget conference committee.
Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton and state Sen. Scott Richardson of Hilton Head Island also helped get the message to state leaders that the status quo would cost the state a crown jewel. If nothing is done, the park will effectively fall into the ocean due to erosion gouging 15 feet of sand per year. Newton floated the proposal for the county to buy the park. The consensus from Columbia was that the state should own it, and that is right. But the message was clear that Beaufort County would not sit idly by and let the park be ruined.
With $4 million previously set aside by the state to address the long-running erosion problem at Hunting Island, the state should now be able to afford a major reclamation effort at the park next year. Earlier, it was learned that anticipated federal dollars would not be forthcoming.
Hunting Island is 16 miles east of Beaufort on U.S. 21. It may not be fully appreciated by southern Beaufort County residents who have quicker access to Hilton Head Island beaches.
But with its historic lighthouse, educational offerings, campsites, cabins, beach, variety of coastal landscapes and wildlife, the 5,000-acre park's value is appreciated far beyond Beaufort County. With more than 1 million visitors annually, it is the state's most popular park. It operates in the black, which is rare, and its user fees help fund other parks throughout the state. Renourishing the beach is the No. 1 parks priority for the state Parks, Recreation and Tourism department.
Those are all good arguments for the governor to leave the nourishment money in the state budget.
But those numbers also indicate that a steady stream of income is needed for an ongoing beach nourishment program there. There must be a better approach to protecting this state asset than we have seen this year. It would not have been right to take $5 million from the fledgling state Conservation Bank, as Ceips previously proposed. That illustrates more desperation than logical planning.
PRT needs to add a premium to all fees collected at the park to take care of the park's beach nourishment and other needs. The lighthouse, dating to 1875, is closed to the public because it needs expensive repairs. That should not be allowed to happen.
The private sector is trying to help through the 800-member Friends of Hunting Island organization. County and state elected leaders have tried to help. With the current disaster hopefully averted, now is the time to put in place a long-term solution.