Every year, South Carolina's natural beauty helps attract tens of thousands of new residents -- and every day, 200 acres of its forests, farmland and rolling countryside are destroyed to make room for all of the newcomers.

Now, some of that land is being protected instead of bulldozed, thanks to the efforts of the South Carolina Conservation Bank.

Up and running for just one year, the bank has preserved more than 25,000 acres from development. A lot of that land will be open to the public. Using $11 million in state funds, the bank bought or leveraged deals to preserve $50 million worth of property.

Environmental groups give the Conservation Bank high marks. Their only criticism is that the state should have started the program, similar to ones in many other states, sooner.

"It's everything the government ought to be doing and nothing it shouldn't be," says Dana Beach, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League.

Each year, development projects across the state consume an area the size of Charleston. Cities are spreading into the countryside, not just in the Lowcountry but across South Carolina.

In one of its more notable deals last year, conservationists say the bank was the linchpin in a transaction that protected nearly half of the 30,000-acre Ashley River plantation district and cut the number of homes in the controversial Poplar Grove development from 3,000 to 400.

"I don't think (that) would be happening without the Conservation Bank," says Will Haynie, executive director of the Lowcountry Open Land Trust. "So (in its first year) it has already made a tremendous difference to the Lowcountry. It has really raised the awareness of the importance of conservation in South Carolina."

Despite its popularity among influential politicians such as Gov. Mark Sanford, the Conservation Bank could run into problems.

Opponents say the government should not use taxpayer money to take private property off the tax rolls in lean budget times. Some complain the state has taken over the job of nonprofits.

"I think this could be done a whole lot better by private foundations," says state Rep. Robert "Skipper" Perry, R-Aiken. "Every state agency has to come and justify its existence every year. But the Conservation Bank doesn't have to do that. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I just think it's totally unnecessary."

Supporters say that, given dwindling private resources, the Conservation Bank could be the best hope in efforts to preserve the state's environment.

The bank was the brainchild of then-state Rep. Chip Campsen. The idea is similar to programs in dozens of other states. Florida puts $300 million toward buying land every year; North Carolina, more than $50 million.

South Carolina was the last state on the East Coast without a public land preservation program of this magnitude. But Campsen, a Charleston Republican who is now a state senator, had to push for years to get the bank approved by the Legislature in 2002.

The bank uses a portion of the tax stamp fees collected in real estate transactions to build a pot of money that can be used to buy property or easements. A board selects where the money goes, and the project is administered by a single employee.

Marvin Davant, director of the Conservation Bank and former state chairman of Ducks Unlimited, says there is a simple premise behind the program, one that is popular because so many people in the Palmetto State share the same views -- and fears.

"We've got so many people coming here, our infrastructure is being tested on a daily basis," Davant says. "We just want to take the pressure off the environment and preserve what we love about South Carolina. We'd like to give our kids a chance to see what we grew up with."

Before the Conservation Bank saw its first dollar, it saw trouble. Facing a budget crunch, lawmakers considered raiding the bank to balance the books. Perry was one of a number of lawmakers who believed the state should not be spending money to protect land when environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy have hundreds of millions of dollars to do the job.

"If I'd been a more experienced legislator, it would have never passed," Perry says.

For now, the Conservation Bank's second year of funding seems secure. The collections that fund the bank indicate there will be $15 million to put toward grants by the end of the year. State Rep. Bobby Harrell, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, says there have been no efforts this year to take the bank's money.

"I've heard some people aren't particularly happy that it's being funded, but I don't know of any efforts to take the money away," Harrell, R-Charleston, says. "But you never know."

Sanford went out of his way to lobby for the bank in his State of the State speech last month. "Once the use of that land changes, it is lost forever," Sanford says. "If we don't protect our land, the state just won't look the same in 50 years."

State Rep. Bill Witherspoon, chairman of the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, says he is not against the idea of the Conservation Bank but, like Perry, argues that there are a lot of other programs to do the same thing. Witherspoon says he may question the $15 million appropriation when the House takes up the state budget next month.

"When the budget is tight, should we be spending taxpayer money for this?" Witherspoon, R-Conway, asked. "Will I fight it? Probably."

Environmentalists say that would be a big mistake. Haynie warns that the federal government is considering legislation to remove tax deductions for donating land for easements. That would make it much more difficult to get private landowners to keep their property out of the hands of developers.

Mark Robertson, state director of the South Carolina chapter of the Nature Conservancy, says it took a long time to get the Conservation Bank up and running, and that it needs to continue.

"We are 40th in land area in South Carolina, and 10th in the amount of land we develop for urban uses every year," Robertson says. "The pressure on our land and our water is not going to go away."

Beach argues that the bank delivers a lot of bang for the buck. Almost all the money it handles goes to land acquisition because it has just one employee. Administrative duties for many of its land deals are handled by the staff of conservation groups.

The bank's flexibility to make loans to private groups, buy land outright or partner with other groups in land deals has set it apart from other government conservation programs.

Georgia has adopted a program that in many ways mirrors South Carolina's.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Campsen says. "To have done all this and done it with one employee, this is exactly what I hoped for. I don't know what I could have done better."