SC Conservation Agency Taps Forestry Attorney As New Director

Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette

An attorney for the state Forestry Commission will take charge of the South Carolina agency overseeing land conservation, the Conservation Bank announced Friday.

The agency’s oversight board selected 42-year-old David Jones to take the helm from director Raleigh West, who is leaving the role in July to establish his own law firm specializing in conservation.

Over the past three years with the Forestry Commission, Jones has helped ink deals to buy and preserve land, often working across agencies and with legislators, according to a Friday news release.

He was one of three candidates the board interviewed for the job.

“Mr. Jones possesses not only a deep technical understanding of complex real estate transactions but also has a passion for conserving South Carolina’s special places,” Peter King, chair of the Conservation Bank’s 16-person board of directors, said in a statement.

Jones will continue working for the Forestry Commission until the Senate confirms him as the pick to oversee the Conservation Bank, which will likely happen when legislators return to Columbia next year.

Jones will start at a salary of $112,126, though the board can adjust his pay once he’s officially confirmed, said spokeswoman Jennifer Howard.

West’s salary is $146,000, according to the state’s salary database.

If Jones is confirmed, he will oversee four full-time employees who coordinate projects that preserve land through taxpayer-funded grants, a task that lawmakers in both parties see as increasingly important in one of the nation’s fastest-growing states.

Since 2019, when legislators made the agency permanent, the bank’s work has grown significantly, going from about 20 grants annually to around 150, as conservation grew as a priority, West said previously.