Conservationists have no more reason to oppose I-73

The Sun News Jan. 24 Editorial Board Opinion on the status of Interstate 73 was well-researched and comprehensive. I applaud your efforts to defend I-73 as well as the paving of International Drive here in Horry County.

One would think that all organizations and/or agencies in the state would approve of funds for the project, coming from federal grants and earmarks, to the tune of $50 million. Even better, no money for I-73 comes from the SCDOT budget. You credited U.S. Rep. Tom Rice with adding money for I-73 to federal highway spending plans.

However, the Coastal Conservation League’s Executive Director Dana Beach and North Coast Director Nancy Cave have stated, “The first question that has to be answered is whether this project is necessary...We have said that it is not.”

There’s the problem for the CCL. I-73 planners have already put together a “mitigation plan” to purchase Gunter’s Island, which covers 6,859 acres along 10 miles of the Little Pee Dee River, and would ensure that the hunting and recreation area is conserved, mitigating any damage to the nearly 300 acres of wetlands in the path of I-73.

Although this plan is designed to satisfy the requirements of the Army Corps of Engineers and environmentalists, it is being rejected by the Coastal Conservation League. For the past couple of years, the CCL has attacked any project that is good for South Carolina. I-73, the expansion of Boeing, dredging the Port of Charleston, a new Volvo plant, widening of S.C. 707, the paving of International Drive in Horry County, the Pamplico Highway widening project in Florence, as well as many other much-needed improvements.

Nancy Cave, north coast director for CCL, says “There are alternatives [to I-73] that are less expensive and meet the purpose and need. A great piece of property that is worth saving like Gunter’s Island does not justify the project.”

Trading 6,859 acres for 300 acres of marginal wetlands is a bad deal? Gunters Island is filled with pine, a hardwood swamp and upland hardwoods. With the tract adjoining Heritage Trust lands, being a home to black bears, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, quail, dove, and waterfowl, Gunter’s Island should be a conservationist’s dream.

The forward thinking shown by the planners of I-73 in deciding to mitigate the project on their own, leaving out the CCL, is a plan that should be used by future targets of the CCL. To see a list just go to their web site. Tom Rice says he is aware of a bill in Congress proposing that if an organization stands in the way of a project and loses in a court battle, that organization will be responsible financially for holding up that project. Let’s support such a bill and hope that it passes.

Dilliard lives a mile north of the proposed S.C. 90 entrance to International Drive.

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 9:36 AM with the headline "Conservationists have no more reason to oppose I-73."