Conservationists across the state got a jolt of energy this week with news that the S.C. Coastal Conservation League (SCCCL) will have one of its own soon in the organization’s leadership saddle.
Megan Desrosiers, who worked at the Charleston-based nonprofit for 10 years starting in 2003, will take its helm in January after 13 years as the founding president and CEO of One Hundred Miles, a remarkably similar organization that’s showing a lot of success in protecting coastal Georgia.
Her coming return is good news because it means the League has a leader who is a conservationist first – someone who has been in the trenches and will live, breathe and eat the crucial mission of protecting the state’s coastal gems. It means the League, once feared and admired for its tenacity in the halls of the Statehouse, will refocus its grassroots efforts on doing the nitty-gritty to hold people accountable who threaten wild, special and rural places.
“It’s hard to imagine a more opportune time to have Megan return to the Conservation League and South Carolina,” said SCCCL founder Dana Beach. “Our rivers and rural communities are threatened by growth pressures that are chipping away at some of our most iconic natural areas. Megan’s experience makes her uniquely suited to face these challenges.”
That’s putting it lightly. In the 10 years she fought here to protect the area’s environment, she helped to stop developments and conserve land in the Ashley River Historic Corridor, oppose unwise zoning, start the state’s first local food hub and set the SCCCL climate and energy agenda.
Desrosiers, who lives in Brunswick, Ga., said she’s excited to return to grow the movement where she learned so much.
“It’s more about protecting the coast,” she said this week in an interview. “It’s more about protecting the Southeastern environment, protecting the salt marsh, protecting our sea turtle habitat, protecting our bird habitat.”
The SCCCL opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time, she said, as she has been planning to wind down her work in Georgia by next May, which is when her youngest child graduates from high school. A planner, she’s been intentional about setting up One Hundred Miles for future success. In the past four years, she set the organization on a path with a five-year budget, five-year strategic plan and major fundraising effort that has raised $6 million.
“I kind of have a philosophy that you should always know how long to stay and when to go,” she said.
So it’s the right time for Desrosiers – and the League. She said she has five basic goals in the months ahead:
More funding. She said she expected the organization to advocate for measures to boost state and local funding for land conservation to “help guide growth to the appropriate places, protect wildlife habitat and allow communities to better manage stormwater and prepare for increased flooding from sea-level rise.”
More lobbying. She said she wanted to push for passage of strong state laws to regulate use of energy and water consumption by data centers “so that South Carolina counties do not sacrifice the health of their communities and natural resources to attract this harmful industry.”
More collaboration. Working more with other regional organizations would improve conservation and innovation, she said. That includes “litigation strategies, lobbying, local ordinances and other tools that protect the South Atlantic Bight and other biodiversity hotspots.”
Grassroots work. Another goal is to work with community groups and citizens along the coast to push for smart growth and prevent sprawl that harms wildlife and rural areas.
Broaden the movement. She also wants to push “building an educated constituency of advocates across the state who demonstrate knowledge, understanding and value for South Carolina’s coast.” People and communities must be involved in conservation decisions so leaders understand impacts and will vote for measures to protect habitat.
“As long as we can do that, I trust that democracy will work and the environment of coastal South Carolina will be protected,” she said.
Welcome home, Megan.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a question? Send to: feedback@charlestoncitypaper.com.
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