The past year has given us a great deal to be proud of as an agency. More importantly, it has demonstrated what our employees can accomplish when we combine good people, sound preparation and the resources needed to do the job. As we begin another fiscal year and look toward the Forestry Commission’s Centennial, it is also the right time to think deliberately about how we prepare this agency for the challenges ahead.
Our FY2025-26 wildfire season is a good example. We responded to 1,923 wildfires, about 30% more than the 10-year average, during a spring marked by persistent drought and periods of extremely high fire danger. Yet only 14,054 acres burned statewide, relatively close to historical averages. While Georgia and North Carolina experienced multiple large wildfires under very similar conditions, South Carolina avoided that outcome.
That was not luck; our team performed exceptionally well. We proactively used our full suite of media tools to keep the public informed as fire danger increased. As conditions worsened, we issued Red Flag Fire Alerts and two State Forester’s Burning Bans to help reduce new ignitions when resources were stretched and the risk of significant wildfires was high. When fires occurred, our average response time was 34.5 minutes, a full 3.5 minutes better than our target, and our SEATs continue to demonstrate their value supporting firefighters on the ground. From Dispatch to our firefighters, FMOs, pilots, foresters, mechanics and everyone supporting those operations, it was a tremendous team effort. Thank you!
That type of performance also contributes to the confidence policymakers place in this agency. Approximately 84% of our FY2026-27 budget request was funded, including important investments in wildfire response, information technology and conservation education, while our $20 million conservation need was addressed through the Conservation Bank.
Our dozer replacement program is one of the clearest examples of what sustained investment can accomplish. This year we reached a goal more than 15 years in the making: all 160 frontline firefighting dozers are now enclosed-cab units and within their 15-year safe service lives.
Next year we will celebrate another major milestone. In 2027, the Forestry Commission will mark 100 years of service to South Carolina. As we celebrate where we have been, however, we also need to be equally deliberate about where we are going.
That is the reason for the new Forest Protection Plan project.
This project is not being undertaken because our current employees are failing or because our wildfire program is performing poorly. These last two years demonstrate exactly the opposite. We are undertaking it because the environment in which we perform this mission is changing, while internal pressures are also converging.
South Carolina is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. As our population grows, so does the complexity of our wildfire mission. More homes and more development in the wildland-urban interface mean that fires increasingly threaten not only forestland, but lives, homes, infrastructure and entire communities. The expectations placed on our wildfire response system will continue to increase, and we must adapt before those pressures outpace our current model.
At the same time, more than half of our employees will be eligible to retire within five years. We already face recruitment and retention challenges in several operational and/or geographic areas, compounded by compensation constraints and the scheduling and supervisory demands inherent to a 24/7/365 emergency response mission. These issues are likely to intensify over the next five to 10 years, along with increasing training, safety and succession needs, not to mention higher expectations for more efficient use of our resources.
Any one of those issues can be managed. The concern is what happens when a more demanding wildfire environment and a more challenging workforce environment develop at the same time.
Wildfire protection is a life-safety mission. We cannot wait until a major fire season exposes weaknesses in staffing, supervision, succession, training, compensation or operations before deciding how to address them. Our responsibility is to identify those risks now and build a model capable of protecting South Carolina’s citizens, homes and property five, 10 and 20 years from today.
We have contracted with Strong Performance-Based Solutions to perform a comprehensive review of our forest protection model. A 10-member steering committee has been selected to guide the process. Committee members include myself, Deputy State Forester Tom Patton, Protection Chief Darryl Jones, Coastal Regional Forester Pete Stuckey, OSHA/Safety Officer Chris Bortz, Human Resources Director Krista Emory, Piedmont Assistant Regional Forester Jeff Riggin, Black River Unit Forester Ron Holt, Law Enforcement Chief Tommy Mills and Calhoun/Orangeburg FMO Jonathan Berry. The committee intentionally includes leaders from different levels and functions, including employees closely connected to field operations.
This steering committee begins work in early September, with a goal of completing the project by September 2027.
Most importantly, we are not beginning with a predetermined answer. We are beginning with a responsibility: to make sure the next generation of SCFC employees has a forest protection system that supports them and gives South Carolina the capability it expects when wildfires occur.
Employees will have opportunities to participate, and your engagement will be critical.
We should be proud of what this team is accomplishing today. The Forest Protection Plan is about making sure the teams that follow us are positioned to succeed tomorrow.