CHARLESTON, SC (March 9, 2021) –  In response to Governor Henry McMaster naming South Carolina's first Chief Resilience Officer, Audubon South Carolina Executive Director Justin Stokes issued the following statement:  

Audubon South Carolina applauds Governor Henry McMaster’s ongoing efforts to prioritize resiliency in our state. This includes championing the Audubon-supported Disaster Relief and Resilience Act, signed into law last year, which helps facilitate comprehensive statewide planning, with a focus on natural infrastructure solutions, to bolster South Carolina's resilience against increasingly severe weather and flooding, and offers a voluntary buyout program for homeowners of repetitively flooded properties.

Today, we are pleased to see that Governor McMaster has nominated Ben Duncan for the role of Chief Resiliency Officer. As director of the South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office, Mr. Duncan brings impressive and much-needed experience to this new role. We hope the Senate moves swiftly to confirm this important position.