Prayer delivered by retired Marine colonel and three-time Hall of Famer aboard USS Yorktown By Christopher David Carter Col. Steve Vitali, USMC (Ret.), delivered a stirring invocation before gathered dignitaries and SC7 Expedition leaders and participants aboard the decommissioned aircraft-carrier USS Yorktown anchored along the shores of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.Continue Reading

Cheyenne Twilley and the Future of South Carolina’s Coast By SCDNR Director Tom Mullikin Long before dawn spills across the salt marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry, the tide is already at work. It slips quietly through winding creeks, cradles oyster reefs, carries shrimp boats toward open water, and breathesContinue Reading

The Palmetto State’s natural heritage and cultural legacy are inseparable By SCDNR Director Thomas S. Mullikin Around the world, nations strive to protect their natural resources through laws, regulations, and campaigns urging citizens to change their behavior. Those efforts matter. But history teaches us that the most enduring conservation movementsContinue Reading

SCDNR fisheries biologists conduct research on the SC7 Expedition trail By Cheyenne Twilley S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) fisheries biologists conducted an electrofishing demonstration on the Middle Saluda River at Jones Gap State Park as part of the sixth-annual South Carolina 7 (SC7) Expedition, earlier this month: The demonstrationContinue Reading

SC7 Expedition enters S.C. Midlands enroute to the coast and Lowcountry Photo – SCDNR Director Tom Mullikin (center) with son Thomas Mullikin Jr., SCDNR Capt. Tommy Buckhannon and two SCDNR game wardens at Jones Gap, South Carolina, along the SC7 trail, July 9. By W. Thomas Smith Jr. Despite searing SouthContinue Reading

SCDNR’s basic aquatic competency swim lesson initiative building safer futures for all South Carolinians By Tom Mullikin Swimming lessons that many of us grew up with are not something that all families have always had access to, and if the parents themselves haven’t learned to swim – and many haveContinue Reading

Mullikin: “The ocean still possesses an extraordinary capacity for renewal if we are willing to act wisely and boldly” By Tom Mullikin [EDITOR’S NOTE: SCDNR Director Mullikin is pictured here in Folly Beach speaking with WCBD-TV Channel 2 News in Charleston following his address kicking off World Ocean Day in-and-off-the-coast-ofContinue Reading

SCDNR Director Tom Mullikin is aggressively going after environmentally dangerousabandoned watercraft and their former owners By W Thomas Smith Jr. Earlier this month, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) under the “commanding leadership” of Dr. Tom Mullikin targeted yet another abandoned vessel – a 60-foot barge – in S.C.Continue Reading

Willis Bowers is the Quiet Hero Beneath the Surface By Tom Mullikin In South Carolina, drowning is not a rare tragedy. It is unfortunately a persistent, but preventable one. Each year, lives are lost in our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters, often in silence and often in communities where accessContinue Reading