FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2012
As Tax Deadline Approaches, Remember Your State Forests
(Columbia, SC) As the deadline draws near, the South Carolina Forestry
Commission is urging tax filers to remember forests when submitting their
state returns.
This tax season marks the second year taxpayers anticipating a refund will have an option to contribute all or part of it to sustaining state-owned forestlands. The General Assembly passed an income tax check off creating the SC State Forests Fund during the 2010 Legislative Session.
“We’ve been able to launch a number of improvement projects at our state forests thanks to the generosity of South Carolina tax filers,” says Scott Hawkins of the Commission’s public information office.
A solar power project at Harbison State Forest in Columbia, a new fishing pier on Hunter Pond at Sand Hills State Forest in Patrick, SC, and new permanent restroom facilities for the Manchester State Forest rifle range in Sumter County are just some of the projects underway thanks to the $20,000 this fund generated last year, according to Hawkins.
The Commission manages six state forests to demonstrate that (well managed) forestland can be fiscally and ecologically productive. Forestry and timber-related businesses account for most of the economic impact of the state’s manufacturing sector.
“Historically, landowners have looked to our state forests as role
models,” says Hawkins. “As they set their own land management
goals, they have the state forests to look to as living examples of the numerous
benefits provided by forests.”
Because South Carolina’s state forest system relies on timber sales and recreational permit revenue for operating funds, this income tax check off revenue allows the SC Forestry Commission to make improvements that would otherwise not be possible.
Line 28 of State Tax Form 1040 allows the tax filer to contribute some or all of a refund toward any organization or agency listed on Form I-330. A description of the SC Forests Fund is now among them. By checking the Forests Fund, tax filers will be helping to support the six state forests managed by the Commission:
- Sand Hills State Forest -- 47,000 acres in Chesterfield County
- Manchester State Forest – 29,000 acres in Sumter County
- Wee Tee State Forest – 12,400 acres including 12 miles of frontage along the serene Santee River in Williamsburg and Georgetown counties
- Harbison State Forest -- 2,176 acres located in the City of Columbia along the scenic Broad River
- Poe Creek State Forest – 2,500 acres in Pickens and Oconee counties
- Neiderhof State Forest – 1,600 acres in Jasper County
“The Forestry Commission is the only state agency whose lands are entirely self-supporting,” says Mike Shealy, the Commission’s state lands manager. “Operating revenue is generated on-site and 25 percent of that is paid to the local school districts in lieu of property taxes.”
Note: The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) will honor the April 17th individual income tax filing deadline set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Additionally, the Forestry Commission now has tax tips for forest landowners at its website: www.trees.sc.gov.
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For more information, contact Scott Hawkins at (803) 896-8820 or by email.
The SC Forestry Commission’s mission is to protect and develop South Carolina’s forest resource
For every $1.00 invested by SC in the Commission, the industry produces more than $1,800.00 of economic impact.