SC’s top wildlife official quitting after years of outspoken leadership. Replacement named.
A Spartanburg businessman who guided South Carolina’s wildlife agency as it protected tens of thousands of acres of land is leaving the department, saying it is time to move on.
Norman Pulliam announced his departure from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources board at the policymaking panel’s monthly meeting Thursday in West Columbia. His 19 years on the DNR board make him the agency’s longest serving board member, the department said.
Pulliam, 82, said his age and health issues his wife is dealing with persuaded him to resign the post, an unpaid position. He served on the DNR board under three different governors: Republicans Mark Sanford, Nikki Haley and Henry McMaster.
“I’ve been on the job about 19 years and (the) time has come,’’ Pulliam said at the end of Thursday’s meeting. “I have enjoyed it. I have learned a lot. I have made a lot of friends. And this agency, there’s no question it’s the best agency in the state.’’
McMaster said Thursday he has chosen DNR board member Mark Hartley of Mount Pleasant to replace Pulliam as chairman.
Hartley, a long-time leader in the conservation organization Ducks Unlimited, has been involved in Republican Party politics at the state level and in Charleston County. Originally from Georgia, Hartley is a hunter and recreational fisherman who has lived in Charleston County since 1985.
Hartley, 68, told The State he doesn’t see any major changes in direction under his chairmanship than under Pulliam’s. He’s particularly interested in protecting more land from development, he said.
McMaster also is reappointing board members Michael Hutchins of Lexington, James Carlisle Oxner III of Union, and Duane Swygert of Hardeeville, the governor’s office said. The governor is appointing Davey Hite of Ninety Six to replace retiring board member Jake Rasor, the governor’s office said. The state Senate must confirm Hartley and McMaster’s other choices.
The DNR board chairman runs the panel’s monthly meetings and often acts as a face of the wildlife agency, meeting with legislators about the agency’s budget and policies the department favors.
Pulliam, an affable but outspoken member of the board, drew praise for his leadership at an agency that is important to hunters, fishermen, hikers, recreational boaters and others interested in the outdoors.
The department, which has 1,119 employees and a budget of $172 million, issues hunting and fishing licenses and its law enforcement agents patrol the state to enforce wildlife laws. The DNR also has a climatology office in Columbia and a marine resources division in Charleston, where scientists study and manage fisheries along the coast. The agency owns and oversees management on game and recreational land across the state.
During Pulliam’s tenure, the DNR had multiple victories in saving land from development. The agency has worked jointly with the state Conservation Bank to protect more than 23,000 acres since Pulliam became chairman, the bank reported Thursday.
The DNR worked with the Open Space Institute three years ago to add more than 600 acres to the scenic Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve in an area of Cayce that had been threatened by development. The initiative roughly doubled the size of the heavily forested preserve.
The DNR also was successful in advocating for the protection of thousands of acres in lower Richland County to offset the environmental impacts of the massive Scout electric vehicle project north of Columbia. In 2024, the DNR, along with conservation groups, said efforts were underway to protect some 62,000 acres of forests and swamps in eastern South Carolina.
Pulliam said protecting land and raising DNR salaries are two accomplishments he’s most proud of. One of the biggest efforts to protect land was saving Snow’s Island, an area of extensive hardwood trees in Florence County, he said.
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Pulliam’s decision to leave comes three months after McMaster picked Tom Mullikin to run the agency as executive director.
Pulliam, who has three grown children, has a background in real estate development and banking in Spartanburg. Through the years, he has been recognized for philanthropic work in South Carolina.
His tenure on the DNR board, and as chairman, has not been without tense moments.
He was one of two board members who criticized the ouster of then-DNR director John Frampton in 2011. Despite assurances by then-board chair Caroline Rhodes that the board was unanimous in asking Frampton to leave, an internal memo obtained by The State at the time showed Pulliam and board member John Evans were not consulted on the successful effort to force Frampton out.
Pulliam also chaired the agency when it questioned the speed at which land was being cleared on the wetlands-studded Scout Motors electric vehicle construction site. In a decision that irked boosters of the massive economic development project, DNR staff members said they had not had time to assess the full environmental impacts of the project before land was cleared.
The DNR pushed successfully to protect thousands of acres to offset the environmental impact of Scout, an economic development prize championed by McMaster, on the landscape.
Pulliam got into trouble with McMaster in 2019 when he lobbied the legislature to help oceanfront property owners fix a seawall because their homes were threatened by the rising ocean. McMaster ordered him to quit lobbying, saying protection of the public beach was more important. Seawalls worsen beach erosion while protecting homes.
At the time, Pulliam and fellow property owners also ran afoul of state coastal regulators over a series of seawalls built on the beach at south Litchfield in Georgetown County. New seawalls are illegal in South Carolina. Pulliam and his neighbors eventually pulled the seawalls out and McMaster reappointed Pulliam in 2021 as chairman.
“Norman Pulliam has spent much of his life serving the people of South Carolina, and our state is better for it,” McMaster said in a statement. “He has strengthened our conservation efforts through his dedicated leadership on the natural resources board, and has helped ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy South Carolina’s natural wonders. I am grateful for his years of service and commitment to our state.”
This story has been updated with information about Mark Hartley, the incoming DNR board chairman.
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM.
