Harry Hampton Wildlife Fund donates $134,525 to DNR

During a recent S.C. Natural Resources Board meeting, the board formally accepted a monetary donation from the Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, Inc. This year’s donation was $134,525 and the total donated to DNR by the Hampton Fund over the years now stands at $3,033,455. 

The Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, Inc. is a private, non-profit corporation which partners with the DNR for the promotion of natural resources and natural resource education which benefits the conservation ofwildlife, marine and other resources in South Carolina. Funds are obtained solely through private donations and special promotional projects, fundraising events and publications. Although some of the funds are donated to special projects run by the DNR, they are not used to replace any department programs already supported by appropriated money.

“Partnering with DNR has been the core of our fundraising efforts since 1982,” said Hampton board chairman Dr. Julius L. Leary of Greenwood. “The entire DNR team helps ensure South Carolina’s natural resources are enhanced and protected now and in the future.” “We are indebted to all who so generously supported our fundraising efforts making this possible,” said the Fund’s executive director Jim Goller of Beaufort and a DNR retiree.”

Public education in the principles of wildlife and marine resources management and conservation is a major thrust of the fund’s purpose. Five scholarships are now annually awarded to South Carolina resident students to attend a South Carolina institution of higher learning majoring in wildlife, fisheries, forestry, biology, zoology, marine science, environmental science or related fields, one is awarded annually in the field of law enforcement/criminal justice and one annually in the field of journalism. The Hampton Fund recently partnered with the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and received a $50,000 donation for DNR marine projects, two new Hampton Fund scholarships and a graduate assistantship to correlate and publish billfish tag return data collected by DNR.

Projects supported and funded by the Harry Hampton Wildlife Fund include:

*Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic

*DNR Law Enforcement Program

*Hooked On Fishing Not On Drugs Youth Fishing Rodeos

*Educational Vessel Discovery

*Bruce Rush Artificial Reef

*S.C. Memorial Deepwater Reef Project

*Striped Bass Research

*Operation Game Thief

*Sassafras Mountain Observation Tower Project

*DNR Land, Water and Conservation Envirothon

*Jocassee Gorges Visitors Center Educational Displays

*Camp Wildwood