Post and Courier27%
Order of the Palmetto awarded to stalwart supporter of Lowcountry conservation 18%
By Ruth Roberts Special to The Post41% Courier18%
7/30/2026, 2:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 8 faulty reasoning types, including Self-Serving Bias, Appeal to Authority, and Optimism Bias, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 22.7% saturation with 153 hits. Analysis detected 435 faulty-reasoning hits from 673 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 32.5% and a BS Rank of 18% (18,420 of 22,312 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 82.60% of the article peer group.
Two years ago, Johns Island resident Mike McShane presented his close friend Colden Battey Jr. with the Order of the Palmetto for his dedication to Lowcountry conservation.
Last month, in a full-circle moment, McShane received South Carolina’s highest civilian award for his own efforts in protecting the state's natural spaces.
"I can think of no one in our state who has worked harder to preserve our natural resources than Mike McShane," Battey told The Post and Courier.
State Sen.
Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, echoed Battey’s comments.
“Mike McShane led the way in protecting hundreds of thousands of acres in South Carolina and North America,” Campsen said.
“He should be counted among South Carolina’s most consequential conservationists.”
McShane, a biochemical engineer, has held several top state positions, serving as the first president of the Nemours Wildlife Foundation and former chairman of both the S.C.
Department of Natural Resources Board and the S.C.
Conservation Bank.
The award affirms decades of work that McShane says is far from finished.
"This recognition by the governor really represents many people involved in conservation," McShane said.
"Private landowners, myself included, have over the years decided to dedicate their land on a voluntary basis, to negotiate conservation that generally involves compensation, not regulation, and it is something that works.”
Advocating for landowner-driven agreements over government mandates has long anchored McShane's philosophy, a mindset reflected on his own family’s land.
Together, he and his wife, Gigi McShane, have placed perpetual conservation easements on their family properties, protecting more than 3,000 acres of critical habitat.
McShane credits his wife with revealing the true value of conservation and showing him the "magic."
“I grew up around all this, and although I always enjoyed hunting, Gigi demonstrated to me the great value of conservation,” McShane said.
“She gets all the credit.”
The couple raised three daughters on their Johns Island farm and taught them to also appreciate the land.
Today, the next generation carries on the family legacy through entrepreneurship and service.
Beyond public roles, McShane remains active as a principal at Johns Island Enterprises LLC and as president and CEO of the NEAR Center in Mount Pleasant.
He also chairs the Greenspace Committee of Beaufort County and the East Edisto Conservancy, while serving as vice chair of the ACE Basin Task Force.
McShane said receiving the award was an honor and a surprise, adding that conservation requires a collective effort.
David Bishop, senior project director for The Nature Conservancy, said the accolade is well-deserved.
“I have known Mike for 13 years, and during that time, he has been tireless in his efforts to protect land in South Carolina,” Bishop said.
“The Conservation Bank had a lot of work to do when Mike joined the board, and he deserves a lot of credit for helping make that one of South Carolina’s best examples of an efficient and transparent agency.”
Bishop noted that under McShane's leadership, the Beaufort County Greenspace Committee pioneered South Carolina's first local cross-county conservation funding by backing the 2,700-acre Chelsea and the 4,400-acre Gregorie Neck projects in neighboring Jasper County.
McShane also introduced the state's first local reimbursable grant, securing a $6 million county grant to The Nature Conservancy.
According to Bishop, the county will be fully reimbursed this summer upon the land's transfer to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
The same financial mechanism will be used for the 5,000-acre New River State Forest project, which Beaufort County Council recently approved.
Ensuring a deep respect for the land amid rapid population growth remains McShane's central goal, viewing conservation as a multi-generational responsibility.
“I am most proud of the ethos that has been passed down to the next generation and that I see expanded in our residents,” McShane said.
“It was surprising, not something I expected.
I grew up with the idea that as long as the right things are getting done, we don’t take the credit.
But it was really very nice to receive, and I thank the governor.”
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