Rhodes appointed chairman of SCDNR Board

Caroline C. Rhodes, owner of The Charleston Angler, has been appointed and confirmed as chairman of the South Carolina Natural Resources Board, which oversees all activities of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

Rhodes was appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley and confirmed by the state legislature yesterday (April 12) to serve a four-year term as chairman of the seven-member DNR Board. Members are appointed from each of South Carolina’s six Congressional districts, with one at-large seat appointed by the governor.

Being appointed chairman is “a high honor,” Rhodes said.

“I think SCDNR is probably one of the most-special agencies, if you can call a state agency special,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be part of a state agency that does so much.

“One in eight jobs in South Carolina are related to natural resources,” Rhodes said. “Everyone who works for the agency, and all the people who volunteer, they have such a true sense of family.”

Rhodes will take over the chair from Michael McShane of Johns Island, who held that position since 2003. While not the first female member of the DNR Board, Rhodes will be the first woman chairman, according to SCDNR staff.

A native of Columbia and a graduate of the University of South Carolina, Rhodes has held the First Congressional District seat on the DNR Board since 2007. She and her husband, Dr. Malcolm M. Rhodes, a pediatrician, moved to Charleston in 1982 and bought The Charleston Angler in 2000.

Typically, the DNR Board chairman holds the at-large seat, but Rhodes said she would remain in her current seat on the board until all the new appointments shake out.

As chairman, Rhodes and the DNR Board face a number of challenges in the next few years, with financing SCDNR’s activities being one of the biggest.

“Money is still going to be an issue,” she said. “The department’s budget was cut, but not by as much as we were expecting. We were prepared for a bigger cut.

“Each department head has been responsible for streamlining as much as possible, and what they’ve done has been very effective.”