TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR ENVIRONMENTAL ATTORNEY BOB GUILD FOR HIS MANY YEARS OF DEDICATED LABOR AS AN ADVOCATE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA'S NATURAL RESOURCES.

Whereas, more than forty years ago, Bob Guild settled in Columbia, and South Carolinians are so glad he did. From an old Columbia mill house, this defender of the Palmetto State's natural resources has run a sustained campaign to help citizens and conservation groups in the courtrooms of South Carolina during the past three decades and, in the process, has established a reputation as one of the state's foremost authorities on environmental law; and

Whereas, he feels that working for everyday folks and nonprofit conservation groups is what he was supposed to do. He holds that nothing could replace the joy of doing work he passionately loves and work that is "driven by people's love of their backyards and their communities"; and

Whereas, a military brat and 1975 University of South Carolina School of Law graduate, Bob Guild has worked as a full-time environmental attorney for citizens' and environmental groups longer than anyone else in the State, beginning his practice in the early 1980s; and

Whereas, he has been at the forefront of some of the state's biggest environmental cases, including successful fights to close a Sumter County hazardous waste dump and a York County toxic waste incinerator. In the Sumter County case, he helped persuade a court to close the Pinewood facility after a fifteen-year effort. During that time, he worked closely with grassroots citizens' organizations that said the dump was dangerous to their community and to Lake Marion. More recently, he scored a victory in the South Carolina Court of Appeals to require improved radioactive material burial practices at Barnwell County's low-level nuclear waste dump. Through court cases, he also has stopped poultry and hog farms that neighbors said would ruin groundwater and contaminate rivers; and

Whereas, Bob Guild believes strongly in active involvement with his community, and his convictions have led him to serve that community, as well as the broader community of South Carolina, in a number of organizations. These include Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Edisto, Sustainable Midlands, Conservation Voters of South Carolina, Gills Creek Watershed Association, Granby Mill Village Historic District and Neighborhood Association, and Columbia Women's Shelter; and

Whereas, he has helped shape environmental public policy, serving on the General Assembly's Isolated Wetlands Task Force and the City of Columbia's Climate Protection Action Committee and helping create Richland County's open land use zoning regulations. He was a cofounder of CLEAN (Citizens Local Environmental Action Network) with the late Representative Joe Neal; and

Whereas, for his outstanding service to this great State, Bob Guild has been granted, among other honors, the Sierra Club of South Carolina's Distinguished Service Award, Carolina Sierran of the Year Award, and Conservationist of the Year Award (twice), and the Harriet Keyserling Conservation Advocacy Award of Conservation Voters of South Carolina; and

Whereas, he is encouraged that the environmental movement has grown in South Carolina in its sophistication and professionalism and that many young people are taking up the cause; and

Whereas, grateful for the legacy of consistent commitment and excellence he has bestowed on the Palmetto State, the House takes great pleasure in saluting Bob Guild and in wishing him continued success in the days ahead. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor environmental attorney Bob Guild for his many years of dedicated labor as an advocate for the conservation of South Carolina's natural resources.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Bob Guild.