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Today, the Florida Cabinet approved the purchase of land and conservation easements to protect 85,778 acres of Florida’s most important wildlife habitats and rural ranchlands for $318,386,613. These conservation lands cover 134 square miles, or 2.5 times the size of the City of Miami, and constitute the largest increment of conservation land and easement purchases ever proposed on a single Cabinet agenda. House and Senate leaders in the Florida Legislature included strategic appropriations for conservation land acquisitions and easements in Florida's budget—an important investment in Florida's economy, ecology, and quality of life. Many of the proposed acquisition projects are part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
Purchases under the Florida Forever program: Five land ownerships and two proposed conservation easements totaling 23,113 acres. Tracts protected range in size from 113 acres to more than 12,000 acres. Counties where conservation land and easements will be purchased under the Florida Forever Program are: Bay, Duval, Polk, Volusia, Walton and Santa Rosa counties.
Purchases under the Rural and Family Lands Conservation Easement program: 13 tracts, ranging from 417 acres to 11,731 acres. Total acreage protected under easements: 62,665 acres. These lands are located in: DeSoto, Dixie, Glades, Highlands, Levy, Madison, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola, and Polk counties.
All of the 20 conservation land projects on the Cabinet agenda have conservation significance. Some selected examples of the most ecologically valuable tracts to be purchased or protected by easement are:
“Audubon is grateful to the Legislature for funding these acquisitions, and to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for striking such savvy deals for taxpayers,” says Audubon Florida Executive Director Julie Wraithmell. “These projects don't just preserve habitat for wildlife and keep working lands in production, they also help ensure Floridians have clean drinking water, healthy watersheds and coasts, and support property values and our vibrant economy. Land conservation enjoys tremendous bipartisan support from Floridians and we are thankful to the Governor and Cabinet for their support of this impressive group of projects today.”
Florida Forever is the State of Florida’s iconic land conservation program that identifies resources of state significance for protection based on scientific criteria and with a transparent process accountable to taxpayers, local communities, and landowners alike. Prioritizing properties based on values important to Florida’s economy and ecology—like protecting water resources, habitat connectivity, recreational opportunity, resilience, and more—the Department of Environmental Protection delineates large landscape-scale project areas to protect these assets and works over many years to acquire the parcels within each project boundary, piece by piece from willing sellers.
The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program is an agricultural conservation easement program under Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Its primary mission is the protection of agricultural lands.