Tidal Wave of Grassroots Support for Conservation Saves 600 Acres in Northeast Florida
People spoke up for Florida's special places.
Words by Erika Zambello
Communications Director, Audubon Florida
Photography by
Erika Zambello
Communications Director, Audubon Florida
Published May 21, 2025
This article is from Audubon Florida
. Audubon has 31 conservation action centers and more than 500 community and campus chapters across the U.S. serving local communities. Find your local center or chapter here.
On May 14, Audubon Florida’s Executive Director Julie Wraithmell was surprised to see a notice for a last-minute meeting of the Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) scheduled for the very next week. A few hours later, the State posted a meeting agenda with an alarming proposal: To trade a portion of vulnerable and valuable Guana River Wildlife Management Area in St. Johns County to a private entity—likely for development. While the proposed swap would have provided five new acres for every acre currently owned, the proposal was light on details.
Development Threatened
The agenda item stated that the wetlands of the existing parcel would be “avoided”—meaning the applicant intended to develop the uplands into some other land use. This development could have severely impacted the conservation area and surrounding wetlands, perhaps through the building of a golf course or housing. Such a proposal would bulldoze habitat Florida has invested significant taxpayer dollars in restoring over the last 30 years, home to gopher tortoises and a popular recreational destination for hunters and hikers.
Moreover, the change in land use would likely have impeded waterfowl hunting on Guana Lake and would have made the application of prescribed fire to adjacent Guana Wildlife Management Area, Guana State Park, and Guana-Tolomato-Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve far more difficult. Stormwater runoff from a new development would further harm the water quality of Guana Lake, a designated Outstanding Florida Water.
Audubon Flies into Action
Even without all these shortcomings, the fundamental issue remained: Florida’s conservation lands are not held in trust for the public simply until a developer wants them. There was no way this parcel could meet the standard of "no longer needed for conservation purposes" necessary to dispose of conservation lands.
Audubon immediately alerted members through an email and social media alert, asking them to sign our petition to stop the ill-conceived land swap.
Across the region and throughout the state, Floridians dedicated to protecting conservation lands made their voices heard. They shared the news on social media, called their elected officials, crafted signs, registered to speak at the ARC meeting, and so much more. We received more than 50,000 submissions to our petition to protect critical conservation lands in Northeast Florida!
Success
On Monday, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced that the applicant of the proposal to swap a portion of valuable and vulnerable Guana River WMA withdrew their agenda item in the face of overwhelming public concern.
“In a state with a history of swampland scams and shifting baselines, the public has learned to be skeptical of proposals that are big on promises and light on details,” explains Executive Director Julie Wraithmell. “The burden of proof is on the applicant to demonstrate the value to the public trust; the information available to the public fell far short of Floridians' expectations for transparency and accountability.”
Protecting 600 acres in Northeast Florida – right on the heels of a unanimous vote in the Florida House and Senate to increase protections for state parks (awaiting the Governor’s signature) – is a stark reminder of the power of grassroots advocacy in protecting Florida’s special places. Thank you to everyone who signed a petition, shared your thoughts, contacted your representative, and attended an advocacy event.
Audubon staff will continue to monitor this potential project and alert the public to any further development.
To watch a press conference covering this success, with comments by Northeast Florida Policy Associate Chris Farrell, see below.