If you're worried the state isn't protecting enough environmentally sensitive lands, this was an outstanding day. The Florida Board of Trustees Tuesday approved the purchase of two conservation easements totaling 2,903 acres as part of the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
The new conservation easements in Seminole and Collier counties increase the total land preserved by the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program to 12,808 acres and allow agricultural operations to continue while protecting sensitive natural resources from future development.
“These properties are invaluable pieces of Florida’s ecosystem, contributing to the protection of aquifer recharge areas and providing habitat for a wide variety of wildlife,” Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam said in a prepared statement. “With the approval of these two properties, the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program preserves nearly 13,000 acres from future development, while allowing the land and agriculture operations to continue to contribute to Florida’s economy.”
Here are the details on the newest Rural and Family Lands Protection Program conservation easements:
JB Ranch – Collier County: 1,617 acres
JB Ranch was founded in the 1940s and is under its third generation of management. It is located immediately north of Big Cypress National Preserve. In addition to being within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Primary Zone for the federally endangered panther, the property is home to several threatened species, including the crested caracara, wood stork and sand hill crane. Agricultural activities on the ranch include cattle grazing, select timber harvesting, bee keeping and row crops.
Purchase Price: $3,750,000 ($1,500,000 National Resource Conservation Service partnership; reducing Board of Trustees purchase price to $2,250,000)
Kilbee Ranch – Seminole County: 1,286 acres
Kilbee Ranch has been operated by the same family since the 1920s and shares an eastern boundary with the Little Big Econ State Forest. It is near the St. Johns and Econolockhatchee rivers. The property is home to the gopher tortoise, sandhill crane, deer, turkey, coyotes, Florida black bear and more.
Purchase Price: $4,095,000 ($1,000,000 National Resource Conservation Service partnership; reducing Board of Trustees purchase price to $3,095,000)
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection Program was created in 2001 and has acquired 20 perpetual easements. The easements protect working agricultural lands threatened by other uses, such as residential and commercial development.
The goals of the program include these:
- Protecting valuable agricultural lands;
- Creating conservation easements that ensure sustainable agricultural practices;
- Preventing conversion to non-agricultural land uses in the rural base of Florida; and
- Helping to protect natural resources in conjunction with these agricultural operations.
Florida agriculture has an overall economic impact estimated at more than $123 billion annually, making it the state’s second largest industry. The agriculture industry supports more than 2 million jobs in Florida.
More information on the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program is available here.
Comments
Wonderful, another 3000 acres
ENOUGH with the "bullcrap"
In a Conservation Easement is
Gee . . . . . must be more
Under the conservation
Ranch land owned "for several
How does land become