Nature Conservancy Magazine: Autumn 2009

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Because cattle ranches contain much of Florida’s remaining native habitat, keeping ranchers in ranching is as critical to the health of Florida’s ecosystems as it is to the strength of its economy.

Go Deeper

Letting Florida's Black Bears Lead the Way for Conservation
Black bears require large, intact and connected landscapes to survive. Ranchlands provide habitat for about 80 percent of the region’s bears.

Working with Ranchers
Learn more about the Conservancy's work with ranchers.

Conservation Easements
Conservation easements are one of the most powerful, effective tools available for the permanent conservation of private lands in the United States.

The Nature Conservancy in Florida
The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 1.2 million acres of critical natural lands in Florida.

“This is Old Florida. Many of these ranching families have been here for generations; they have a real stewardship ethic for their land.”

— Keith Fountain, Director of Protection, The Nature Conservancy in Florida

By Jennifer Winger

There are cattle that have grazed America’s grasslands longer than the longhorn. There are horses that can stand hock-deep in water for a week without ruining. And there are ranches that operate not on dusty Western lunarscapes, but in sultry, swampy jungles where a bull can hide in a thick hammock of hardwoods and a heifer can tangle in a myrtle bed if she’s feeling ornery. Ask any cowboy who rides these horses and works these cattle and he (or she) will tell you a little-known truth: The Old West actually began down South — in Florida.

Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León brought horses, hogs, cattle and colonists to Florida’s Gulf Coast on his second expedition to the New World in 1521 — 19 years before his fellow countryman, Francisco Coronado, would introduce horses to what is now the American Southwest. Although Native American aggression sent the settlers packing, the Andalusian livestock remained and became known as Florida “cracker” cattle and horses, named for the crack of the cow hunters’ whips as they pierced the humid air. The cattle, in particular, adapted well to the subtropical climate, developing thick, mosquito-proof skin, a tolerance for the heat and a hardy constitution that could process the low-quality plants that thrive in the unfertilized pastures and rough-wood scrub of the Deep South.

Today, nearly one-sixth of Florida’s landmass is devoted to cattle ranching. More than 7 million acres of land support approximately 1.7 million head of cattle in about 17,000 operations. The most productive cattle ranch in the world isn’t in Texas; it’s here in the Sunshine State. With its long growing season, mild winters and above-average rainfall, Florida yields various plants that cattle convert to marketable beef.

But Florida ranch lands raise more than cattle. They also supply habitat for myriad species such as the Florida panther and the crested caracara. “Florida’s ranches support tremendous biological diversity,” says Keith Fountain, director of protection for The Nature Conservancy in Florida. Most ranches are located within central and south Florida, at the headwaters of the Everglades — the nation’s largest subtropical wilderness. “They sit at the epicenter of one of the world’s marquee restoration projects and are hugely important to wetlands rehydration,” Fountain says.

Indeed, these vast rangelands protect critical watersheds that feed into coastal estuaries and provide the precious “empty” space necessary for groundwater recharge and natural filtration — in a state that is anything but empty.

With 1,000 new residents moving to Florida each day in pursuit of sun, sand and surf, Florida’s heartlands are in danger of being loved to death. Since the first attempted European settlement of the United States in 1521, Florida’s freshwater wetlands have declined by more than 50 percent. And each year the state loses about 150,000 acres of rural and natural land to development.

Because cattle ranches contain much of Florida’s remaining native habitat, keeping ranchers in ranching is as critical to the health of Florida’s ecosystems as it is to the strength of its economy. While the financial crisis has slowed the wild real estate speculation that may once have led ranchers to sell slices of their property to supplement their income, cattle remain a fickle business, and even families that have been ranching for generations are feeling the financial strain.

But these difficult economic times have led to an unprecedented opportunity for conservation: Ranchers looking for a way to keep their business afloat are turning to conservation organizations like the Conservancy to find a solution that is good for their lands and for their legacy.

Conservation easements often fit the bill. These voluntary, legally binding agreements can provide needed cash in exchange for limiting development or certain types of uses now and in the future. Conservation easements also allow owners to live on and manage their lands while retaining many private property rights — and can offer tax benefits, to boot. In the past 20 years, the Conservancy and partners have put forward more than 35 Florida ranchland conservation projects totaling nearly 800,000 acres.

“This is Old Florida,” says the Conservancy’s Fountain. “Many of these ranching families have been here for generations; they have a real stewardship ethic for their land.”

In fact, if managed well, a ranch can provide some of the same ecological functions as protected areas, and many ranches serve as wildlife corridors that connect otherwise isolated tracts of public land. The partnership between ranchers and the Conservancy suggests that cattle and conservation can more than coexist; they can help keep Florida wild.