Supporters Urge Florida Forever Be Funded

Agencies and environmental organizations highlight Florida conservation at capitol event.

TALLAHASSEE, FL — April 7, 2009 — Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink joined many friends and supporters of Florida Forever in support of Florida’s great history of land conservation April 6 at Florida Forever Day in Tallahassee. The Florida Forever Coalition used the occasion to release a public opinion poll that showed 81 percent of Florida voters hold a favorable impression of land preservation and 67 percent support.

Gov. Crist, wearing a “Florida Forever…and Ever” sticker on his lapel, pledged continued support for funding the program this year despite the economy. He urged that a solution be found to continue Florida Forever, perhaps one like the scaled-down project to buy the U.S. Sugar Corp. land in the Everglades.

CFO Sink recognized how “enormously proud” Floridians can be of the acres already protected and urged attendees to “keep up the good fight.”

Senators Paula Dockery of Lakeland, Lee Constantine of Altamonte Springs, and Dave Aronberg of Greenacres, and Representative Mary Brandenburg of Lake Worth were among the lawmakers who attended Florida Forever Day to express their support for land protection across Florida.

“Even in a tight year we should continue, even if it is a lesser amount,” said Dockery, a sponsor of the original Florida Forever act in 1999 when she served in the Florida House.

Booths from Florida agencies and environmental organizations circled the windy capitol courtyard as various presenters spoke in support of Florida Forever.

“I’m not just looking out for my children, I’m looking out for my grandchildren,” said Mike Long, referring to the need to protect the identified 2 million acres “that still has resource value out there.” Long is the assistant director of the Division of State Lands and represented the Department of Environmental Protection at the Florida Forever Day podium.

“It is far less costly to protect land than it is to restore it,” said Ken Reecy, director of Florida Communities Trust.

“We’ve seen in the past those who buy land in an economic downturn benefit,” said Greg Chelius, state director of the Trust for Public Land.

“There is nothing like standing on a piece of land and knowing it is protected forever,” said Eric Draper, Audubon of Florida deputy director, as he urged listeners to go visit their favorite place protected by Florida’s renowned conservation programs. “Tell people about it, talk about it…those conversations can make a difference.”

Florida leads the nation in land conservation funding, followed by California and Colorado. For the past 19 years, the state has authorized $300 million a year for land conservation – through Florida Forever and Preservation 2000 before it – and has permanently saved more than 2 million acres of our state’s most ecologically important land.

Last year, the Florida Legislature authorized another 10 years of Florida Forever at the annual $300 million level, but the money must be budgeted every year to launch the bonding program. The bonds are financed through the state Documentary Stamp Tax – a small percentage of every real estate transaction – and collections are down considerably due to a slowdown in the real estate market.

Gov. Crist has included Florida Forever bond funding in his new budget recommendation for next year. The Florida Senate and House are still creating their budgets.

Florida Forever Day participants are hopeful that the program will gain funding for next year. A relatively small appropriation -- $12.4 million or less, combined with future recurring revenue – enables the state to borrow $300 million.

“We could go lower (than $12.4 million) and issue fewer Florida Forever bonds, and that would allow us to keep purchasing what is essentially a disappearing asset – undeveloped, environmentally important land,” said Andy McLeod, director of government relations for The Nature Conservancy. “Conservation land is one of the few capital assets that won’t be here in the future, making it uniquely suited for borrowing.”

The Nature Conservancy this month published a report – “Economic Benefits of Land Conservation: A Case for Florida Forever” – that documents how saving land permanently contributes substantially to Florida’s long-term economic well-being.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. With funding from the Florida Forever program and our generous donors the Conservancy has helped protect more than 1.2 million acres in Florida since 1961. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/florida.