Nature Conservancy Supports Ranch Protection, But Cites Dwindling Funds

First fiscal year in 20 starts with no new funding for stellar land protection program Florida Forever.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — July 27, 2009 — While supporting the Florida Cabinet’s purchase of a conservation easement over Evans Ranch in Flagler County, The Nature Conservancy today acknowledged that new annual funding for Florida Forever has ended and that worthy conservation projects will go unfunded.

The conservation easement project on Tuesday’s Cabinet agenda will be bought using last year’s funding. Meanwhile, with no new funding thousands of acres of conservation land will not be acquired. The Nature Conservancy itself is currently engaged in serious negotiations with owners of more than 125,000 acres of high priority conservation lands, many of which are Florida Forever projects.

“July 2009 is the first month in 20 years that the State of Florida has made no new investment in land conservation,” The Nature Conservancy’s State Director Jeff Danter writes in a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist and each member of the Florida Cabinet. “With no Florida Forever funds to assist, historic opportunities for conservation will be lost.”

The letter also notes the economic value of natural lands. “Natural Florida brings people to our state as tourists and residents, is the underpinning of our forest and ranching industries, assures our clean and abundant supplies of drinking water and food and defines the high quality of life that we enjoy here,” Danter writes.

Note: View the full Cabinet letter. For a separate electronic copy, please email jaustin@tnc.org.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.