Cabinet approves $141 million in funding for Florida Forever, including 4,800 acres in Leon County

More than 4,800 acres in the Red Hills region will be permanently protected and bring ecological benefits to Florida’s capital and beyond after the Florida Cabinet approved funding for a conservation easement on the Cherokee property of Leon County.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet quickly approved $141 million in deals Monday that will help preserve lands in southwest Florida’s Panhandle.

In a phone meeting, DeSantis and Cabinet members supported three land purchases under the Florida Forever program. They also approved the purchase of three conservation easements, which help preserve the land while allowing landowners to continue using it for purposes such as farming and hunting.

One of the conservation easement agreements involves spending $8.25 million to maintain 4,808 acres north of Tallahassee. The agreement with Gem Land Co. would, in part, allow the construction of eight single-family homes on the property, as well as outbuildings and driveways.

Funding for the conservation easement comes from Florida Forever, the state’s voter-approved land conservation program.

The new conservation easement on Cherokee, located just north of Tallahassee, will prohibit residential, industrial and commercial development on the property while protecting natural areas.

The multi-generational property, which has been family-owned and operated since the 1940s, is connected to existing conservation easement lands in north Tallahassee.

The State of Florida’s commitment to conserving the property through public dollars provides a critical link to the Florida Wildlife Corridor as well as existing, permanently protected private and public lands from the Georgia border to the Gulf Coast.

The public benefits this conservation easement provides by protecting the region’s water resources, wildlife habitat, and rich scenic beauty are particularly important.

It will conserve natural habitats, wildlife, and water resources associated with Foshalee Swamp, which is hydrologically connected to Lake Iamonia and the Ochlockonee River.

More than 700 acres of mature cypress and tupelo wetlands will be protected from future logging and development activities. These natural habitats protect surface waters critical to groundwater recharge in the Florida Aquifer, an important source of drinking water for many Floridians.

Additionally, this conservation easement will protect uplands managed for silvicultural purposes. Pine timber production is one of the least impactful land uses that support our local economies in the region.

Through such conservation easements, management of the property is retained by the landowner, making private land conservation a cost-effective public investment to protect ecosystem services on a large scale.

The commitment and conservation ethic of private landowners like those in Cherokee will help ensure the permanent protection of natural lands, wild spaces and rural working lands in Florida.

“The Florida Forever conservation easement in Cherokee is a major victory for North Florida,” said Shane Wellendorf, Tall Timbers Land Conservation Director. “The connections its conservation will make to wildlife, water resources and maintaining landscape beauty are invaluable to the Red Hills and Florida’s wildlife corridor.”

Permanent protection of Cherokee will contribute to several conservation goals in the Red Hills, including the frequent use of prescribed burns and carbon sequestration through natural processes.

Landowners throughout the region have long used prescribed burning to manage natural habitats for quail and other wildlife and to maintain healthy forests. Prescribed burning mimics a natural process that promotes plant and animal diversity and reduces the risk of wildfires.

Collectively, conserving lands like Cherokee in the Red Hills will ensure the long-term use of prescribed burns necessary to maintain this diversity.

Vast rural landscapes with minimal development, such as those in the Red Hills, make prescribed burning easier. Conservation easements limit land fragmentation and development and thus enable the continued use and benefits of prescribed burning.

Tall Timbers, a nonprofit research and land conservation station in Tallahassee, works with private landowners to manage and conserve their land and has helped Cherokee landowners through the Florida Forever process.

“The long-term protection of Red Hills wilderness would not be possible without the commitment of private landowners like those in Cherokee and the dedication of the State of Florida to land conservation,” Wellendorf said. “It has been an honor for Tall Timbers to work with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection staff and help Cherokee landowners permanently conserve their land for the benefit of the region.”

The most expensive deal involves spending $77.6 million in Florida Forever money to purchase 17,229 acres from Alico, Inc. in Hendry County in what is known as the Devil’s Garden Florida project Forever. While Alico is a huge citrus producer, the targeted land is primarily used for livestock grazing, according to a staff analysis of the proposal.

Other Florida Forever projects approved Monday call for spending $5.4 million to acquire 1,546 acres between Blackwater River State Forest and Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Santa Rosa County and $13.4 million on 5,454 acres involving the Natural Bridge Timberlands project along the Leon and Jefferson border. counties.

The site southeast of Tallahassee borders the historic Natural Bridge Battlefield State Park and protects the St. Marks River and natural springs in the area.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Cabinet clears Florida Forever, which includes 4,800 acres in Leon County.