What's New
Florida Forever, the state's conservation and recreational land buying program, and its predecessor programs, have successfully protected over 2 million acres of Florida's natural areas and open space from development. Recently, the Florida Forever Coalition, of which Environment Florida is a member, won approval of a bill that will extend this successful program for another ten years.
This November, if at least 60% of voters approve Amendment 4, Florida's constitution will be amended to give private land owners incentives to conserve their land instead of developing it by reducing or eliminating property taxes for land put into conservation easements. In 2000, Colorado passed a law that gave state
income tax breaks to those landowners who donated perpetual conservation
easements on their lands. In the intervening eight years, one million acres
have been forever saved from development by the use of this law.
Background
Florida has long been one of the fastest growing states in the country, but
the price of this growth has been steep.
Sprawling development has carved wildlife habitat into smaller and smaller
pieces, divided by highways or paved over altogether for shopping malls and
office parks -- threatening state symbols such as the Florida panther and the
Florida black bear.
Many of Florida's coastal marshes and barrier islands -- home to endangered
wildlife such as manatees, wood storks and loggerhead sea turtles -- have been
transformed into marinas and condominiums. The Everglades, a unique ecosystem
that is home to 68 federally endangered or threatened plant and animal species,
has already lost half of its area to agricultural and urban development and
continues to face pressure from South Florida's booming development.
To stem this tide, since the late 1960s, Florida has funded strong programs
to preserve the natural beauty and unique ecosystems that comprise our state.
The current effort is a program called Florida Forever -- a very popular and
effective $300 million per year conservation and recreation land buying program
funded by long term bonds secured with funding from real estate transfer fees.
Touted as "the world's largest land conservation buying program,"
Florida Forever has preserved more than 560,000 acres since the program's
launch in 2001.
While Florida Forever has been successful, it is precariously low on funds. Moreover, its
achievements pale in comparison to the need at hand. Florida's population is
expected to double in the next 50 years, and open space and pristine habitat is
disappearing at an alarming rate.
We need to increase funding for the Florida Forever program
and to put in place incentives for private owners to conserve their land, rather than sell to developers. The longer we wait, the more open space and critical wildlife habitat we
will lose.
