Florida May Buy More Private Land

Florida’s land conservation program has long been the envy of the nation. Now a coalition of environmentalists is pushing the state of Florida to buy even more land about 2 million more acres to preserve a third of the state’s land mass.

The effort is the largest attempt yet to retain land in its natural undeveloped state in the U.S. More than 2.2 million acres of Florida land has been purchased and preserved by state and local governments since 1991. The so-called great land grab would account for a third of Florida’s land mass. Key areas of the purchase are located in the Florida panhandle.

A coalition of 16 conservation groups are pushing the state to purchase the property. They want the special Florida Forever program to be extended beyond 2010 and to increase state funding for land purchases in an attempt to balance the state’s natural environment with development.

Conservationists are concerned about the balance of nature in the growing state of Florida, which is forecast by the U.S. Census Bureau to be one of only three states to hold nearly half of the nation’s population by 2030. The additional purchase would provide a key balance, according to a group of scientists who traveled the state identifying environmentally significant lands. Purchasing the land would cost about $10 billion, the group estimates. The money would be derived from local and the state governments under a proposed increase in funding for the groups.

"With a third of a million people coming into Florida every year development will overwhelm our natural systems," said Eric Draper, a chief lobbyist for the Audubon Society, which is taking a leading role in the preservation.

State Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, has filed a bill which would double Florida Forever funding to $600 million next year. Saunders said fellow lawmakers are starting to understand that conservation is important to not only retain a balance between man and nature, but that it’s also important to Florida's economy. "A lot of people come here to fish. A lot like to come here for bird watching or go hiking in natural areas," Saunders said. " If we don't preserve those natural areas we will actually kill that reason for people to come here in the first place."