Thousands of acres in northwestern Florida to be conserved

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Thousands of acres in northwestern Florida to be conserved

The northwestern Florida Panhandle is known for its beaches, forests and farms -- and for being one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. In late March, the state of Florida announced that almost 29,000 acres of the Panhandle would be set aside for conservation under the Florida Forever program.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Colleen M. Castille announced the conservation of 28,579 ecologically valuable acres of habitat, including 30 miles of rivers, creeks and streams.

International Paper offered conservation lands for protection and worked with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and The Conservation Fund to structure the transaction. These groups are now partnering with the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) and DEP to permanently protect the properties. DEP also helped coordinate this effort with military installations in the area to leverage additional national security and local economic benefits from its conservation agenda. The majority of this land has been on the Florida Forever list as proposed acquisitions for years.

In Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties, TNC is purchasing 11,313 acres of the long-sought Yellow River Ravines Florida Forever project with plans to ultimately make this top-ranked property available to the state. Yellow River Ravines links outstanding natural areas in Eglin Air Force Base and Blackwater River State Forest, forming a protected landscape of more than 800,000 acres from the Gulf of Mexico into Conecuh National Forest in Alabama.

TNC also agreed to purchase an option on another 11,528 acres that connects Whiting Field Naval Air Station with Blackwater River State Forest. The project will protect 6 miles of Coldwater Creek, an outstanding state-designated canoe trail often cited as the best in the state, and help the DEP Office of Greenways and Trails further establish the Blackwater Heritage Trail for recreation around the base. DEP and TNC have an ongoing collaboration with Department of Defense to protect areas that optimize conservation, recreation and military training benefits at NAS Whiting Field and Eglin Air Force Base.

In addition, the NWFWMD, working with The Conservation Fund, will protect 5,533 acres in Escambia County along the Perdido River. The purchase safeguards about 15 miles of riverfront on this outstanding Florida waterway and Florida Forever priority land. For the first time in several decades, the Perdido River and Bay will be accessible to the public for resource-based recreational activities, especially for paddlers, as the property will be incorporated into Escambia County's Recreational Water Trail program. This key river corridor purchase complements additional state, federal and private conservation lands downstream along the Perdido River and Bay.

The protected lands in Florida are part of a larger 10-state conservation agreement being announced this week by International Paper, TNC and The Conservation Fund. International Paper, one of the largest private landowners in the United States, is making available a total of 218,000 acres of high-value conservation lands nationwide.

"This was possible because of partnerships," Castille said. "When the Florida Legislature votes to fund Florida Forever, and when Governor Bush and the Cabinet approve the release of those resources, they expect us to get maximum economic and environmental value for Floridians. Today's protection of important natural Panhandle landscapes is a terrific example of accomplishing this through partnerships."