This piece of land, owned by a local family, has been on the waiting list to be protected for decades, says Lindsay Stevens, who oversees land acquisition and policy for the Nature Conservancy in Florida. Funding and momentum from the Florida Wildlife Corridors Act helped make it happen, she says.
Another property, called the Crippen Ranch, is a two square kilometer property currently used for farming and recreational hunting. It is adjacent to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, which consists of prairies that once covered much of the state and that well-managed ranches help preserve, he says. Traci Deen, president and CEO of Conservation Florida, the group that helped organize the parcel’s easement. This plot and the adjoining areas are home to the grasshopper sparrows, one of the state’s most endangered birds.
Most of the newly protected properties are in south-central and southwest Florida, although two of them consist of forests in the Panhandle, home to swallow-tailed kites and black bears. The Department of Environmental Protection and its program “Florida Forever” it is the funding source for many of the easements and acquisitions, along with the State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. Some federal and regional agencies, such as local water districts, have also contributed.
field and stream
The protection of the lands of the head of the Everglades, a vast territory that stretches from Orlando in the north to much of southern Florida, is a special target for conservationists because the land allows water to flow south. This hydrological connectivity has been severely curtailed in the last century, although authorities are working to undo past mistakes and protect more land from development.