Lawmakers slash Florida Forever conservation funds despite public land support
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Lawmakers slash Florida Forever conservation funds despite public land support
The Florida Forever program is slated to receive $18 million in the upcoming budget year, compared to at least $100 million in funding every year since 2021. The funding cut comes just two years after lawmakers unanimously approved a measure requiring the state to allocate $ 100 million annually to land acquisition. The budget also calls for $250 million for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, an agricultural land preservation initiative that offers conservation easements on timber, farm and ranch lands. Supporters of both programs say it will do the same thing, put money into one leg of the stool and the other into the other. Once the budget is sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis, he has 15 days to issue a vetoes and it must be approved by the state legislature or the governor will have to sign off on the budget. The state legislature is in the midst of a tumultuous legislative session, hampered with infighting and infighting over the state’s $115 billion budget for this year and the coming year. The House and Senate have to agree on funding totals each year.
Despite the vast display of bipartisan support for Florida’s wild places, lawmakers on Monday night approved budget cuts to the state’s flagship conservation land acquisition program that helps grow and create new state parks.
The Florida Forever program is slated to receive $18 million in the upcoming budget year, compared to at least $100 million in funding every year since 2021, according to state documents. The land-buying money falls well short of the additional $100 million Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recommended for the new budget.
Several environmental advocacy groups told the Tampa Bay Times they are disappointed in the allocation, calling the funding “paltry” and saying it runs counter to the public’s support for more conservation lands amid rapid development across the state.
They said it also sends mixed messages about lawmaker support around public lands just weeks after the Legislature unanimously passed a measure to further protect Florida’s state parks from development.
“After a year of overwhelming support for Florida’s public lands — including state parks, state forests, and wildlife management areas — allocating only $18 million for Florida Forever does not meet the moment,” said Casey Darling Kniffin, the conservation policy director for the Florida Wildlife Federation in a statement.
“Despite thousands of Floridians who urged lawmakers to maintain or increase funding, this minimal investment reveals a troubling disconnect about the long-term value of public conservation lands,” she said.
Both chambers of the Florida Legislature have to agree on funding totals each year. While the Senate first offered $100 million for the conservation program, the House in early June proposed no money. The chambers landed on $18 million.
The funding cut comes just two years after lawmakers unanimously approved a measure requiring the state to allocate $100 million annually to land acquisition. Florida Forever was created in 2001 and has blossomed into one of the country’s largest public land-buying initiatives, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the program.
More than 1 million acres of land have been purchased with nearly $4 billion since the program began, according to the agency. A spokesperson did not respond to questions about how conservation goals could be affected over the coming year.
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While money allocated for Florida Forever has dropped to its lowest point in years, the budget also calls for $250 million for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, an agricultural land preservation initiative that offers conservation easements on timber, farm and ranch lands. The program is overseen by the state’s agriculture department.
A conservation easement gives landowners a vehicle to sell their land’s development rights while still being able to use it privately for producing crops or raising cattle. The program fends off sprawl but also doesn’t typically allow for public recreational opportunities that a state park or forest, purchased with Florida Forever funds, would provide, according to advocacy groups.
Asked about funding cuts to Florida Forever on June 13, Republican House budget chairperson Rep. Lawrence McClure signaled that owning and managing public lands is costing the state money, and instead he emphasized the importance of conservation through easements.
“Easements are a wonderful tool that meet the intended goal of preserving Florida’s heartland,” McClure said. ”But it also has the benefit of not needing to be managed by government.”
Taken together, conservation programs like Florida Forever and Rural and Family Lands help form a patchwork of properties into an interconnected corridor where wildlife can roam without the threats brought on by human construction, supporters of both programs say.
Beth Alvi, the senior director of policy at Audubon Florida, likened Florida Forever to one leg of the stool that makes up conservation efforts in Florida, with other conservation programs, like Rural and Family Lands, making up other legs.
“To put money into one (leg), and say it will do the same thing, is not getting the full picture of what is necessary to conserve land in this state,” Alvi said. “This is a race against time and development to save our last remaining wild places.”
After a tumultuous legislative session awash with infighting and hampered negotiations, the Florida budget this year totals just north of $115 billion. Once the budget is sent to him, DeSantis has 15 days to issue vetoes and approve it.
State Rep. Lindsay Cross, a Democrat from St. Petersburg, said the Florida Forever funding cut this year could make it difficult for the state to add or build upon existing, publicly accessible parks and forests at a time when Florida’s population continues to climb, adding visitor pressure to public lands.
Funding for conservation easements is important, Cross said, but that doesn’t equate to increased public access for people who want to get outside.
“We should be striving for better when we have more people moving to this state with booming tourism,” Cross said. “There’s only so far we can go with our existing public lands before we love them to death.”
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