November 1, 2007
Addressing the Future of Florida Forever
With the Florida Forever environmental land preservation program scheduled to conclude in 2010, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is asking citizens and environmental leaders for feedback on what the next steps should be in ensuring the natural beauty of Florida is maintained for generations to come.
As the world’s largest conservation buying program, Florida Forever has resulted in the protection of 535,643 acres of land with $1.8 billion dollars in funding from the Florida Legislature since the program began in 2001. It replaced the previous Preservation 2000 Program, which used $3 billion dollars to protect 1,781,489 acres of lands between 1990 and 2000.
While the preservation efforts over the last 20 years have helped protect some of the most environmentally sensitive land in the state, it reflects only a small portion of the land designated as “environmentally sensitive” in Florida.
The PennDesign Florida Project, which provided an alternative future for how the State of Florida could grow between now and 2060, called for the permanent protection of nearly nine million additional acres of environmentally sensitive land. This “green footprint” would ensure that more than half of all the land in the state would be available for recreation, agriculture, preservation and conservation.
In Central Florida, Naturally Central Florida, a joint effort between the UCF Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies and myregion.org, has identified the seven “Environmental Jewels” of the region that provide regional environmental connectivity. In addition, under the direction of the Central Florida Joint Policy Committee, the region is currently developing an “Important Ecological Resource Areas” Map designed to help pinpoint the specific lands that are environmentally significant within the region.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has held two community meetings asking for input and feedback for what a future land protection program should encompass. The first was held on October 22, 2007 in Tallahassee. The second occurred on October 29, 2007 in Orlando.
Among the regional leaders who provided input at the meeting in Orlando were Phil Laurien, Executive Director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Shelley Lauten, the Director of myregion.org, Doug Weaver, the Land Acquisition Manager for Volusia County, and Charles Lee, Director of Advocacy for the Florida Audubon Society. All four have been actively involved in the efforts in Central Florida.
Laurien emphasized that during the “How Shall We Grow?” Project, more than 20,000 Central Floridians ranked protecting the environment as crucial to maintaining the quality of life for Central Florida. He also said that having a regional map of the key environmental areas is critical and should be used to help guide future land use within the region.
Lauten encouraged the Department of Environmental Protection to engage the business and development community when developing the strategy for how to preserve the natural beauty of the state. She said that surveys conducted by myregion.org have shown that preserving the environment is important to citizens and leaders representing all sectors of the community and that creating a broad coalition of support will enhance any future initiative.
The land conservation program in Volusia County has been among the most successful in the state of Florida and Weaver highlighted what has been done in the county as well as the important role played by the state lands program.
Outlining the work that has been done to identify the key environmental areas in Central Florida, Lee said that preserving regional connectivity should be a priority of the next state land program.
For more information on the Florida Forever Project or to provide the Department of Environmental Protection with your suggestions for how they should move forward visit: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/acquisition/FloridaForever/.
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