Legislature sweeps Florida Forever funding to rural conservation program

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Legislature has gone from budgeting $229 million to the Florida Forever program two years ago to putting no new money into it next year, something that has rarely happened in the 25-year history of the state's premier land conservation initiative.

Instead of buying land for the public to enjoy, the Legislature swept $425 million into a program to buy the development rights on private working farms and ranches - which can protect those agricultural lands from housing or commercial development but won't preserve them for public use.

"Audubon is deeply alarmed by this outcome," said Beth Alvi, policy director for Audubon Florida.

The decision marks a dramatic policy shift in state land conservation, pitting efforts to protect land and wildlife against preserving Florida's traditional farmland and cattle ranches and placing in limbo negotiations on thousands of acres of land already identified for purchase through the Department of Environmental Protection's scientific screening process.

The decision also goes against a 2023 law that said the Legislature would commit $100 million a year towards buying up land on Florida Forever's lengthy acquisition list, environmentalists said.

"They've been playing ping pong with Florida Forever funding since Rick Scott was governor, bouncing around from zero to $100 million depending on the whims of political winds," said Chuck O'Neal, a longtime environmentalist from Apopka and founder of the conservation group, Speak Up Wekiva.

The Legislature slashed or found other uses for Florida Forever funds in 2009 and 2010 after the 2008 recession and swept the fund of new land-buying money in 2011 and 2012, and in 2017, even after voters approved a referendum in 2014 to require the Legislature dedicate money for the conservation effort.

But in most years, lawmakers earmarked money for the program. In more than three decades, Florida Forever and its predecessor, Preservation 2000, have bought more than 2.6 million acres of forests, parks and wildlife management areas, including the Florida Wildlife Corridor, an 18-million-acre expanse of state land that provides habitat for many fragile plants and animals.

Local projects include the Seminole Wekiva Trail, which is part of the greater Wekiva-Ocala Greenway.

The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, which got the money this year, aims to protect farms, ranches and timberlands by purchasing the development rights while keeping the land in private hands and allowing its current uses to continue. Since the program began in 2021, it has preserved over 240,000 acres of working agricultural land, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported.

The environmental community was not expecting "anything spectacular," considering that the Senate had proposed $35 million for Forever Florida while the House had nothing in the budget for the program, said Rep. Lindsay Cross, a St. Petersburg Democrat and environmentalist.

"From the initial budget offering it was clear there was not a lot of interest in Florida Forever," said a disappointed Cross, who served on a House committee that sets policies, regulations and budgets affecting agricultural affairs.

But Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Lake Mary Republican who led budget negotiations on agriculture and environmental issues, challenged the conservation community's accusation that Florida Forever is being shortchanged. The 2026-27 budget has $112 million in next year's budget for land acquisition, though not listed as a regular program line item.

The money is not new funding, however, but leftover money from previous budget cycles that "we had appropriated years and years ago and is just sitting there," he confirmed.

Still, he said, "I think we had a really tremendous year for the conservation advocates."

The program gets its funding from doc stamps - a tax charged on all real estate transactions - that amounts to about $270 million a year.

Not all of the money goes to land acquisition, though, Brodeur said. It also pays for maintenance, improvements and restoration. "Sometimes it's a year where we just need to take care of the toys we've got," he said.

Environmentalists note that not only is there is no new money for land acquisition but that the $112 million comes with stipulations.

Only half the money can be spent on buying land outright, while the other half has to be spent on conservation easements, which means the state buys the development rights and allows the landowner to continue to hold title on the property.

"The shift in funding means losing access for the public," Cross said. "It is important to save rural lands but they don't give the public the ability to access and enjoy those lands. I like to see a conservation program that helps support people who desire to get out safely in nature."

Losing that money also hurts the ability to get some of the land deals finalized, Cross said. Getting to closing can take years of negotiations to get both sides in agreement.

Another concern is the state is veering away from the vigorous screening involved in selecting properties for the Florida Forever program. A stipulation slipped into the budget at the last minute requires the state's environmental protection department to buy four parcels next to Gulf Shores National Seashore in Okaloosa County.

The property is owned by the same political donor who received $83 million for 4 acres of sand dunes on a peninsula across the lagoon from Destin, a Panhandle resort city. That deal prompted sharp criticism from environmentalists, who said the state was paying money for land that didn't warrant protection at the expense of having funds to purchase more environmentally worthwhile properties.

That land deal was also slipped into the state budget at the last minute, by powerful Sen. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, who is slated to be Senate President in two years.

O'Neal said such actions that bypass the official land selection process can raise suspicions about doling out political favors. "That's very alarming because it turns Florida Forever into a slush fund for whoever is in power," O'Neal said.

Environmentalists are also concerned that the state appears to be shying away from owning more land, Cross said. "There is an argument that the costs to maintain property is higher if the state owns it. Not so with conservation agricultural easements, since families own the land."

But by shifting funds to conservation easements, Brodeur said, the state is not responsible for maintenance and improvements because the owner still holds the title. Also, the state is able to negotiate with farmers willing to give up development rights to protect their land from sprawling development faster than it can negotiate the larger, more complicated land deals on its acquisition list.

"We are protecting a lot more land faster, and it's not as expensive to keep it," Brodeur said."

For example, the Florida Cabinet just approved the purchase of the development rights on 6,200 acres of farm and ranch land in southwest Florida for nearly $38 million.

But Cross contends there is more value to owning land that the public can access for their personal recreation and enjoyment. People come to parks to enjoy nature, and maybe rent a kayak from a local outfitter or have lunch at the nearby town's eatery, she said.

"These lands are economic drivers," she said.

Florida Forever also looks at the ecological value, she said, while the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program is saving working farms and ranches that remain in private hands.

"I support both but not at the expense of the other," Cross said. "Shifting the vast majority of funding to agricultural easements is shortchanging Florida Forever."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.