The Division of State Lands has primary responsibility for the Florida Forever land acquisition program, the world's largest conservation land buying program - collectively, the State of Florida has protected over 535,643 acres of land with $1.8 billion in Florida Forever funds through December 2006.

Since its inception in July 2001 through September 2006, the state?s Florida Forever land acquisition program has been extremely successful as evidenced by the protection of: over 231,730 acres of Strategic Habitat Conservation Areas (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission); 374,890 acres of habitat conservation areas (FNAI), and over 580 listed species locations of 190 different species, 98 of which are state-listed as endangered, 41 state-listed threatened, and 17 species of special concern; 513,050 acres of ecological greenways (Office of Greenways & Trails); 68,260 acres of under-represented natural communities; 54,540 acres of natural floodplains; 530,550 acres important to significant water bodies; 5,060 acres of fragile coastline; 236,210 acres of functional wetlands; 524,846 acres of significant groundwater recharge areas; 30,130 acres of land to support priority recreational trails; and, 268,330 acres of sustainable forest land. Also, over 2,500 acres of archaeological and historic sites have been protected. Note: these acreages were derived from the most recently updated Florida Forever data layers, which are continuously amended to reflect the most current scientific analyses of Florida?s natural resources. Additionally, the acreages recorded for each measure often overlap, and thus should not be added together.

Florida Forever Funding Recipients ($300 million each Fiscal Year):

Department of Environmental Protection:

 - Division of State Lands $105 Million

 - Division of Recreation and Parks $4.5 million

 - Rails to Trails $4.5 million

- Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program ( FRDAP ) $6 million

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission $4.5 million

Department of Community Affairs - Florida Communities Trust $66 million

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Division of Forestry $4.5 million

Water Management Districts $105 million:

- Northwest Florida $7,875,000

- Suwannee River $7,875,000

- Southwest Florida $26,250,000

- St. Johns River $26,250,000

- South Florida $36,750,000

More about the Florida Forever Program

Notice of Public Meeting

The Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC), as defined in Section 259.035, Florida Statutes, announces the following meeting to which all interested parties are invited for the purposes of conducting business of the Council.

Date and time: Thursday and Friday, August 14-15, 2008 at 9:00 AM

Place: Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Building Conference Rooms A&B 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard Tallahassee, FL 32399

Purpose: In addition to the regular business of the Council, The Division of State Lands, Department of Environmental Protection, will present an acquisition work plan for Florida Forever projects. The work plan will place projects into acquisition categories as specified in recent legislative changes to the Florida Forever conservation land acquisition program and will rank projects within categories.
For further information please contact the Office of Environmental Services at (850) 245-2784. Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 5 days before the meeting by contacting the Office of Environmental Services at (850) 245-2784. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the Florida Relay Service by calling (800) 955-8771 (TDD) or (800) 955-8770 (Voice) via the Florida Relay Service.

Announcements

The Division of State Lands held two public meetings during the month of October on a successor program for Florida Forever. As the landmark Florida Forever program enters its final years, it is time to think about the future of land conservation in our state. 

If you were unable to attend the public stakeholder meetings but wish to share your thoughts with us please use our online feedback form.

Summary from the October 8, 2007 Meeting in Tallahassee, Florida. 
Summary from the October 15, 2007 Meeting in Tallahassee, Florida. 

 ?Important Note: The project lists at the end of this summary came from an exercise that was designed to encourage agencies to think strategically when presented with examples of some very tight parameters under which conservation might need to occur. This exercise was done without the benefit of resource data or maps, so the results are listed for informational purposes only. The lists are not intended to identify any specific conservation projects either for inclusion or exclusion in the future.?
 

Summaries for the two public workshops held on October 22, 2007 in Tallahassee, Florida and October 29, 2007 in Orlando Florida will be made available as soon as they are completed.

Thank you,
Deborah Poppell, Director
DEP/Division of State Lands
(850)245-2555