ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A new Florida bill aims to protect state lands from speedy land swap deals that put a cherished conservation area in peril back in May.
It was just five months ago that 600 acres of land in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area were almost traded to a developer for 3,000 acres of various parcels across the state.
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When the plan was announced, conservation advocates like Chris Farrell with Audubon Florida had only a week to raise the alarm before it was set to come up for a vote of approval.
“We were lucky at Audubon. We caught it the evening that it came out,” said Farrell.
They succeeded in blocking the swap, but State Representative Kim Kendall (R-St. Augustine) argues the deal should have never been proposed in the first place.
She’s filed new legislation that aims to prevent another hasty attempt to exchange state lands.
“If I can only one bill across the line, this is it,” said Kendall.
The bill requires 30 days’ notice for any proposed land transaction, an appraisal of the lands and a more detailed description of how the conservation lands would be used.
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“You know, if it’s a good conservation swap, if it’s something that’s needed, there should be no issue to tell me, show me, give me plenty of notice,” said Kendall.
Farrell said he believes the bill is a good start that will give impacted communities more time to digest and provide feedback on any future land swap plans.
And while the bill does require a statement indicating why a proposed land exchange would result in a conservation benefit, he said he would like to see stronger language ensuring the state does more work to evaluate the environmental impact of a sale.
“And make a determination that they feel based on the ecological values that any proposed swap would actually be in the public interest,” said Farrell.
Kendall’s bill was just filed on Tuesday.
That same day, a companion bill was filed in the Florida Senate.
Session officially begins on January 13th.
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