© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
In South Florida, where the Everglades meet the bays, environmental challenges abound. Sea level rise threatens homes and real estate. Invasive species imperil native plants and animals. Pesticides reduce the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, but at what cost? WLRN's award-winning environment reporting strives to capture the color and complexity of human interaction with one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.

Lawmakers Want $100 M A Year For Florida Forever

A view of Alum Bluff on the Apalachicola River. A proposed Florida Forever project would purchase a 40,000 acre conservation easement along the river.
Kate Payne via WFSU
A view of Alum Bluff on the Apalachicola River. A proposed Florida Forever project would purchase a 40,000 acre conservation easement along the river.

Florida lawmakers are advancing a plan to allocate $100 million a year to the land buying program Florida Forever. Last yearthe legislature zeroed out its funding.

A view of Alum Bluff on the Apalachicola River. A proposed Florida Forever project would purchase a 40,000 acre conservation easement along the river.
Credit Kate Payne via WFSU
A view of Alum Bluff on the Apalachicola River. A proposed Florida Forever project would purchase a 40,000 acre conservation easement along the river.

Republican Senator Rob Bradley of Orange Park says he’s committed to funding environmental protection. And as the Senate’s new budget chief, he’s in the position to follow through. He’s sponsoring a billthat would fund Florida Forever with Amendment 1 money. The 2014 proposal to set aside tax money for conservation won the approval of 75% of Florida voters. Bradley told his colleagues he’ll make sure…

“We fulfill what I think is a pact that we have with the voters to take care of land acquisition needs whether they be in the form of easements or fee simple, as expressed in that vote in 2014 with the passage of Amendment 1,” Bradley said. “I think it’s long overdue that we move forward aggressively in making sure that we honor what the voters did in Amendment 1.”

Environmentalists say $100 million a year would only fund a fraction of the growing list of Florida Forever projects. But it’s an improvement on being cut from the budget entirely.

The bill passed its first committee stop in the Senate Monday. Currently there is no House version of the measure.

Copyright 2020 WFSU. To see more, visit WFSU.

As a Tallahassee native, Kate Payne grew up listening to WFSU. She loves being part of a station that had such an impact on her. Kate is a graduate of the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts. With a background in documentary and narrative filmmaking, Kate has a broad range of multimedia experience. When she’s not working, you can find her rock climbing, cooking or hanging out with her cat.
More On This Topic