Editor's note: The following story is one of several being published on WGCU.org today in conjunction with the companion piece -- "Preserve or develop? Race against time to protect Florida’s Wildlife Corridor" by Jimmy Tobias at "The Florida Trident," a local investigative news outlet focusing on government accountability and transparency across Florida.
An study undertaken by the University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planningexplores possible impacts of development and sea level rise on Florida’s agricultural lands and their conservation values.
The studysuggests that about 120 acres of agricultural land a day — or almost 45,000 acres a year — could be lost between now and 2070.
MORE ON THE STUDY:
- Agriculture 2040/2070 PowerPoint
- Agriculture 2040/2070 report
- State sea level maps
- County sea level maps
Here are a few more facts to consider when contemplating whether to preserve or protect land in Florida.
- One-third of Florida’s 36.6 million acres of land remain agricultural today – citrus, field crops, nurseries and silviculture (forest ranging)
- Of the 12 million acres of current agricultural land only 1.9 million or 15.8 percent have been protected from development through federal, state and local conservation programs.
- A University of Florida study on sea-level rise and urban sprawl suggests 90,000 acres land each year may give way to development totaling 3.5 million by 2070
- Florida has a population of 22.9 million. The population is expected to increase some 23 % by 2040 and increase by 57 % more with 12.2 million more residents
- Florida has 3.8 million restorable former wetlands including 2.5 million acres of agricultural land.
- Florida’s agriculture overlaps with lands important for the protection of Florida panthers and black bears. Approximately 4.3 million acres of Florida black bear priority ecological areas coincide with current agriculture including 3.2 million acres in silviculture. Priority ecological areas for Florida panther share approximately 4.6 million acres with current agriculture, including significant silvicultural and grazing acreage.
Extra from WGCU: The Wildlife Corridor
- Changing landscape: As agriculture gives way to planned developments, many worry the Florida panther is on a path to doom. Environmentalists say planned communities — Kingston in eastern Lee and Bellmar in eastern Collier and both the size of small cities — could hurtle the Florida panther from the Endangered Species List to extinction.
- End of the road? Serious concerns that the Florida panther will go extinct if now paused subdivisions are resumed. How did the big cat get to this point? Growing development, Florida population increases, a mysterious wasting disease are all factors – some more than others.
- Sweeping law: When Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act into law in the summer of 2021, the occasion was met with a flurry of glowing headlines and general celebration by conservationists across the state. The “sweeping law,” as National Geographic called it, was meant to conserve millions of acres across Florida, connecting open spaces and key habitats to help safeguard the future of imperiled animals like Florida panthers, black bears and more.
Also about the Wildlife Corridor
- Central Florida Public Media: Why the Florida Wildlife Corridor couldn't save Split Oak Forest
Source: University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning. A GIS-based analysis undertaken by the University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, this study explores possible impacts of development and sea level rise on Florida’s agricultural lands and their conservation values. Building on the earlier Sea Level 2040/2070 study, it incorporates more comprehensive data on agriculture.
Joining forces to produce segments in an extensive look at the Florida Wildlife Corridor and conservation across the state of Florida was the Florida Center for Government Accountability with writer Jimmy Tobias in The Florida Trident, WGCU Public Media, Central Florida Public Media(previously 90.7 WMFE), and the Oviedo Community News.