For large mammals like the Florida panther and Florida black bear, large tracts of contiguous land are crucial to their ability to live and thrive. To that end, in 2021 the Florida legislature passed — with bipartisan support — the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act, and Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law.
The Act outlines about 18-million acres of land in the state that comprise a corridor of sorts stretching from the Everglades to the panhandle that would support animals like the Florida panther. About 10-million of those acres are already preserved, so the goal is to encourage the owners of the remaining 8-million acres to either sell their land to the state or an organization that would protect it, or get a conservation easement that would allow them to continue farming or ranching operations, but ensure the land isn’t developed.
But the key word is ‘encourage’ — the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act has no regulatory teeth that prevent private landowners from developing their land, even if it is within the area designated as the corridor.
The Act was heralded as a major development in land conservation, and has led to the preservation of hundreds of thousands of acres of land since its passage. But, because it lacks a regulatory mechanism, there are a number of large developments being proposed within the corridor, including here in Southwest Florida, like the Bellmar project in eastern Collier County and the Kingston project in eastern Lee County.
Both of them are currently on hold as a lawsuit plays out over how the permitting process works after the Trump Administration transferred federal permitting power to the State of Florida in the waning days of his presidency. That move has been challenged in court and is still playing out.
All of these angles are covered in the recent feature story in the Florida Trident called “Preserve or develop? Race against time to protect Florida’s Wildlife Corridor” by investigative journalist, Jimmy Tobias. We talk with him to try to understand the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act better, and how enforcement of the U.S. Endangered Species Act plays into whether developments like Bellmar and Kingston come to fruition.
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