Conservation

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet could be poised to approve spending more than $318 million to buy conservation land and enter other deals that would shield rural properties from development.State staff members have recommended that DeSantis and the Cabinet approve 20 proposals totaling 86,819 acres in 15 counties, from Santa Rosa County in the Panhandle to Glades and Martin counties along Lake Okeechobee. DeSantis and the Cabinet will meet Tuesday.

Five acres is a decent amount of land for a home if you want to keep the neighbors at a decent distance. It turns out that five acres is a rather healthy amount of land to conserve, too, especially when connected to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

County Commissioners voted Tuesday, to authorizing staff to pursue the purchase of a roughly 100-acre former orange grove adjacent to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary through the county's Conservation 20/20 program.

The public has one more week to weigh in on a plan that essentially creates a city with critical panther habitat.

The South Florida Water Management District is offering grants to pay up to half the cost to develop alternative water supplies that will help meet the growing demand

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has nearly halved the acreage involved in its plan to establish a large conservation area in Southwest Florida

In an effort to say they lowered taxes a majority of the board voted to raid $61 million from voter-approved conservation trusts funds

In a midnight aimed at reducing government spending at a time of explosive growth, the Collier County Board of County Commissioners voted over night to make near across the board cuts to the county’s general funds and then make up for the intentional budget shortfalls by all but depleting the existing accounts set aside for conservation.

The widely supported land conservation program could have its funding slashed by 40 percent.

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet on Monday quickly approved $141 million in deals that will help preserve land from the Panhandle to Southwest Florida.