Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet on Tuesday will consider a $122 million proposal to buy agricultural land in Southwest Florida and allow current owners to lease and manage the property.
The purchase, which is tied to a statewide wildlife corridor, is among five proposed conservation deals, at a cost approaching $220 million, that will go before DeSantis and the Cabinet.
The state would pay $122 million to CDC Land Investments, Inc., Collier Land Holdings, Ltd., and Cow Bone Slough, LLLP for four parcels totaling 25,039 acres in what is known as the Caloosahatchee-Big Cypress Corridor in Hendry and Collier counties.
CDC Land Investment, Collier Land Holdings and Cow Bone Slough would lease and manage the land.
A budget implementing provision for the current fiscal year authorized the Department of Environmental Protection to purchase certain land, including the approximately 75,000-acre Caloosahatchee-Big Cypress Corridor, and to provide a lease-back option to the sellers “to reduce the state’s land management costs.”
Initial lease terms will be 10 years, with an option for two five-year renewals.
Cody Farrill, DeSantis’ Cabinet affairs director, said the deal, a priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, will help Florida panthers in Big Cypress migrate back to their natural habitat.
“We're very excited about this one,” Farrill said during a Cabinet aides meeting Wednesday.
Other conservation deals that are slated to go before DeSantis and the Cabinet on Tuesday include purchasing 1,342 acres in Polk County for $36.1 million; purchasing 1,361 acres in Seminole County for $34.5 million; purchasing a 3,080-acre conservation easement in Osceola County for $12.65 million; and purchasing a 5,269-acre conservation easement in Marion County for $12.646 million.
