Herald Tribune
Water district plans to sell
conservation land
By Kate
Spinner
Desperate to cut costs,
Under a new plan by regional water managers, natural areas
bought to help prevent flooding and protect drinking water sources but now
deemed to be unnecessary could be sold for development, farming or other uses.
Land could be trimmed from dozens of local parks and preserves, including
Charlotte Harbor Buffer Preserve in
"If we don't need it to help us conserve water
resources or wetlands, then we don't need to be holding it," said Paul Senft, chairman of the board that governs the Southwest
Florida Water Management District, the agency charged with regulating and
protecting water resources across 16 counties.
The district has not specified how much land it plans to
sell. But within about a year, the agency's board expects to vote on a list of
parcels from approximately 450,000 acres under consideration.
The move comes amid a backlash against publicly owned
land, driven by the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott. State agencies have been
directed to get rid of nonessential land, primarily to save on maintenance
costs, an effort made more urgent for the water district as it reels from tens
of millions of dollars in budget cuts the state imposed on the district this
year to help lower property taxes.
But because of state restrictions on the sale of
conservation land, the district's payoff could be minimal, with most of the
proceeds going to the state.
Other government agencies, including the Department of
Environmental Protection and two other water districts —
Agencies routinely sell land they do not need, said Janet
Bowman, director of legislative policy and strategies for The Nature
Conservancy's
"What's distressing is that rather than being a
process where you identify land you don't really need as the situation arises,
this is being viewed as a way of generating funds for whatever purpose,"
Bowman said.
The planned sales, some of which could involve sites
purchased in concert with cities and counties, could undermine longstanding
public confidence in all conservation programs.
"It begs the question as to whether or not this
agency or any other agency in the government can be trusted in setting aside
conservation lands, if in the future they decide to sell them," said Glenn
Compton, president of the local environmental group ManaSota-88.
Frank Jackalone, staff director
for the
"The problem, is where does
it stop?" Jackalone said. "The program was
to set up lands for the public benefit, not to set up a bank account for
whenever the state gets strapped for cash."
Tight finances
So far, little has been disclosed publicly about the land
sales plan. Officials insist that no final decisions have been made and that
the public will be included as the district evaluates sites for sale.
The idea was first discussed at a board meeting in March
and is scheduled to come up again today.
"We're in kind of the second inning here of a nine
inning baseball game," said Roy Mazur, planning director for the water
district.
Recent district budget cuts totalling
$119 million, or 44 percent, make the land situation more pressing. Last year
the agency spent $5.9 million removing exotic plants, managing prescribed burns
and maintaining other infrastructure on its public land.
The
Nearly half of that land was purchased with money aimed at
keeping it forever in public hands, to buffer wetlands, rivers and areas where
water percolates into aquifers. As a side benefit, officials previously argued
the lands would provide wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.
But the district's 13-member governing board began
discussing a land sell-off after the Legislature directed state agencies to
eliminate nonessential property and the DEP told districts to focus on their
core missions.
Later, Scott vetoed $305 million allocated by the
Legislature for Florida Forever, a conservation land program he called a
"special interest."
Over the past two decades, the state has bought outright
or purchased development rights to 3 million acres of conservation land, much
of it through the state's five water management districts.
But unlike previous governors, Scott is not a big
proponent of publicly owned land.
"This is really a very significant ideological shift
— in certainly where governors have been — on the importance of land
acquisition as a non-regulatory way of protecting
District officials say they will not sell wetlands,
floodplain, groundwater recharge areas and spring protection buffers.
Under state rules, proceeds from most of the sites must go
to the state, which can only use the money to pay off bonds that funded
conservation programs or to buy new conservation land.
As a result, the main savings would come only through
lower maintenance costs or increased tax revenue once property goes back on the
tax rolls.
County, state and federal money paid for about one-fifth
of the water district's conservation land. Selling those properties will
probably require the partner's approval, Mazur said. How funds would be
distributed back to partners is unclear.
The district's website urges the public to "get
outside and explore YOUR recreational lands." Outdoor enthusiasts consider
them some of the best-kept secrets in
A regional map directs users to areas such as the
From the highway, these lands often look like the
pine-and-palmetto pastures that cover
The RV Griffin offers 21 miles of trails through oak
hammocks.
Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton questioned whether this is a good time to sell, in
a depressed real estate market.
"It is the taxpayers that are the constituents who
really need to be engaged and watching this process because it is their money,
their real estate," Thaxton said.
Albert Joerger, president and
founder of the Conservation Foundation of the
But Joerger, also a member of
the district's governor-appointed board, representing
Environmental groups will be watching, said Charles Lee,
director of Advocacy for Audubon of Florida.
"We're not going to stand by and allow the treasured
assets, important to wildlife and water resources, to be sold off because
somebody has a bee in their bonnet," Lee said.
Staff writer Thomas Becnel
contributed to this report.