The Florida Legislative Session, normally 60 days, ended after a whopping 105 days late on June 16. We’re proud at FWF to have secured important victories, and we remain committed to overcoming funding challenges for Florida’s conservation and recreation land acquisition program, Florida Forever.
At the start of session, the Florida Wildlife Federation identified three core priorities:
- Funding conservation through the Florida Forever program
- Defending public lands from inappropriate development
- Restoring the Ocklawaha River and reuniting the Great Florida Riverway
With the budget and bills finalized by the Governor, here’s how our priorities fared:
Funding Conservation
Despite vocal support by Floridians for public lands, Florida Forever, our premier conservation and recreation land acquisition program, was severely cut. This vital conservation program was allocated only $18 million; a clear betrayal of the $100 million annual commitment made just two years ago and what the voters expected when they overwhelmingly voted YES in 2014 for more funding.
This funding level undermines the state’s ability to continue to protect land for conservation and public access. After a year of overwhelming support for Florida’s public lands—including state parks, state forests, and wildlife management areas that Florida Forever and its predecessors have protected—this budget does not meet the moment.
Our task has become abundantly clear moving forward. We must show our state leaders the critical need to fund conservation of public lands through Florida Forever.
Defending Public Lands
A major victory FWF supported is the adoption of the State Park Preservation Act, officially enacted into law, this important bill will ensure that incompatible development will not be permissible in our beloved state parks, and they will retain their natural splendor. This effort would not have been possible without the outpouring of support from Floridians and the FULL backing of the Florida Legislature. Special thanks to the bill sponsors, Representatives John Snyder and Peggy Gosset-Seidman on the House side and Senators Gayle Harrell and Jennifer Bradley on the Senate side.
Another victory for our waters, biodiversity, and fishing community was HB1143 that passed and signed into law to prevent oil drilling near Apalachicola Bay. Once again, this bill passed due to the vocal support of local recreational and commercial anglers, recreationists, and conservationists alike.
These victories highlight the importance of speaking up for the places that mean most to us as Floridians.
FWF also kept a keen eye on policies that would have created loopholes for erroneous conservation land swaps, transfers, or sales without proper public input and participation. The session didn’t produce any new harmful policies, and we’ll continue to stay vigilant in subsequent sessions. Similarly, FWF and partners were able to thwart attempts to weaken protections afforded by conservation easements in perpetuity.
Restoring the Ocklawaha River
We achieved historic progress and yet another setback in the decades–long endeavor to restore the Ocklawaha River. The Florida legislature included $6.25 million in the state budget to initiate restoration, and while House and Senate leadership understood the benefits of restoration, the Governor made the decision to line-item veto the funding. This means the Ocklawaha River won’t receive state funding to begin restoration. While this is a disappointing setback for the Great Florida Riverway, including the St. Johns, Silver Springs, and Ocklawaha Rivers, we remain resolute in seeing this restoration project proceed. We will continue to need your voice to support springs restoration, benefit local economies, and improve habitat for countless species.
Our advocacy does not begin and end with session; FWF will continue to educate state leaders and our supporters on key conservation issues and share ways you can stay engaged.
Thank you for continuing to speak up with us for wildlife, water, and the future of Florida. To further your impact, consider making a gift today as we continue the fight for wild Florida.
