Conservation Florida Celebrates Signing of Florida Wildlife Corridor Act

Tallahassee, Fla.  (June 30, 2021) — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act into law last night and Conservation Florida celebrates this bipartisan win for Florida’s conservation future. 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act formally recognizes the geographic Florida Wildlife Corridor, a statewide greenway that spans from the Panhandle to the Everglades and aims to connect large swaths of conservation lands. More, the bill showcases the importance of its permanent protection.  

“The signing of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act by Governor DeSantis marks a big win for land conservation in Florida and sparks both excitement and inspiration for Florida's conservation future,” said Traci Deen, Conservation Florida’s CEO. "Conservation Florida is thrilled to celebrate the signing of the Act into law and is grateful for the Governor’s leadership on this historic day.” 

The signing of the Act is a true culmination of over a decade of work driven by partnership and spearheaded by the Florida Wildlife Corridor Coalition and the Path of the Panther initiative.

Conservation Florida, a founding partner of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Coalition, has been a partner in this effort since 2009. A primary driver of the statewide land conservancy’s conservation work is the protection of the Corridor. It works to engage landowners and government partners to protect critical properties to make the corridor vision a reality. 

Conservation Florida has been working on connecting key segments of the Florida Wildlife Corridor since its founding in 1999. With the support of its incredible partners and supporters, Conservation Florida is now actively leading the charge to protect tens of thousands of acres within the Florida Wildlife Corridor and looks forward to working with the State of Florida through its Florida Forever program to achieve continued success. 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act passed unanimously in both the Florida House and Senate, demonstrating strong bipartisan support for protecting Florida’s incredible habitats, water resources, and biodiversity for future generations.  

The Act recognizes that the state population is growing rapidly and that lands and waters vital to wide-ranging wildlife, like the Florida panther, need to be protected. It aims to incentivize and prioritize conservation and sustainable development within the boundaries of the Florida Wildlife Corridor and conserve Florida’s green infrastructure for the benefit of wildlife, Floridians, and the economy.  

"The Florida Wildlife Corridor provides a vision for Florida as a whole that protects the places we all love, provides habitat and room to roam for our native species, cleans and stores water, provides ample outdoor recreational opportunity, supports Florida’s family farms and ranches, all while accounting for Florida’s future growth,” said Deen.  

This coordinated, statewide effort to protect natural corridors would ultimately provide wildlife with access to safe passageways between conservation areas. Without wildlife corridors, iconic species like the Florida panther are at risk of becoming isolated in small islands of protected lands. Corridors allow individual animals from different sub-populations to successfully comingle and move to different habitats to find food and water as part of their natural migration patterns.  

Earlier this year, Gov. DeSantis signed the 2021 Florida State Budget into law, providing $400 million to Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of State Lands to conserve land through its Florida Forever program. Importantly, $300 million of that money will prioritize the conservation of wildlife corridors and both natural and agricultural landscapes. This is important as over 2 million acres of the Florida Wildlife Corridor are ranchlands, the protection of which are critical to the success of the Corridor vision.  

About Conservation Florida 

Conservation Florida is a statewide accredited land trust with a mission to save Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes for future generations. Our conservation projects support Florida’s native plants and wildlife, fresh water, conservation corridors, family farms and ranches, the economy and nature-based recreation. Since our founding in 1999, Conservation Florida has led the way in strategic and evidence-based land protection and has saved over 30,000 acres of critical habitat through acquisition, facilitation and incubation of conservation projects.  

We save land by developing conservation strategies, exploring funding sources and purchasing or accepting donations of land and conservation easements. Our other services include providing expertise to guide landowners through the land protection process, serving as a trusted community partner to support statewide land conservation and promoting land conservation through effective education and advocacy. Our vision is large-scale, and we are 100% committed to conservation in the state of Florida – for nature, for people, forever!  

About the Florida Wildlife Corridor Coalition 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Coalition is a unifying voice that provides a window into wild Florida through high quality, impactful, and authentic storytelling. Using a science-based approach, on-the-ground knowledge of the Corridor, and the support of thousands of followers throughout the state and nation, the organization works to identify and elevate the most pressing threats and opportunities facing the Corridor. Seeking landscape-scale conservation, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Coalition cultivates awareness and action through film, photography, painting, drawing, mapping, storytelling, and expeditions.  

About the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act creates incentives for conservation and sustainable development while sustaining and conserving the green infrastructure that is the foundation for Florida's economy and quality of life. The Act addresses that the state population is growing rapidly and that lands and waters that provide Florida's green infrastructure and vital habitat for wide-ranging wildlife, such as the Florida panther, need to be preserved and protected. 

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act aims to: 

• Maintain wildlife access to the habitats needed to allow for migration and genetic exchange amongst regional wildlife populations. 

• Prevent fragmentation of wildlife habitats. 

• Protect the headwaters of major watersheds, including the Everglades and the St. Johns River. 

• Providing ecological connectivity of the lands needed for large-scale ecosystem functions, such as water and prescribed burns that are essential for land management and restoration. 

• Preserve and protect land and waters that are not only vital to wildlife, but are critical to the state's groundwater recharge and serve as watersheds that provide drinking water to most Floridians as well as help maintain the health of downstream coastal estuaries. 

• Providing wildlife crossings for the protection and safety of wildlife and the traveling public. 

• Help to sustain Florida's working ranches, farms, and forests that provide compatible wildlife habitat while sustaining rural prosperity and agricultural production. 

 Image Credit: Adam Strang Bass on a current Conservation Florida project located within the Florida Wildlife Corridor

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