Fighting to Preserve Florida’s Natural Beauty For Generations
Republished with permission. Originally published in In The Field Magazine May 2021, Polk Edition
Photo by Adam Bass
Fighting to Preserve Florida’s Natural Beauty For Generations
Photo of Adam Bass by Lloyd Green.
Adam Bass’s agriculture roots and passion for conservation are on full display as he works as the director of conservation for Conservation Florida.
To outsiders Florida often comes across as a tourist haven, but locals know that the state’s true beauty lies in its natural wildlife and agricultural roots.
Adam Bass spent his childhood running among citrus groves and helping his family grow blueberries and work cattle in Winter Haven. He fell in love with Florida’s natural beauty and now works as a director for Conservation Florida to help preserve the agricultural and wild land that is left.
“Our primary tool for conservation is the conservation easement,” Bass said. “In layman’s terms, we essentially are buying development rights so that farmers or ranchers or landowners can continue to farm, ranch, hunt, recreate on their property. We just don’t want to see houses out there in the future. That’s kind of one of our unofficial mottos, ‘Ranches, not rooftops.”
Conservation Florida is a “statewide accredited land trust working to protect Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes for future generations.” The group was founded in 1999 as Conservation Trust for Florida, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit land trust. Bass spends his days working with landowners to preserve Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes. Over the past few decades the group has helped protect more than 25,000 acres of land and is currently leading protection projects on more than tens of thousands of acres.
Bass said it was something close to fate that drew him to the group. His strong roots in agriculture developed in him a deep love and appreciation for Florida’s environment. He was approached to consider joining Conservation Florida as a board member and simultaneously saw they were looking for a director of development. When the subject was broached that he might consider the position, it was a leap of faith, but one that seemed to mesh perfectly with his background. He said he’s thrilled he took the leap and was considered for the position as he now gets to spend his days working toward a cause he’s long been passionate about.
His agriculture roots, passion for conservation and the eight years he worked in real estate made the transition into director of conservation a challenge he was eager to meet. He’s now been at the position for approximately a year and a half and said the group’s current focus has heavily been on the Everglades’ Headwaters and Northwest Florida. The clock is ticking to conserve the land and the group continues to foster partnerships with landowners, state and federal entities to keep Florida a natural and agricultural haven.
Prior to joining Conservation Florida, Bass managed a 2000-acre farm and cattle operation and served as a Corporal in the Marine Corps with two tours in Iraq. His love of Florida is a passion he strives to pass down to his children. Bass and his family live in Lake Wales and he said he, his wife Kim, his son Max and his daughter Haddie are constantly outdoors.
“I raise my kids out in the woods,” Bass said. “We like to hunt, we like to fish. We’re just an outdoor family that loves to be outside. I’m teaching them to respect this land and they enjoy our time outside just as much as I do.”
Florida’s beauty is one of many reasons people flock to live in the Sunshine State. The demand for development is overwhelming and creeping into every nook and cranny of the state. It’s a story everyone has heard time and again: city’s cave to residential, commercial, or industrial development and agree to tear up woods or carve over fields in order to make room for the onslaught of new business and residents.
Many landowners feel at a loss for what to do to protect their property from future development. That’s where Bass and the team at Conservation Florida come in. He said he’s the guy that’s out in the field talking to ranchers, farmers, and landowners to help them get a plan in place for conservation. There’s a variety of ways that can happen, including conservation easements or land donations, but at the end of the day the group shows landowners that there is a chance to preserve the property in its current form.
“We are the only homegrown land trust that focuses on the state of Florida as a whole,” Bass said. “We work with all the land trusts in the state, but we focus on particular regions like the Everglades Headwaters, Central Florida, Northwest Florida, basically everything west of Tallahassee. There are some great land trusts like Alachua Conservation Trust, North Florida Land Trust, Tall Timbers, and Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. They really do a great job regionally in their areas so we don’t work there unless we are asked to work there. But our goals are basically to protect family farms and ranches, and we also protect wild lands, that’s what we do. In fact, our mission statement is ‘conserving Florida’s natural and agricultural lands for future generations.”
Bass said he understood why people want to move to Florida. After all, it’s the state he proudly calls home. But he wishes that the state could “grow a little smarter.” He mused that perhaps the better answer is redevelopment rather than pushing over the citrus groves and strawberry fields and large ranch lands.
If you’re involved in a nonprofit focused on conservation or Florida ranch advocacy, odds are you either have met Bass or are aware of his hidden talent: wildlife and land photography. It started as a hobby, something he decided to dip his toes into as he was already spending so much time outdoors. His love for this land led him to try to capture some of its natural beauty and overtime his photographs have begun to spring up in groups all over the state.
Conservation Florida, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and a variety of other nonprofit groups have reached out to Bass in hopes of using his photos to further their fight toward preserving Florida. He said he gladly gives the photos for free to groups that he believes are aiming to protect these lands.
Though he’s not one to speak much on himself, Bass’ passion for Florida conservation is evident in everything he does. He’s a man that is using his talents to make the world a better place and his dedication bleeds into every aspect of his life. Whether he’s working tirelessly with Conservation Florida or taking his kids on a fishing trip, he makes it a point to take a snapshot of the land we call home and hopes that the generations that follow will be able to see the same natural beauty reflected through the lens of their cameras.
Photo by Adam Bass
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!
