GT3CP22FL0002

Florida Strategic Gulf Coast Land Acquisition Program

The Restore Council has approved $14M for FPL planning and implementation activities in the Council-selected Restoration Component Funding for the Florida Strategic Gulf Coast Land Acquisition Program. This program, sponsored by Florida through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), supports the primary Restore Comprehensive Plan goal to restore and conserve habitat. The program aims to increase conserved and protected state-owned or managed lands by 10,000 to 20,000 acres.

Program activities include the implementation of land acquisitions, partnering with the existing Florida Forever program. Florida Forever is Florida's premier conservation and recreation lands acquisition program. The program will utilize the Florida Forever priority list to identify parcels for acquisition. Parcels on the Florida Forever priority list are ranked using a thorough scientific review and a comprehensive natural resource analysis.

FDEP will target lands draining into the Gulf of Mexico that are in the Florida Forever Critical Natural Lands and Climate Change Lands categories, or other Florida Forever parcels with similar attributes. Land acquisitions could include both fee simple acquisition and conservation easements from willing sellers. The program activities are intended to result in environmental benefits to Florida's natural resources and ecosystems. This includes protecting critical habitats, preserving native biodiversity and ecosystem function, and mitigating sea level rise, flooding, and other current and future risks to coastal communities. The program duration is 10 years.

Under this program, the Upper Apalachicola River Ecosystem Land Acquisition (Phase III-A) project will acquire approximately 12,632 acres of strategically linked wetlands/floodplain and uplands within the Apalachicola River corridor. The goal is to conserve and manage natural resources for sustained environmental benefits through the protection of those lands in perpetuity. The project will target land within the upper reaches of the river corridor, including parcels in Calhoun, Gadsden, Jackson, and Liberty counties. These parcels are adjacent to existing and proposed conservation lands.

This project benefits from the established, science-based Florida Forever evaluation process, which helps to identify lands in Florida suitable for conservation. Parcels are ranked with the goal of conserving environmentally unique and irreplaceable or rare ecosystems, native flora and fauna, providing natural areas for recreation, and preserving archaeological or historic sites. The acquisition will conserve lands and waters and prevent potential conversion to more intense agricultural uses, a common occurrence in large areas bordering other southern rivers. It will also protect important strategic habitat conservation areas, rare and imperiled species habitat, landscape connectivity, natural floodplain functions, and functional wetlands.

Florida Department Of Environmental Protection

GOAL 1) RESTORE AND CONSERVE THE HEALTH DIVERSITY AND RESILIENCE OF KEY COASTAL ESTUARINE AND MARINE HABITATS GOAL 2) RESTORE AND PROTECT THE WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF THE GULF COAST REGIONS FRESH ESTUARINE AND MARINE WATERS GOAL 3) RESTORE AND PROTECT HEALTHY DIVERSE AND SUSTAINABLE LIVING COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCES AND GOAL 4) BUILD UPON AND SUSTAIN COMMUNITIES WITH CAPACITY TO ADAPT TO SHORT AND LONG TERM CHANGES.

87.051 - Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Comprehensive Plan Component Program

Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (GCERC)

Florida United States

State-Wide

NOT APPLICABLE

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 09/30/31 to 11/30/25 and the total obligations have decreased 100% from $14,000,000 to $0.