Cabinet approves land-buying projects as Adam Putnam touts conservation alternative

Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to spend nearly $13 million on two conservation land buys in Southwest Florida including one with implications for Amendment 1 spending.

Amendment 1 is the water and land conservation funding initiative approved by 75 percent of voters in November. A Senate committee last week began wrangling over how an estimate $757 million provided by Amendment 1 could be spent in fiscal year 2015-16.

Environmental groups want to see more money spent on land acquisition under Amendment 1 but other industry groups and utilities are expected to seek money for other water and wastewater projects.

During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Agriculture Commission Adam Putnam highlighted the purchase of 669 acres in Charlotte County for $3.1 million, because of what its conservation benefits beyond just the preservation of land.

The Florida Department of Transportation will pay nearly half the purchase price for the Bond cattle ranch property along Interstate 75. That will allow DOT to avoid having to buy land to build treatment ponds for the stormwater coming off the interstate, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The purchase also will help jump-start a regional ecosystem restoration project that has been stalled for decades, according to DEP. The purchase allows for wetlands and water flow restoration to reduce flooding on a neighboring state wildlife management area.

During the Cabinet meeting, Putnam thanked the Department of Transportation for helping buy the parcel.

“This is an example of where you are buying land for conservation purposes but there are things we are doing for that land that have broader conservation benefits that involve some intensive uses or some altering of the landscape,” he said.

That project, along with the proposed purchase of 620 acres in Collier County for $9.7 million, received support from Audubon Florida and Sierra Club Florida. Gov. Rick Scott announced support for buying land near Audubon Florida’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary during a campaign stop last August.

“We depend in Southwest Florida on a healthy environment,” Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon Florida, told the Cabinet on Tuesday. “That is part of our economy down there.”

After the meeting, Gov. Rick Scott offered no new insight to reporters on how he would suggest the Legislature spend money under Amendment 1. As he did during his re-election campaign, Scott said Florida already has been “investing significantly” on environmental spending and he will work with the Legislature on the issue.

“We want jobs, we want a great education system, we want a safe state and we also want to have a pristine environment,” Scott said.

Putnam said he has requested $25 million for a program in his agriculture department that pays farmers and rural landowners for not developing their property. Environmental groups are backing that request.

Bruce Ritchie (@bruceritchie) is an independent journalist covering environment and growth management issues in Tallahassee. He also is editor of Floridaenvironments.com.