By Mary Kelley Hoppe
The first census of land trusts in five years shows big gains in land conservation by private trusts across the U.S., with 10 million new acres conserved from 2005 to 2010. Florida land trusts contributed to this success, reporting an increase of 98%, or 170,779 acres of protected land, over this period. The census is online at www.lta.org/census.
At the local and state level, endowments to ensure land protection more than doubled, and operating endowments, an indicator of the staying power of these organizations, nearly tripled, according to the report by the Land Trust Alliance.
"While government is shrinking, local land trusts are saving more land," said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth. "Communities nationwide value clean water, local food, and places to play, and they are investing in those places close to home."
Total acres conserved by state, local and national land trusts grew to 47 million acres by year-end 2010, an area more than twice the size of all national parks in the contiguous U.S. Land trusts also reported a 70% increase in volunteers since 2005, and a 19% jump in paid staff and contractors.
"I think this points to the power of the land trust movement," says Laura Starkey, president of the Tampa Bay Conservancy. "Land trusts fill an important niche, providing an alternative to landowners who may not be comfortable working with government agencies.
"Relationships are really important to landowners," notes Starkey. "You need to build trust. When we go out to talk to a landowner, we're going to listen and figure out the best option for them."
One of over 1,700 land trusts across the country (including 33 in Florida), the Conservancy was established in 2001 as an organization devoted to preserving the region's natural, agricultural and scenic heritage. Unlike some of its larger counterparts, the nonprofit is totally run by volunteers.
In 2006, the Conservancy acquired a 60-acre parcel near Gibsonton donated in honor of Myron and Helen Gibbons and reborn as a public nature preserve. Tucked just around the corner from one of the region's fastest-growing developments, the Myron and Helen Gibbons Nature Preserve is a slice of old Florida that could easily have been developed.
When the family decided to donate the land, Hillsborough County's environmental lands acquisition program, ELAPP, couldn't meet the family's deadlines for closing and the parcel was too small for the Southwest Florida Water Management District to accept. The Tampa Bay Conservancy became the perfect choice for the gift.
While the Gibbons Preserve is the Conservancy's first and only property so far, the group has several potential projects in the pipeline and hopes to host a forum for conservation leaders after this year's legislation session to discuss how best to advance conservation efforts in the wake of state budget cuts.
Although land trusts have posted impressive conservation gains despite the recession, major government-funded programs have stalled. Florida Forever, the state's environmental lands conservation program, received no funding in 2011 and just $15 million in 2010.
That's a far cry from the $300-million in annual funding lawmakers pumped into the program for more than two decades in an effort to safeguard future drinking water supplies, provide green space for recreation, and preserve wildlife and habitat. Since 1990, more than 2.5 million acres of ecologically sensitive lands have been preserved through Florida Forever and its predecessor, Preservation 2000.
Much of the money to buy the land came from a documentary tax stamp on real estate purchases; when the housing market collapsed, the program's revenue stream stopped flowing.
Local programs in Hillsborough and Pasco counties continue to purchase land with strong support from voters.
Moving forward, advocates are urging a greater emphasis on tools such as conservation easements that allow landowners to sell or donate certain property rights — often the right to subdivide or develop a land tract — while the land remains in private hands and may qualify for tax benefits.
"The reality for a lot of landowners is that the ability to get a tax credit makes a big difference," says Starkey. "With so many financial pressures on families that own a large piece of property, everything counts and makes a huge difference in determining if you can justify putting a conservation easement on your property."