Supporters of Florida Forever

The Need To Protect Florida's Landscapes Is Great

Florida's natural and recreational lands are disappearing at an alarming rate, hundreds of acres a day.
The Nature Conservancy has reported that an additional 2 million acres must be acquired to protect Florida's natural heritage. Most of these lands are on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection list of priority land for protection through Florida Forever — a list currently valued at $17 billion.
Communities cherish their parks. An additional $4.3 billion is necessary for city and county park departments to acquire the 120,000 acres needed for future parks and recreational sites according to a 2008 report, Florida Parks in the 21st Century, commissioned by The Trust for Public Land, Florida Recreation and Park Association, Florida League of Cities, and Florida Association of Counties.

Florida Forever enables us to protect permanently the best natural and recreational parts of our beautiful state.
The amount of money allocated for Florida Forever ($300 million) has not changed in 19 years — the costs of land have more than doubled.
The current real estate slump in Florida provides historic opportunities for land conservation. Without more funding now, these places could be lost forever.

Investment in Florida Forever today results in lower future expenditures for ecosystem services we use and enjoy (clean drinking water, plentiful wildlife, etc.).
We face issues such as building desalination plants, loss of billions in tourist income, paying for wildfire damages, to name a few.
The opportunities still exist to protect the best of Florida’s remaining habitat and landscape-scale tracts of land. But without a potent and increased Florida Forever program, much of Florida’s lands and waters will be fragmented and lost over the coming years.

Find out more about Florida Forever with studies and additional resources about the impact and importance of this vital program.