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Persistence leads to an ambitious land swap
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 20, 2001 An ambitious and sweeping land swap demonstrates how taxpayers and the environment can benefit when state and federal governments work together by communicating their goals. Last week the state Board of Trustees approved a plan that eventually grants Florida ownership of the land and minerals beneath the Withlacoochee State Forest, which covers about 40,000 acres in Citrus and Hernando counties, and the Blackwater River Forest in the Panhandle. The state also will acquire 4,650 acres of federal land in several locations throughout the state. In exchange for the underground rights to those properties, the U.S. Forest Service will receive more than 33,000 acres of land in the Pinhook Swamp. The federal government has had its eye on that land for more than 10 years because it is the missing link between two huge and protected parcels its owns, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia, and the Osceola National Forest in northern Florida. The deal will not be final until early 2003, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. But the trustees' decision Tuesday virtually guarantees the Withlacoochee Forest will be protected from private interests that might have persuaded the U.S. government to allow mining of the rich deposits of limestone there. The Sierra Club, which lobbied hard in favor of the land swap, correctly contends that it will be much easier to detect a proposal for invasive use of the protected land at the state level, rather than the federal. Florida's open records law makes it extremely difficult for a private company to quietly propose using the land for other than its intended purpose. The land swap will benefit everyone who enjoys the public areas, but no region of residents may be happier than those in southern Citrus County near the Hernando border. Volunteers from that neighborhood, Heatherwood, have worked tirelessly and patiently with the Sierra Club to make the land-for-mineral-rights trade a reality. Heatherwood residents began a separate and independent battle nine years ago to prevent Florida Rock from mining the Storey Pit, near the rural subdivision. Through diligence and networking with the Sierra Club's Judy Hancock and DEP officials, they were able to elevate their seemingly parochial issue to a bigger context. Land swaps are a valuable tool of conservation. Florida has benefited from them and should continue to do so. They often take a long time to arrange, and just as often are derailed by objections from other landowners. But sometimes they come together smoothly, and both sides emerge with what they want. That is the case here, and all those involved in making it happen should take heart that their efforts have paid off.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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