Lake Palestine

Conservation Trust for Florida’s land conservation projects operate under two main programs:

The Greenways Program addresses the need to enhance and protect greenways and wildlife corridors for wildlife habitat protection, biological diversity, water quality, and light recreational use. Our approach to protecting land is based on the recommendations of the Florida Greenways Commission, which produced a report identifying potential corridors as part of the Florida Statewide Greenways Planning Project. We work to protect land through less-than-fee (conservation easements) and full fee acquisition. We also provide technical assistance and public outreach materials to agencies and organizations within the Greenways. We work with partners including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Department of Defense, The Nature Conservancy, University of Florida, Florida Forever, Alachua County Forever, The Conservation Fund, and FDEP/OGT.

The Farmlands Program strives to protect working rural lands such as farms and forestland. Several outreach and education programs address a full range of land conservation strategies with an emphasis on the financial and tax advantages to landowners.

The project provides information, training, and assistance on how to use asset based farming opportunities and conservation programs for both beginning and experienced farmers and will help transition and connect beginning farmers to experienced farmers and land through a web-based referral system. The project is an educational program to inform landowners, agency representatives, attorneys, and stakeholders about the income and tax benefits of conservation easements and other land conservation options through workshops, targeted mailings, focus groups, web-based referrals, and individual consultations.

 The goal of this project is to help meet the needs of farmers and ranchers who want to protect their land for the future and to ensure that a new generation of farmers has access to affordable farmland. Landowners face a double-edged sword. Their land is worth more for development than as a farm or ranch. By providing landowners with information about the estate, property, and income tax and financial incentives of asset based farming opportunities and conservation programs, landowners are able to make comprehensive decisions about their land and long-term financial future.

The Farmlands Program was initiated to address the high conversion rate of working rural lands to urban uses. Florida is one of the top producers of fruits and vegetables in the nation, but the state loses more than 150,000 acres of land to development every year. As noted by the Rural and Family Lands Protection Act, a common cause of urban conversion is due to increased value of rural land located near urban land. Diminished returns on farm products, development pressure, and high property taxes leave many farmers with little choice but to sell their land. Phase I of The Farmlands Program will provide information to rural landowners in North Central Florida (Alachua, Marion, Levy, Gilchrist, and Columbia counties) about public and private land conservation options.

Florida has a publicly funded environmental land acquisition program to protect primarily environmentally sensitive land, but the rural lands that form the matrix of Florida - ranches, farms, or timberlands often in family ownership for several generations - receive little attention or protection. These lands are increasingly vulnerable to development as owners change hands.

CTF has two projects that encompass The Farmlands Program:

• Evinston/Orange Lake Preservation Project


• Protecting Horse Country

See more details and information on the Farmlands Program .

The Farmlands Program is generously supported by Progress Energy, The Educational Foundation of America, Sally Venerable, the Lydia B. Stokes Foundation, Thomas H. Maren Foundation and the Dharma Foundation.

The Greenways Program addresses the need to protect greenways and recreational corridors for wildlife, biological diversity, and light recreational use. Our approach to protecting rural landscapes is based on the recommendations of the Florida Greenways Commission, which produced a report identifying potential corridors as part of the Florida Statewide Greenways Planning Project.

Potential corridors were identified in the Florida Ecological Greenways Network, which includes existing and proposed conservation lands, remaining pristine areas, and compatible working landscapes in a linked system. By linking large conservation areas with corridors, they are capable of sustaining healthy forest ecosystems and animal populations. CTF Greenways Program Coordinator Dr. Tom Hoctor is the Co-Principal Investigator, Florida Greenways Modeling Project with the University of Florida. CTF Advisory Board Member Peggy Carr also participated as a mapping expert in the Florida Statewide Greenways Planning Project.

CTF has three projects that encompass The Greenways Program: 

• Matanzas to Ocala National Forest Corridor Project (M2O),
• Ocala National Forest to Goethe State Forest Corridor Project (O2G), 
• Ocala National Forest to Osceola National Forest Corridor (O2O).

The Greenways Program is generously supported by Mickey Singer.

See more details and Information on the Greenways Program