Update 5/19/25 – We Did it!
Floridians came together once again to save our conservation lands! The applicant has rescinded their proposal for the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. The developers only have to win once – we have to win every time!
Thank you for standing up for Florida, our natural spaces and waterways. Our voices matter and together, we will continue to make a difference.
Original Blog Post:
Real, untouched Florida landscapes. They’re becoming too few and far between. We need to remind lawmakers that our conservation lands, like the Guana River Wildlife Management Area, are NOT available for sale or a swap.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has proposed a land swap to give a portion of the Guana River Wildlife Management Area to a private entity.
Conservation land isn’t something you trade away when a developer shows up with a flashy offer. It’s time to come together as Floridians and tell the state: you don’t get to quietly sell off our wild spaces. Not now. Not ever.
The Guana River Wildlife Management Area is not in our watershed, but this trade sets a dangerous precedent for Florida’s protected lands, including parks and forests surrounding our river.
Send an Email to the ARC Board and Tell Them NOT to Approve the Land Swap
The first step in the process for the state to get rid of conservation land is for a meeting a vote by the Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC). The Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) is a 10-member group comprised of four state agency representatives, four Gubernatorial appointees, one Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission appointee, and one Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services appointee.
What We’re Protecting
This land has been protected for decades using your taxpayer dollars. Now they want to give away over 600 acres of coastal paradise containing salt marsh, maritime hammocks and pine flatwoods. Gopher tortoise habitat, hiking trails, hunting grounds, and pristine wetlands – gone, for vague promises of “other parcels” somewhere else. The swap is light on details and heavy on threats: more development and degraded water quality in Guana Lake, lost wildlife habitat, and a dangerous precedent that puts all of Florida’s conservation lands at risk.