Volusia County recently issued the following announcement.
The Volusia Forever Program is back in business! And thanks to the program’s growing partnership with the state, a large conservation area near Osteen that’s popular with wildlife and outdoor enthusiasts is about to get even bigger.
Volusia Forever, the county’s voter-approved land acquisition program, has teamed up with the St. Johns River Water Management District to preserve huge swaths of the county’s
natural landscape and wildlife corridors. The water management district manages one of the more popular preserves – the 3,321-acre Palm Bluff Preserve that provides wooded
vistas and trails for the public to hike, ride horses and bicycles, camp out and commune with nature. On Tuesday, the Volusia County Council approved a $3.1 million cost-sharing
agreement between Volusia Forever and the district to purchase 854 acres of property adjacent to Palm Bluff Preserve and acquire a conservation easement to another 422 acres
of adjacent land. The properties contain an ecologically-sensitive mix of forest and wetlands that are important for preservation, habitat protection, recreational use and
groundwater recharge.
The deal involves three different parcels owned by three siblings and represents the first time in about a decade that the Volusia Forever program has acquired conservation
property. Under the deal approved by the Council on Tuesday, Volusia Forever and the water management district will jointly buy the 854 acres for $2.4 million and add it to the
preserve and pay another $701,662 for the 422-acre conservation easement. With the conservation easement, the property doesn’t change hands. However, the owner agrees to a
set of rules and then manages the property consistent with the objective of preserving the easement in its natural state. The easement will connect up with a much larger wildlife
corridor that runs north to south through the center of the county to serve as a connected and protected habitat and passageway for endangered and threatened animal species.
These purchases will expand the land protected as part of the Volusia Conservation Corridor to more than 40,000 acres.
All combined, the acquisitions total $3,143,684. Under the agreement, Volusia Forever will contribute $1,343,112 and the St. Johns River Water Management District will put up
$1,098,910. Volusia Forever’s share will come from revenue generated by a voter-approved tax that funds the Forever program. With the County Council’s approval Tuesday of the
county’s share, the joint participation agreement is now scheduled to go before the water management district’s governing board on May 10.
The Volusia Forever program initially was approved by Volusia County voters in 2000, and by 2012, the bulk of its acquisition funds were exhausted. However, Volusia Forever and
a sister program, Volusia ECHO, were so popular that county residents voted overwhelmingly in 2020 to extend them for another 20 years. The properties that are part of
Tuesday’s joint participation agreement mark Volusia Forever’s first acquisition since the program was renewed. But they won’t be the last. Also on Tuesday, the council endorsed a
list of 16 additional properties that the Volusia Forever Advisory Committee has recommended for consideration. The properties total more than 10,000 acres, and most were
placed on the Council’s A group – a list of sites considered higher priority for acquisition based on site ranking criteria and the furthering of the program’s goals to preserve
environmentally sensitive, water resource protection, forests, farmlands and outdoor recreation lands. County staff will work to negotiate contracts with the property owners and
bring each new acquisition to the County Council for approval.
Among those turning out to support the Council’s adoption of the acquisition list were DeBary officials, who’re anxious for a 170-acre tract in their city that sits along the east shore
of the St. Johns River to be purchased for preservation. The property was placed on the county’s priority, A group, and DeBary Mayor Karen Chasez said the city will be a willing
funding partner.
“We are ready to start these negotiations tomorrow,” Chasez told the Council. “This is a very critical parcel within our city.”
County Council members agreed that the DeBary site represents a golden opportunity for preservation.
“I’m just ecstatic about that piece of property,” said County Councilwoman Billie Wheeler.
Original source can be found here.
