goals including: environmental restoration; water resource development and supply; increased public access; public lands management and maintenance; and increased protection of land by acquisition of conservation easements. In 1998, Florida voters amended the state constitution by ratifying a constitutional amendment that re-authorized bonds for land acquisition. The 1999 state legislature responded with the 10-year $3 billion Florida Forever Program to acquire and manage land for conservation. This was extended another 10 years in 2008 for a total of $6 billion. Although the authorization was extended, funding has fallen short of the anticipated $300 million per year since the 2009-2010 fiscal year, including two years when $0 was set aside. In 2010-2011, $15 million and $8.3 million is anticipated for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The 11-member Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) makes recommendations about acquisition, management and disposal of state-owned lands. This advisory group includes private citizen members with backgrounds in scientific disciplines of land, water, or environmental sciences as well as wildlife management, forestry management, and outdoor recreation, in addition to five state agency representatives, including the Department of State. With the passage of the Florida Forever Act, the State of Florida has one of the most aggressive conservation and recreation land acquisition programs in the United States and the world. Since 1963, Florida has invested approximately $7.9 billion to conserve approximately 3.9 million acres of land for environmental, recreational and preservation purposes. This has been accomplished with a number of programs, including the Environmentally Endangered Lands, Outdoor Recreation, Save Our Coasts, Save Our Rivers, Conservation and Recreation Lands, Preservation 2000, and Florida Forever. As of 2010, 576 archaeological and historical sites in the state of Florida have been conserved through the efforts of the Florida Forever program. To account for lands critical for acquisition due to their historical significance, in 2011 the ARC created the Critical Historical Resource (CHR) classification raising the visibility of these important preservation projects and enabling them to compete against each other, rather than against the biologically and environmentally
oriented projects. At the most recent meeting of the ARC, six CHRs were identified: the Battle of Wahoo Swamp site and the Okeechobee Battlefield site (both important Seminole War sites); the Pierce Mound Complex (a group of mounds near the salt marsh north of Apalachicola left by people who lived there for over a thousand years, and one of the most important historical sites in Florida); the Pinelands Site Complex (among the rich remains of the Calusa and earlier peoples around Charlotte Harbor, with large mounds and canals and well-preserved remains dating back almost 2,000 years); the Three Chimneys site (the remains of a British sugar and rum factory from the 1700’s); and the Windover Archaeology site (an extremely significant historic and archaeological property, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, and the state’s first, and currently only, State Archaeological Landmark.) The Florida Communities Trust (FCT) is a state land acquisition grant program housed within the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The FCT Parks and Open Space Grant Program provides funding through an annual competitive grant cycle, aiding local governments and non-profit environmental organizations to acquire community-based parks, open space and greenways. These projects further outdoor recreation and natural resource protection needs identified in local government comprehensive plans. The FCT is an integral part of DCA’s efforts to assist communities in meeting the challenges of growth management, mitigating the effects of disasters, and investing in community revitalization, while protecting Florida’s natural and cultural resources. The FCT’s projects often make significant contributions to the balance of economic growth and resource protection. Funding of DCA’s Florida Communities Trust Parks and Open Space Grant Program comes from the Florida Forever Program. The FCT Parks and Open Space Grant Program usually receives 21 percent, or $63 million, of the total $300 million in Florida Forever proceeds each year unless otherwise allocated by the Legislature. The FCT is governed by a six-member board. A staff member from the Division of Historical Resources reviews grant projects for historical resources. The Department’s point system in ranking projects includes the presence of historical resources as one of the many variables used to compute a project’s overall ranking. Continuing its commitment to preserve the State’s historic past, the FCT awarded more than $45 million in FY
FLORIDA’S COMPREHENSIVE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN | Florida Division of Historical Resources
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