Conserving FARM LANDS FOREVER By Alex Lucas, Communications Coordinator
BLACKBEARD’S RANCH is a 4,500-acre working cow-calf operation located on the Myakka Prairie in Manatee County. One of the largest intact parcels of land in the region, it faces many pressures of development and urban sprawl. The owners are committed to the conservation and preservation of this and other farm lands around the state. Managing partner Jim Strickland is committed to pursuing conservation easements with the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program and Florida Forever. Created in 2001 and housed in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program is an agricultural An aerial view of Blackbeard’s Ranch.
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FLORIDAGRICULTURE | APRIL/MAY 2019
land preservation program designed to protect important agricultural lands through the acquisition of permanent conservation easements. Under the auspices of the program, these agricultural lands will be protected from development as long as they exist. Similarly, the Forever Florida program is another avenue to sell development rights to the state. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection manages conservation easements through this program. “Simply, through a conservation easement, a landowner may transfer
development rights through many programs provided by the government. There are a lot of avenues and organizations to partner with to get a conservation easement,” said Strickland. Strickland, a passionate advocate for ranching and conservation, says that in his opinion there is no closer thing to natural Florida than cattle ranches. If you drive through the property of Blackbeard’s Ranch, you can see why. With native plants and an oak canopy with a sprinkling of palm trees, it is hard to imagine a place more “Floridian” than this ranch.
