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Conservation Effort Sweetens Florida Living

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2009

Anybody who follows the news knows that government gets a lot of things wrong. But while the press - and the public - is rightly quick to point out to point out bureaucratic bungling, we're not so quick to highlight government successes.

And one thing state and local governments have gotten spectacularly right is environmental land acquisition.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's conservation program is a case in point.

The district, which regulates water use in 16 central Florida counties, has bought or acquired the development rights to 435,000 acres, often in partnership with local or state land-buying efforts. (The district can levy a small property tax - up to a mill, or one dollar per thousand dollars of assessed value.)

The result: The protection of 305 miles of rivers and streams; the creation of 62 recreation areas, five state parks and 24 local parks and 10 wildlife management refuges where hunting is allowed; and the development of five well fields and two water supply reservoirs.

About 2.5 million people have visited the preserved land, where they can find more than 850 miles of hiking trails and endless opportunities to canoe, fish and bird watch.

Thanks to these purchases future generations will be able to experience natural Florida.

But the conservation effort does more than simply safeguard wildlife and beautiful places.

Fritz Musselmann, the district land resources director who has overseen the bulk of the acquisitions, says the district's priority is always safeguarding water, essential to the state's environmental and economic health..

He says usually about half an acquired tract is made up of wetlands, rivers or streams, the other half is upland that serves as a buffer.

The preserved land stores and filters water and thus prevents flooding and pollution. These tracts buffer taxpayers from the expenses that result from the development of outlying areas that requires costly infrastructure and services.

And the acquisition of flood-prone lands also helps lower flood-insurance rates.

The district's acquisitions began in the 1960s, when water managers sought the land solely for flood-control purposes.

But as the years went by, the district began targeting environmentally valuable land, seeking to protect rivers, lakes and estuaries. Water supply, of course, was a top concern.

Often a land acquisition serves multiple purposes. For instance, after Hurricane Donna caused major flooding in 1960, the district began buying acreage along the Hillsborough River. A dike and the Tampa Bypass Canal now allow water-control officials to store water in the undeveloped watershed and divert the river flow into the canal to prevent flooding in Temple Terrace and Tampa.

But the flood control project, by preventing development and runoff along the river, also protects Tampa's water supply, most of which comes from the Hillsborough. And the county has developed a series of parks in this Lower Hillsborough Flood Detention Area, an engineering feat with environmental value.

Similarly sometimes disturbed lands are bought and restored to revive their natural functions. The district has restored more than 12,000 acres of uplands and more than 1,300 acres of wetlands.

Some 94,000 acres have been bought as conservation easements, meaning the district buys the development rights but the landowners can continue ranching or other such uses. Such less-than-fee purchases help some families remain in agriculture instead of being forced by estate taxes to sell out to developers.

And when the district buys land outright in small rural counties, it pays a fee equal to the lost taxes for 10 years to minimize the impacts on local governments.

So residents should be grateful for the efforts of the district and Musselmann, who is retiring after 33 years on the job. And they should recognize the need to continue the program's good work.

As Musselmann says, "We are the stewards of the land. It's so important to protect the natural resource value of this land. It's what makes our quality of life flourish."

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