Crist Protects Land Trust, Seagrass

By The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 01, 2008

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A massive program for buying conservation land that started two decades ago has been extended for 10 more years.

Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill Monday to continue the program now known as Florida Forever until at least 2018. The land-buying program would have ended in 2010 if lawmakers failed to pass the measure this spring.

Florida Forever and its predecessor, Preservation 2000, have acquired or preserved nearly 2.8 million acres of environmentally sensitive land at a cost of more than $5.8 billion.

Also on Monday, Crist followed through on his promise to veto a bill that would have allowed coastal developers to destroy seagrass beds as long as they paid to restore seagrass elsewhere.

The Associated Press