TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Environmental advocacy groups say they’re dissatisfied after the Florida Legislature overhauled the traditional funding method for the state environment department’s premier land acquisition program known as Florida Forever.
Lawmakers voted to pass a new state budget on Friday that includes billions of dollars for the state environmental and agriculture departments. But no new funding was appropriated for the Florida Forever program. Instead, the program will receive money from unspent funds that were previously appropriated for land conservation within parts of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
“Why do it this way?” said Gil Smart, executive director of environmental advocacy group VoteWater. “This has arguably been a very successful program. Why are we messing with success?”
Under the current fiscal year’s budget, Florida Forever gets $18 million through general revenue and the Florida Forever trust fund. Under the new budget, a total of about $387 million of unspent Wildlife Corridor funding will be split among several programs. The majority of the funds, $225 million, will be funneled to the state agriculture department to purchase agricultural conservation easements. That program is also getting an additional $200 million in new funding.
