Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson today announced that the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, have approved the preservation of more than 10,000 acres of working Florida farms and ranches through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. Rural lands protection easements prevent future development of the land and allow agriculture operations to continue to contribute to Florida’s economy and the production of food, timber, and other resources vital to the prosperity of Florida.
“At today’s Cabinet meeting, we took another important step to safeguard Florida’s agricultural future,” said Commissioner Wilton Simpson. “By protecting more than 10,000 acres of working farms and ranches through FDACS’ Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, we are ensuring that this land will remain in private, productive agriculture. This is how we secure our food supply, protect our water resources, and preserve the rural way of life that makes Florida strong.”
Since its inception, the department’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program has permanently preserved 219,714 acres of working agricultural land, with 154,126 of those acres being preserved during Commissioner Simpson’s administration.
All three properties approved today are enrolled in FDACS Best Management Practices and are located within the linkage priorities for the Florida Ecological Greenways Network or the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which was established in state law in 2021 through the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act as a priority of then-Senate President Wilton Simpson.