Florida Senate - 2024 (NP) SR 1818
By Senator Brodeur
10-00683A-24 20241818__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution reaffirming the importance of the Florida
3 Wildlife Corridor and its significant environmental,
4 cultural, economic, and tourism value as a unique
5 natural resource, and recognizing February 12, 2024,
6 as “Florida Wildlife Corridor Day.”
7
8 WHEREAS, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, recognized in the
9 Florida Wildlife Corridor Act of 2021, establishes a geographic
10 area of more than 18 million acres of land, 10 million acres of
11 which are current public conservation lands that could be
12 permanently disconnected from each other without additional
13 conservation of the nearly 8 million acres of opportunity areas
14 connecting them, and
15 WHEREAS, the purpose of defining the Florida Wildlife
16 Corridor is to create incentives for conservation and
17 sustainable development while preserving the green
18 infrastructure that is the foundation of this state’s economy
19 and quality of life, and
20 WHEREAS, the nearly 8 million acres of opportunity areas
21 still needing protection consist largely of working ranches,
22 farms, and forests, and the majority of this acreage can be
23 protected through conservation easements with willing
24 landowners, thereby supporting the state’s agricultural economy
25 and enhancing the tourism value of Florida’s heartland, and
26 WHEREAS, since July 2021, more than 160,000 acres of land
27 in the Florida Wildlife Corridor have been approved for
28 protection by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet,
29 including Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, who made
30 the corridor a priority during his term as Senate President,
31 with funding appropriated by the Legislature from the Department
32 of Environmental Protection’s Florida Forever Program and the
33 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’s Rural and
34 Family Lands Protection Program, and
35 WHEREAS, a number of federal and local programs have
36 increased their investment in Florida conservation, following
37 the leadership of the state in prioritizing the framework of the
38 Florida Wildlife Corridor, and
39 WHEREAS, these programs share the state’s goal of
40 protecting an additional 800,000 acres in the Florida Wildlife
41 Corridor by 2030, balancing this commitment to conservation with
42 the need for development to accommodate the more than 2 million
43 new residents projected to move to this state during the next 6
44 years, and
45 WHEREAS, public access to the Florida Wildlife Corridor was
46 greatly expanded in 2023 with the Legislature passing, and
47 Governor DeSantis signing, legislation that connects the
48 corridor to the Florida Greenways and Trails System and the
49 Florida Shared-Use Nonmotorized (SUN) Trail Network, as well as
50 additional pathways to heritage small towns throughout this
51 state, and
52 WHEREAS, with the state’s funding commitment in recent
53 years to such projects, the Department of Environmental
54 Protection and the Department of Transportation have coordinated
55 the establishment of multiuse trails, including the investment
56 in the planning, design, and construction of the SUN Trail
57 Network and the campaign to recognize various communities as
58 “Trail Towns,” in conjunction with Visit Florida’s promotion of
59 trail-based tourism, and
60 WHEREAS, this connecting of trails with the Florida
61 Wildlife Corridor creates a means not only to preserve many
62 natural areas, but also to provide expanded access for
63 Floridians and visitors to hike, run, and bike between trail
64 destinations and see firsthand this state’s unique natural
65 habitat and picturesque small towns, NOW, THEREFORE,
66
67 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
68
69 That the Senate reaffirms the importance of the Florida
70 Wildlife Corridor and its significant environmental, cultural,
71 economic, and tourism value as a unique natural resource, and
72 recognizes February 12, 2024, as “Florida Wildlife Corridor
73 Day.”