Northwest Florida Greenway Project

COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION CASE STUDY

Non-traditional Partners Work Together to Connect Protected Areas

Location: Southeastern

Project Summary: Military, government and nonprofit organizations partner to protect the Panhandle’s unique natural resources, economy, and military flyways.

Jets over Greenway corridor-ﬂyways for military testing and training operations require low population density corridors

Resource Challenge

The Nature Conservancy named the rich landscape of northwest Florida’s Panhandle one of the Nation’s six “biodiversity hotspots.” Known for its natural beauty, the region is under intense development pressure that could permanently alter the natural resources and encroach upon local military operations.

The million-acre Apalachicola National Forest and the million-acre region including Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Blackwater River State Forest, and Conecuh National Forest are already protected from development. A corridor connecting the two protected areas is needed to sustain the region’s rich biodiversity and preserve the historic military ﬂyway routes.

The project was funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Florida Defense Alliance, the Jelks Family Foundation and others. The Nature Conservancy, contacted Eglin AFB, and a partnership with mutual goals was born to create the connecting corridor. The project was launched with Florida’s outstanding $300 million per year land acquisition program. When completed, the Greenway project will connect extensive forests stretching from southern Alabama to Florida’s Big Bend, a forest system of more than three million acres.

Examples of Key Partners

The Nature Conservancy, the Florida Department Environmental Protection, Florida Department of Community Affairs, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Northwest Florida Water Management District, Okaloosa County, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, and others

Results and Accomplishments

A Memorandum of Partnership with the State of Florida, DOD, and The Nature Conservancy was signed in November 2003.
A Memorandum of Agreement involving additional partners and setting objectives was signed in July 2004.
During the last twenty years, Florida has protected 100,686 acres of conservation land within the Greenway with fee simple acquisition or conservation easements.
Currently, 152,523 acres in the Greenway are pending acquisition as projects on the Florida Forever List.
In 2004, DOD contributed $1 million to support the acquisition of buffer lands immediately east of Eglin AFB.
Legislation for innovative land use planning and increased communication between local governments and the military has been adopted by the Florida legislature.
Cooperative management of the protected areas was implemented.

Innovation/Highlight

Varied needs of non-traditional partners were met by working for a common goal, creating a greenway to connect two tracts of protected land, each more than one million acres in size

Project Contact

Debbie Keller
Northwest Florida Greenway Project Coordinator
The Nature Conservancy, Florida Chapter

,
850-222-0199
dkeller@tnc.org

Ms. Mollie Palmer
Deputy Chief of Staff
Florida Department of Environmental Protection

850-245-2011
mollie.palmer@dep.state.fl.us

Website: http://www.nature.org/florida

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