The Nature Conservancy Donates 129 Acres and $1 million in Grant Funds to Brevard County

Conservancy leverages a total of $2.9 million to help reduce county’s costs of acquiring 1,500 acres of conservation land.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — September 24, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy, through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced today that it has contributed $1,000,000 in federal grant money toward Brevard County’s purchase of two conservation tracts totaling 1,392 acres near the communities of Scottsmoor and Mims. The Conservancy also is purchasing and then donating an additional 129 acres of adjacent conservation land to Brevard County to help create a protected landscape of more than 1,500 acres. The Conservancy’s negotiation of the 129 acres helped advance the county’s acquisition of the other tracts. All three properties are being purchased for less than their appraised values.

“These properties are among the last remaining unprotected large landscapes in the county,” said Jeff Danter, Florida state director of The Nature Conservancy. “Protecting these properties is the result of many years of persistence on the part of county leaders, their staff and local citizens. The Conservancy commends all involved for their foresight in choosing to protect these important conservation lands.”

Through its partnership with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Conservancy provided two $500,000 grants to the county for the acquisition of an 852-acre parcel and a 540-acre parcel in Scottsmoor and funded the acquisition of the 129-acre parcel. Combined, the grant funds and 129-acre land transfer represent a $2.9 million donation to the county’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program.

In September 1990, Brevard’s citizens voted to tax themselves for the purchase of environmentally sensitive lands, creating the Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program. EEL is dedicated to conservation through land acquisition and management. Brevard County’s Parks & Recreation Department manages and assists the program. Since its start in 1990, the EEL Program has helped to protect more than 18,000 acres of threatened habitat. The Nature Conservancy assists the county with negotiations for land acquisition under the EEL Program.

The three tracts, located in the northern area of the county, will help provide an important link between the St. Johns River Basin and the Indian River Lagoon. The properties also provide potential habitat for the recovery of the Florida scrub-jay in northern Brevard County. The scrub-jay is a species found only in the state and the northern Brevard County population has been threatened by development and habitat degradation.

“These sites are among the most important scrub and flatwoods ecosystem sites needing purchase along Florida’s Atlantic coast, especially for recovering Florida scrub-jay populations and providing habitat for species such as gopher tortoises and Eastern indigo snakes,” said Dave Breininger, a member of the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Selection and Management Committee.

The 852-acre parcel, which contains primarily longleaf and slash pine forests, surrounds a neighborhood park owned by the county. The 540-acre parcel contains a mixture of pine forests, oak scrub and freshwater marsh. The property is a potential site for a trailhead along the proposed Mims to Enterprise Trail. The 129-acre property also contains both pine flatwoods and wetlands.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.