By The News Service of Florida
Nearly 1,400 acres in Hardee County, including land for citrus and crop production, was put under a shield from residential and commercial development through $6.01 million in conservation-easement deals, the state announced Friday.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced that five separate Rural and Family Lands Protection Program easements were used for the 1,373 acres of the Charlie Creek Marsh property.
The northern tract of land includes pasture, natural forested uplands, natural forested wetlands, and natural non-forested wetlands, with small inclusions of citrus and croplands, according to the department release. The southern tract has natural forested wetlands and pasture.
The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program received $250 million in the state’s current fiscal year budget.
The department recently announced that the latest cycle for the conservation easement program drew more than 500 applications, which collectively would require about $2.1 billion to allow more than 600,000 acres to remain in agricultural use.
The number of applications was up from the 2023 cycle, which drew more than 180 applications involving over 200,000 acres.