North Florida Land Trust officials broker deal for 500-acre land protection in Putnam County

The Department of Environmental Protection is funding the $1.18M acquisition cost.

The North Florida Land Trust (NFLT) continues to snatch up property for conservation with its latest acquisition of more than 500 acres in Putnam County.

NFLT officials announced that they partnered with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to snag conservation easements. The 518 total acres in Putnam County will fall within the Ocala to Osceola (O2O) Wildlife Corridor.

The Putnam County tract is surrounded by the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Lake George conservation area on three sides. It also has a value of about $1.18 million.

While NFLT officials brokered the deal, the DEP purchased the land. The state agency used funding from the Florida Forever Program, a conservation and recreational lands acquisition initiative run by the state and one of the largest acquisition programs in the U.S. The program is responsible for acquiring more than 1 million acres of property for protection since it was founded in 2000.

The Putnam County property is owned by the Hoffmeister family and has been a cattle ranch. Those activities will continue as the property falls under state protection.

“This property is a beautiful place, and we wanted to keep it protected and free of development so future generations of our family could enjoy and appreciate the nature, wildlife and agriculture on the property,” said Bill Hoffmeister.

“We love this land and want it to remain natural forever. Placing a conservation easement on the property allows us to do our part to slow the growth of development in the O2O and protect the aquifer and the many fragile ecosystems found here.”

The O2O spans about 1.6 million acres running from North Florida through several counties and into Central Florida covering about 100 miles of terrain.

NFLT President and CEO Allison DeFoor said the Hoffmeister land acquisition in Putnam County is an essential addition to the O2O.

“The Hoffmeister property is a real gem and a critical piece of land to add to the O2O, building on the conservation areas already in place,” DeFoor said in a news release.

The NFLT has been involved in securing about a half-dozen land conservation deals this year. The most recent was last month with the acquisition of more than 1,600 acres in Baker County.