{"id":292322,"date":"2026-06-01T22:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/292322\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T22:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:20:10","slug":"north-florida-land-trust-coordinates-sizable-land-protection-agreement-in-bradford-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/292322\/","title":{"rendered":"North Florida Land Trust coordinates sizable land protection agreement in Bradford County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;We\u2019re excited about what this means for wildlife, water resources, and the long-term protection of Camp Blanding\u2019s mission.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The North Florida Land Trust (<a href=\"https:\/\/nflt.org\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">NFLT<\/a>) is at the center of yet another land conservation deal that will protect hundreds of acres of environmentally sensitive property.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nearly 861 acres of land will now be protected in Bradford County thanks to the latest agreement the NFLT brokered. The tract will fall within the Ocala-to-Osceola Wildlife Corridor (<a href=\"https:\/\/nflt.org\/ocala-to-osceola-wildlife-corridor\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">O2O<\/a>) and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cooperativeconservation.org\/viewproject.aspx?id=420\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Camp Blanding Army Compatible Use Buffer Zone<\/a>. The O2O now encompasses about 1.6 million acres of protected private and public land running from the Osceola National Forest south into Central Florida.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The property cost $5.42 million for the acquisition. NFLT officials say it was funded by the U.S. Army National Guard and the Department of Defense\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.repi.mil\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridajobs.org\/office-directory\/division-of-economic-development\/office-of-military-and-defense\/florida-defense-support-commission\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Florida Defense Support Commission<\/a> also provided financial support.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The stretch of land was owned by Rayonier Forest Resources and was utilized for timber harvest. The property is adjacent to the NFLT\u2019s Triangle Preserve and Suwannee River Management Santa Fe Swamp Conservation Area.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The land newly designated as conservation property will support wildlife protection, water quality and climate resilience in Northeast Florida.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/modernagalliance.org\/state\/florida\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-773706 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MAA-2502_EduRefresh_DigitalSponsorship_SafeEffec_FL_728x90_Final.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThis is a significant property for connectivity within the O2O, and strengthens the regional conservation network,\u201d said Allison DeFoor, President and CEO of NFLT.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe\u2019re excited about what this means for wildlife, water resources, and the long-term protection of Camp Blanding\u2019s mission. Camp Blanding has been an outstanding conservation partner, helping ensure these lands remain protected in their natural state forever. The time to protect Florida\u2019s natural lands is now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The protected land has significant flood plains within the property and is home to several natural buffers and wetlands surrounding Prevatt Creek, which is a headwater to the Santa Fe River. The property is also key to wildlife habitat and is home to deer, turkey and black beer among other species.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The NFLT will manage the land as the owner and is considering adding public access that will include possible hiking trails.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The acquisition is the latest in a <a href=\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/archives\/795099-north-florida-land-trust-officials-broker-deal-for-500-acre-land-protection-in-putnam-county\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">hot streak<\/a> for the NFLT, which has landed several sizable land purchases this year with help from several entities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verramobility.com\/floridasafezones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-735581 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/25-VM-004-FlaPol-Ads_728x90.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#8216;We\u2019re excited about what this means for wildlife, water resources, and the long-term protection of Camp Blanding\u2019s mission.&#8217;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[42853,26445,123455,28,123456,30,29,42857,42858,42859,115805,66679,123457,123458,123459,26927],"class_list":["post-292322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-allison-defoor","tag-bradford-county","tag-camp-blanding-army-compatible-use-buffer-zone","tag-florida","tag-florida-defense-support-commission","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-nflt","tag-north-florida-land-trust","tag-o2o","tag-ocala-to-osceola-wildlife-corridor","tag-osceola-national-forest","tag-prevatt-creek","tag-rayonier-forest-resources","tag-readiness-and-environmental-protection-integration-program","tag-santa-fe-river"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}