Florida Forever program to consider adding Bluffs of St. Teresa to priority list

                The Florida Forever Restoration and Acquisition Council will discuss whether to move forward on adding a piece of property in Franklin County to the 2017 Florida Forever Priority List.

Florida Forever is Florida’s is Florida’s acquisition program for conservation and recreation lands, it has been used to protect millions of acres of vulnerable property in the state including thousands of acres in Franklin County.

The program is currently evaluating about 17 thousand acres on the eastern end of Franklin County known as the Bluffs of St. Teresa.

The Bluffs of St. Teresa are along the Ochlockonee Bay and the lower Ochlockonee River and include three small, marshy islands at the mouth of the river on the bay.

The Florida State University Marine Lab lies about a half mile southwest of the property.

Much of the property was historically used for timber harvest, but there are some relatively untouched wetlands.

The property is also home to one rare plant, the Godfrey’s blazing star, one rare mussel the sculptured pigtoe, and several rare reptiles and birds including the Apalachicola alligator snapping turtle, gopher tortoise, pine snake, Suwannee cooter, American alligator, bald eagle, and osprey.

There has been a local push to have the property purchased for conservation.

The Florida Forever Program will meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of adding the property to its priority list in 2017.

The meetings are open to the public – if you would like to attend, Florida Forever Restoration and Acquisition Council will meet on Friday morning at 9 AM at the Department of Environmental Protection Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building in Tallahassee.

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