Franklin County raises concerns about potential land acquisition

The Florida Forever program has decided to move forward on adding a piece of property in Franklin County to the 2017 Florida Forever Priority List.

Florida Forever 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.

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

There has been a local push to have the property purchased for conservation but county commissioners have raised some concerns, including whether there would be a management plan that would allow the public to use the land for activities like hunting.

There are also concerns about letting the state take over another 17 thousand acres in a county where over 80 percent of the property is already owned by the state of federal government.

Commissioners said that unless there is more private property for residents to expand, the entire tax base of the county will be made up of people who live along the coast because everything inland will be publically owned.

The Florida Forever Program said that there is still a long process.

The Florida Forever program has basically agreed to free up some money to look at the project more closely and will have a second meeting before adding the property to the acquisition list.

And they pointed out that the acquisition list is very long so it could take a long time before the property is purchased by the state.

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