A four-million-plus-acre conservation area proposed for Southwest Florida has become a reality.
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced the establishment of the Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area as the 571st and newest unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The new 4,045,268 area will provide crucial protected wildlife corridors, enhance outdoor recreation access to the public and bolster climate resilience in southwest Florida.
The area formalized in Monday's announcement is about half the acreage involved in the original U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to establish a large conservation area in Southwest Florida as first detailed in the summer of 2023.
That June, the federal fish and wildlife agency announced an ambitious 7-million-acre “Southwest Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Area,” which is home to roughly 74 threatened and endangered species within the western Everglades and Fisheating Creek, as well as the watersheds of the Caloosahatchee, Peace, and Myakka rivers.
However, when the proposal was “refined and renamed” it was reduced to the 4 million acres area and renamed The Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area. The area's border runs roughly from Okeechobee County to the east, Polk County to the north, runs along Sarasota and Lee counties to the west and Collier and Hendry counties to the south.
Secretary Deb Haaland, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams celebrated the establishment Monday at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in commemoration of the 121st birthday of the Refuge System.
On March 14, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Pelican Island as the nation’s first national wildlife refuge for the protection of nesting birds that were under threat due to overharvesting for the plume industry.
The new conservation area will catalyze conservation within the defined acres using tools like voluntary conservation easements with willing landowners.
The conservation area runs from southwest Florida into the state’s northern stretches, which is home to a diversity of species like the Florida black bear, Everglade snail kite, Florida panther, sand skink and many other rare and endemic species, including more than 100 threatened or endangered species.
“This new conservation area is a result of the dedication and collaboration of members of the public, partners, Tribes and private landowners who are committed to conserving Florida’s natural heritage – diverse habitat, wildlife and recreation,” Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz, said. “By working with our partners including private landowners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be able to conserve important habitat to support recreation and working lands, protect species, address the biodiversity crisis and build resilience in the face of climate change.”
Conservation areas are national wildlife refuges that consist primarily or entirely of conservation easements on private lands in cooperation with landowners.
The new conservation area abuts the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area and will span twelve counties west of Lake Okeechobee from Lakeland to Naples. The Conservation Area will enhance and support the conservation objectives of the Everglades Restoration program.
The Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area weaves together public and private land protection opportunities like the partnership approach implemented at the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area more than a decade ago. The new refuge helps address broad public concerns regarding the loss of wildlife, habitat, access to natural lands and waters and water quality. Existing conservation lands and waters within this landscape already provide for public use and access, including state lands. This refuge establishment will complement those opportunities.
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