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Land Acquisition Program

Introduction

The Land Acquisition program of the Northwest Florida Water Management District is driven by the District's continuing commitment to permanently protect and preserve the water resources of northwest Florida. This program continues to build upon the more than 207,000 acres of wetlands and recharge areas already acquired by the District since it began its land acquisition efforts in 1984. At present, some 2.89 percent of the District's total land area of 7,168,000 acres is protected explicitly for water resource purposes by lands the District has acquired.

Land Ownership by Basin

Note to Landowners

The District's Five-Year Plan identifies a number of areas the District has selected for purchase, subject primarily to available funding and especially the presence of willing sellers. If your property is included in any of our acquisition areas or maps and you do not wish to sell your land to the District, the Florida Statutes require us to remove your property from the acquisition plan at the earliest opportunity. Please contact the Division of Land Acquisition at (850) 539-5999 at any time if you wish to remove your property from possible consideration for purchase. The District will maintain a list of such requests and annually adjust its acquisition plan accordingly.

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Approved Acquisition Land Areas: Five-Year Plan

Florida Forever 2008 Five-Year Plan

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Land Management

A portion of the amount available to the District from the Water Management Lands Trust Fund can be used for the management, maintenance and capital improvement of Save Our Rivers lands. The statute that created the Water Management Lands Trust Fund also identifies and prioritizes the uses allowed for these lands. They are:

• Conservation and protection of water resources
• Protection and restoration of ecosystems, and
• Provide for compatible public recreation.

According to the Florida Statutes, Save Our Rivers lands must be managed and used as stated below:

373.59(3) - Lands acquired "shall be managed and maintained in an environmentally acceptable manner and, to the extent practicable, in such a way as to restore and protect their natural state and condition."

373.59(10) - Lands acquired "shall be used for general public recreational purposes. General public recreational purposes shall include, but not be limited to, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, swimming, camping, hiking, canoeing, boating, diving, birding, sailing, jogging and other related outdoor activities to the maximum extent possible considering the environmental sensitivity and suitability of those lands."

It has been a District policy since the beginning of this program to make every acre of District land available for a wide variety of resource-based recreational uses. With few exceptions, District land is always open to the public for birding, nature study, hiking, camping, fishing, canoeing and boating. Because much of our ownership is floodplain and other wetlands, horseback riding opportunities are relatively rare. Hunting and fishing are by far the most popular uses of these lands, most of which are administered as Type II Wildlife Management Areas by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The District's property along Econfina Creek in Bay and Washington counties is administered as a Type I Wildlife Management Area by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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Type I WMAs

Hunting

Hunting is allowed on most District lands and is regulated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under the Type I Wildlife Management Area (WMA) program.

Almost all property owned and managed by the District has been placed under the Type I Wildlife Management Area (WMA) program. The District no longer sells Resource Area Permits, however, persons are required to have other appropriate licenses, stamps and permits, e.g., state hunting and fishing licenses, duck stamps, etc.

Type I WMAs include the following District lands: Perdido River, Lower Escambia River, Yellow River, Choctawhatchee River/Holmes Creek, Econfina Creek, Upper Chipola River and Apalachicola River.

To obtain a copy of the brochures for each of these areas, please visit your local tax collector’s office or contact the Division of Land Management and Acquisition at (850) 539-5999 or the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at (850) 265-3676 or (850) 488-3831. For questions relating to hunting/fishing, please contact one of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offices.

Please feel free to e-mail the Division of Land Management and Acquisition for more information.

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