Tallahassee, FL -(Ammoland.com)- Both House and Senate budget committees have released early proposals that almost totally exclude land acquisition funding in the $757 million available in the first year of Amendment 1 implementation, which voters approved last November by a staggering 75 percent.
The conservation coalition that sponsored the Amendment recommended first year funding at $170 million for Florida Forever land acquisition projects, $170 million for Everglades restoration, $115 million for land management, $60 million for springs protection, $39 million for Rural Family Land projects, $30 million for beach management, and $173 million to reduce debt service from previous bonds.
Instead, Florida Forever is reduced to only $10 million in the House budget and $2 million in the Senate budget. Former Governor and US Senator Bob Graham challenged concerned citizens to call state legislators to tell them to allocate funding the way voters mandated for Florida Forever, new acquisitions, and Everglades restoration.
Tall Timbers would like to see more use of purchase conservation easements as a way of keeping working lands in working hands and protecting the natural resources on private lands. The organization applauds both committees’ recommendations in dramatically increasing land management funding for state lands with an emphasis on the use of prescribed burning as an effective management tool.
We urge Tall Timbers’ members to contact the key legislators below and ask them to support increased funding for Florida Forever, which includes projects that conserve the Greater Red Hills Region.
Senate
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Senate President Andy Gardiner (Orlando)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5229
- District: (407) 428-5800
- Email: gardiner.andy@flsenate.gov
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Senate Budget Chairman Tom Lee (Brandon)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5024
- District: (813) 653-7061
- Email: lee.tom@flsenate.gov
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Senate General Government Appropriations Committee Chair Alan Hays (Umatilla)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5011
- District: (352) 742-6441
- Email: hays.alan@flsenate.gov
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Senate Budget Vice-Chair Lizbeth Benacquisto (Ft Myers)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5030
- District: (239) 338-2570
- Email: benacquisto.lizbeth@flsenate.gov
House
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House Speaker Steve Crisafulli (Merritt Island)
- Capitol: (850) 488-1450
- District: (321) 449-5111
- Email: steve.crisafulli@myfloridahouse.gov
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House Budget Chairman Richard Corcoran (Lutz)
- Capitol: (850) 717-5037
- District: (813) 792-5177
- Email: richard.corcoran@myfloridahouse.gov
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House Ag and Natural Resources Appropriations Chair Ben Albritton (Wauchula)
- Capitol: (850) 717-5056
- District: (863) 534-0073
- Email: ben.albritton@myfloridahouse.gov
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House Budget Vice-Chairman Jim Boyd (Bradenton)
- Capitol: (850) 717-5071
- District: (941) 708-4968
- Email: im.boyd@myfloridahouse.gov
OTHER IMPORTANT CONTACTS
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Senator Joe Negron (Stuart)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5032
- District: (772) 219-1665
- Email: negron.joe@flsenate.gov
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Senator Denise Grimsley (Sebring)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5021
- District: (863) 386-6016
- Email: grimsley.denise@flsenate.gov
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Senator Charlie Dean (Inverness)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5005
- District: (352) 860-5175
- Email: dean.charles@flsenate.gov
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Senator Wilton Simpson (Trilby)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5018
- District: (352) 540-6074
- Email: simpson.wilton@flsenate.gov
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Vice-Chair of Senate General Government Appropriations Sen. Oscar Braynon (Miami Gardens)
- Capitol: (850) 487-5036
- District: (305) 654-7150
- Email: braynon.oscar@flsenate.gov
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Vice-Chair of House Ag and Nat. Resources Appropriations Rep. Ray Pilon (Sarasota)
- Capitol: (850) 717-5072
- District: (941) 955-8077
- Email: ray.pilon@myfloridahouse.gov
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Rep. Greg Steube (Sarasota)
- Capitol: (850) 717-5073
- District: (941) 341-3117
- Email: greg.steube@myfloridahouse.gov
For further information on Amendment 1, please visit https://yes1fl.org/action0315.
About Tall Timbers
Tall Timbers is a widely regarded information resource for the areas of fire ecology, game bird management, vertebrate ecology and forestry. The Research Station is recognized as the home of the study of fire ecology and is an advocate to protect the right to use prescribed fire for land management. And, the Land Conservancy is recognized as one of the nation’s leading land trusts, as it has protected traditional land uses in north Florida and south Georgia by conserving more than 160,000 acres in this region through conservation easements.
For more information, please visit: www.TallTimbers.org.