The Florida Department of Environmental Protection raised about $15.6 million for conservation after selling a nearly 80-acre nonconservation state-owned property.
The land will be used to build a new sports complex, but the money raised from the sale will fund future conservation initiatives, according to a DEP press release.
The DEP closed the sale with Southeast Legacy Investments LLC last Tuesday.
“The department accepted bids for the property until Jan. 29, 2014 at 10:30 a.m.,” Mara Burger, DEP spokeswoman, said in an email.
The department’s Division of State Lands, which buys and sells nonconservation lands for Florida, received and opened the bids. The minimum offer was $9 million and a deposit of $200,000.
Southeast Legacy Investments LLC was the highest bidder. Gov. Rick Scott and the board of trustees approved the sale March 6.
“We have a lot of many beautiful things in Florida, and the fact we can conserve many of these places with a sale like this is something positive,” said McKinley Lewis, Department of Health spokesman.
The land is about 280 miles from Gainesville, but future sales could be closer. Multiple state-owned lands will be sold over the next couple of months, Burger said. The DEP hopes to raise about $40 million for future purchases of conservation lands.
Mark Hostetler, UF wildlife ecology and conservation professor, said the combined efforts of state and county is important to consider concerning conservation.
“The state can only raise so much,” Hostetler said. “Every level can do its own part in conserving the environment.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 9/8/2014 under the headline "Environment department raises millions for conservation"]
