FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Karen Forsyth or Lynda Riley, Lee County Lands Division
                (941) 479-8505

FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 16, 2001) – The Board of Lee County Commissioners is expected to approve a contract Tuesday (Feb. 20) to purchase a 2,388-acre tract of environmentally sensitive land through the county’s Conservation 2020 program. Upon closing, it will be the largest parcel bought to date through the five-year-old program.

The tract, costing $6.35 million, is located just west of Interstate 75 near the Charlotte County line. The site has extensive hydric-mesic pine flatwoods, with scattered mature pines, interspersed with freshwater wetlands. Wildlife on the site includes migratory birds, wood stork, red-cockaded woodpecker, black bear, deer and bobcats.

When this purchase is secured, more than 5,000 acres will have been bought through the Conservation 2020 program and set aside for long-term conservation.

Lee County voters approved Conservation 2020 in November 1996 through a referendum that increased property taxes for seven years by 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. The increase raises about $12 million a year to buy environmentally sensitive lands. In addition, 10 percent of the funds collected are set aside for land stewardship activities such as exotic pest plant control and provision of passive recreation facilities.

The Conservation 2020 Program is a willing seller program, which means that only properties that are nominated by landowners are considered for acquisition. The county does not pursue acquiring properties by its legal power of Eminent Domain.

The Board of Lee County Commissioners appointed a 15-member citizen advisory committee – the Lee County Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee (CLASAC) – to recommend appropriate properties to be pursued for purchase.

The committee has been meeting nearly monthly since February 1997 to review nearly 18,300 acres of real property nominated for potential purchase by Lee County. In December, the county closed on a 1,115-acre tract located on the north side of the Caloosahatchee River just east and west of Interstate 75 that has 3.5 miles of river frontage.

A listing and map of the lands acquired to date and under review and negotiation can be viewed at the county’s web site at www.lee-county.com/countylands/Cons2020/cons2020.htm.