FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 8, 2001) – The Board of Lee County Commissioners today unanimously approved the purchase of a 160-acre tract in the south part of the county through the Conservation 2020 program and directed staff to begin negotiating on five more parcels totaling 371 acres.

The 160-acres parcel, costing $2.392 million, is located in the Island Park area, south of The Forest Country Club Community and west of Island Park Village.

The property will link together the Estero Bay State Buffer Preserve to the west with the Conservation 2020 Island Park preserve to the east. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is actively pursuing the acquisition of the property directly to the south.

The property has significant mangrove and salt marsh wetlands and serves as a flow-way for a tributary of Hendry Creek, providing flood protection on either side of the tributary.

The five other properties being considered for acquisition are located in Pine Island, North Fort Myers and East Fort Myers.

With the latest purchase secured, 5,692 acres has 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 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.

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.