FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Karen Forsyth, Lee County Lands Division
               (239) 479-8506

LEE COUNTY COMPLETES 9,000-ACRE FLINT PEN ACQUISITIONS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (December 31, 2003) - After 12 years, Lee County has completed the voluntary acquisitions of the Flint Pen Strand portion of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) in southern Lee County.

The Flint Pen Strand comprises about 15,000 acres of the 60,000-acre Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, of which the county's Division of County Lands has acquired about 9,000 acres.

The county did the acquisition primarily through parcels of five acres, entailing more than 400 different ownerships. Special recognition goes to County Lands Acquisition Program Manager Robert Clemens, who handled the numerous negotiations.

In all, about $14.3 million was spent for the 9,000 acres. The majority of the property amassed has now been conveyed to the South Florida Water Management District for management as the District continues its acquisition activities in south Lee County.

The CREW Land & Water Trust was established in 1989 as a nonprofit organization to coordinate the land acquisition, land management, and public use of the 60,000-acre Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed. This watershed straddles Lee and Collier Counties and provides aquifer recharge, natural flood protection, water purification, preservation of wildlife habitat, and public recreation. Since 1990, CREW has coordinated the purchase of nearly 26,000 acres, with the assistance of funding from Lee County, the South Florida Water Management District, the State of Florida, the Big Cypress Basin Board, and numerous private donors.

The CREW Land & Water Trust was the first public/private partnership approach to an ecosystem-based acquisition project in Southwest Florida.

Lee County partnered with CREW in 1991 to handle the acquisition of the Flint Pen Strand, which runs from Corkscrew Road south to the Lee/Collier County line. There still are some acquisitions that could be made, however the landowners have not agreed to sell.

The County Lands Division buys and sells property for Lee County Government. Some of its most common functions are negotiating the purchase of such things as Conservation 20/20 properties, right of way for road and utility projects, and facilities such as the recent purchase of the SunTrust Building in downtown Fort Myers that will be used as part of the county's downtown government complex.

To learn more about the CREW Land & Water Trust, visit its web site at www.crewtrust.org, or contact Executive Director Ellen Linblad at 657-2253. For a map of CREW, click on http://www.crewtrust.org/map1.htm.