North Florida Land Trust, the U.S. Navy and the City of Jacksonville to work together for conservation

Press Release
April 30, 2022

 

The Jacksonville City Council approved an agreement to work with the Navy and the nonprofit for conservation around naval installations

 

Jacksonville, Fla., April 28, 2022 – North Florida Land Trust will be working with the U.S. Navy and the City of Jacksonville to conserve land around U.S. Navy properties. On Tuesday night, the Jacksonville City Council approved an agreement in a unanimous vote to add the nonprofit land conservation organization to a multi-year encroachment protection agreement between the entities under the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program. The program is designed to protect environmentally sensitive and agriculturally significant lands located near military installations. Those included in this agreement are Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Naval Outlying Landing Field Whitehouse, Naval Station Mayport, and the Pinecastle Range Complex which is in the Ocala National Forest.

“We are thrilled for this opportunity to work alongside the City and the Navy on these preservation efforts. We have already started conversations with the Navy, and we will continue our work to identify land and marshland needed to protect the important naval installations in our community,” said Jim McCarthy, president of NFLT. “We will soon begin the process of reaching out to landowners whose properties will help protect naval operations and provide important habitat for many plant and animal species.”

NFLT will consult with the Navy to identify properties that are prime candidates for conservation and that also serve to protect military lands from the threat of encroaching development. NFLT, the Navy and the City’s Military Affairs and Veterans Department will work together on the identified conservation projects. This agreement also sets the terms and conditions that will be necessary for the contribution of federal funds to acquire these lands.

The agreement is similar to NFLT’s current agreement under the REPI program with the Army and National Guard Bureau to protect lands around Camp Blanding. NFLT has been working closely with them for six years to identify and preserve land near Camp Blanding. Since the collaboration began, NFLT has helped to preserve 7,040.97 acres of important environmentally sensitive lands that also help to protect the military installation.

 

About North Florida Land Trust

North Florida Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the quality of life by protecting North Florida’s irreplaceable natural environment. Founded in 1999, NFLT has preserved tens of thousands of acres of land through the donation or purchase of land as well as conservation easements.  NFLT is funded largely by private and corporate contributions and works closely with willing landowners and public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations. For more information, visit nflt.org.