A state senator is trying to put $100 million a year into the land conservation program Florida Forever. The Legislature didn’t appropriate anything for it this year.
Orange Park Republican Senator Rob Bradley’s proposal would double the Florida Forever dollars officials at the Department of Environmental Protection are requesting. Last year the land conservation program got no new funding and Bradley doesn’t want to see that happen again.
“I just think overall I would like to see the Legislature be more aggressive when it comes to taking those Amendment One dollars and using them for land conservation purposes,” he says.
Bradley also wants to spend $50 million on the St. Johns River and increase the state’s investment in protecting Florida’s springs.
“The ideal scenario from my standpoint would be we did $100 million for Florida Forever, $50 million for the St. Johns River, and $75 million for springs,” Bradley says.
During the last session, Bradley championed a Senate priority measure to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee.
