One of the most effective initiatives in the Sunshine States ? Florida Forever ? has been practically left for dead in the midst of the economic downturn. Supporters of the initiative must have been encouraged by the events of Tuesday, which saw the Florida Cabinet and Governor Rick Scott signing off on pursuing 21 parcels of land; however, many people think that it is well overdue that the leaders of the state start looking at providing the struggling program with a much bigger boost.
The Sun Sentinel says that the vote of the Cabinet and the Governor will enable the Department of Environmental Protection to attempt to purchase these 21 projects with the $8 million that the lawmakers have placed in their budget, but the modest funding is a long way away from the days when more than $300 million per annum was spent by the program in order to preserve environmentally valuable land by using part of the documentary stamp tax (also known as excise tax) collected on real estate transactions. When real estate sales - and the economy in general - tanked, however, lawmakers effectively abandoned the Florida Forever program.
While this decision was understandable, it was also somewhat unfortunate given the ways in which both the state and taxpayers benefit from local treasures being preserved. The policy of buying only from willing sellers also protected the rights of property owners.
The program's return on investment was certainly understood by former Republican Governor Bob Martinez when he launched Preservation 2000 more than two decades ago, back in 1990. Former Governor Jeb Bush also appreciated the value of purchasing significant tracts of wilderness when almost ten years later he continued the program under the moniker of Florida Forever, knowing that reckless bulldozing of appealing Florida sites would reduce the economic prospects of the state.
