• HB 441, entitled Conservation Lands, ensures we will never again be blindsided by proposals to sell off or trade conservation land protected by the state so it can be developed.  Filed in response to public ire over several such proposals, and coming on the heels of passage of the State Parks Preservation Act the previous year, this legislation requires adequate public notice of any future proposals, opportunities for public comment and a clear demonstration any proposed “land swap” or sale would result in a net conservation benefit. In combination with the State Park Preservation Act, this legislation put the development industry on notice that the people of Florida are paying attention and that we treasure our conservation lands.

FNPS support for the bills discussed above was conveyed successfully by your Policy and Legislation Committee and by FNPS's Governmental Affairs Advisor, Travis Moore. Our issuance of action alerts, numbering 8 in total during the 2026 session, was reserved for legislation that we knew would require the extra weight provided by mobilizing our member’s voices. 

Working in close cooperation with our partner organizations, we successfully stopped the absolute worst bill of the session – BARELY!.  The insultingly misnamed Blue Ribbon Projects bill would have allowed city-sized land development projects of 15,000 acres or more to sidestep local government land use regulations and any meaningful opportunities for public input.  After being approved by every committee that reviewed it and receiving final passage in the House, the only thing that prevented it from becoming law during the final hours of the legislative session was the knowledge it couldn’t pass the final hurdle on the floor of the Senate.  A massive outpouring of opposition in response to our alerts convinced just enough legislators to oppose it.

We already know the powerful development interests that wrote and pushed this bill will enlist legislators to bring it back again next year.  Perseverance is the only way to win a fight like this one and we are prepared to continue opposing any such attempts in the future to whittle away the last remaining remnants of responsible growth management in Florida.

So the dreaded Blue Ribbon Projects bill died because it failed to be scheduled for a final vote in the Senate – precisely to avoid an embarrassing defeat in response to our successful opposition.  One of our favorite bills was killed in similar fashion.  We were inches away from successful passage of a bill to restore the Ocklawaha River.  It had passed all its committee stops and been approved by the full House. It was clearly poised to pass in the Senate; however, despite a tremendous response to our alerts and entreaties asking Senate President Albritton to schedule the bill for a final vote, he refused – in order to prevent almost certain passage.  This was the closest we’ve ever come to achieving restoration of the Ocklawaha River and you can be darn certain we will be fighting for restoration of the river and its floodplain forest and spring run streams again in 2027.

On June 23, legislative leadership finally presented their 2026-2027 budget to Governor DeSantis.  The Governor was required to act on it by June 30 since July 1 is the first day of the next fiscal year.  The budget denied any new funding to the Florida Forever land conservation program.  Our final action alert of the 2026 legislative session was issued in defense of funding for land conservation and asked the Governor to veto “back of the bill” provisions that redirected funding originally dedicated to buying land in the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The legislature used the same strategy last year to allow the Governor to spend $83.3 million FROM THE SAME FUNDING SOURCE on 4 acres of land in Destin that have virtually NO conservation value. 

It was both disappointing, and unsurprising, that Governor DeSantis declined to veto those provisions when he signed the budget into law on June 29.  Unsurprising because an undefined share of those funds are now earmarked to purchase MORE LAND WITH UNVETTED CONSERVATION VALUE in the Destin area potentially owned by an influential political benefactor. If he had issued the veto we requested then those funds, estimated to exceed $300 million, would have remained available for future land conservation purchases.  Instead, he chose to veto $1.6 billion in other spending before signing a $117+ billion budget that included NOTHING for Florida Forever. 

Despite our disappointment with Governor DeSantis’ decision, FNPS will be well positioned to make a principled argument in support of Florida Forever funding next year to a new governor and a new leadership team in the Legislature.  There will be little reason for us to miss the current leadership team given their complicity in the decision to withhold funding for land conservation.  After asking them to allocate $300 million to Florida Forever at the beginning of the session, and seeing the pittance they were proposing late in the session, we asked them to simply honor their own commitment, enshrined in statute, to provide a minimum of $100 million annually to Florida Forever.  And for yet another year, they declined to comply with their own law.  The Legislature’s shameful inaction on Florida Forever will not dissuade us.  We will continue to press our support for land conservation as the most effective strategy for protecting native plants and the habitat they require.

There were other important bills that we advocated for, or against, during the session.  We’ve only touched on the major highlights – and the lowlights of blocking Ocklawaha restoration for yet another year and failing to fund Florida Forever.  Your support allowed us to achieve some important successes, and our effectiveness is reflected in an invitation to engage in consultations with a state agency pivotal to our mission and an opportunity to collaborate with supportive legislators in the development of a bill that would strengthen conservation easements. 

We hope you are pleased with the work we are doing on your behalf and that you will continue to support us.