TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The Florida Senate voted 37-0 on Thursday to send to the House a bill that annually would dedicate from the Seminole Tribe gambling compact up to $100 million each for land acquisition and for land management and another $100 million to address sea-level rise and flooding.
The bill is backed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R), who has made land conservation a priority. The bill creates the “Compact to Preserve,” with at least $79 million or more yearly going toward the Florida Water Quality Grants Program.
The bill targets lands within the Florida Wildlife Corridor for purchases and conservation easements. The corridor covers nearly 18 million acres statewide, of which 8.1 million acres remains to be protected.
“The ‘Compact to Conserve’ invests in the strategic expansion of our wildlife corridor and will help protect endangered native species, including the Florida panther,” Passidomo said Thursday in a statement.
