The state of Florida has a priority list of natural land to preserve but does not have the money to pay for it. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), projects on Florida's priority list would cost an estimated $4 billion, about eight times the $500 million it expects to receive through 2010.

This is sad news for Floridians, as officials must scale back the Priority A list, and put some of those projects onto the B list. "To make the list more useful, a state panel is preparing to take some projects off of that A priority list to its B list", said Mark Glisson, DEP's staff director to the state Acquisition and Restoration Council. Glisson continued, "Moving projects to the B list means they won't be purchased, unless there is matching money from a local government or the seller offers a bargain price". Some area projects could be affected by the decision.

Several notable projects are on the A list now including San Pedro Bay in Madison and Taylor counties, lands near Wakulla Springs State Park, and St. Joe Co. lands along the upper St. Marks River. "We've got to be real careful we don't focus on anything but the best (natural) resources. That is our highest priority," Glisson said.

Florida has the largest land-buying program in the world. It is larger than even the federal government's program. The state has bought more than 1 million acres since January 1999, according to the DEP. The state receives about $300 million a year from documentary stamp taxes to pay for the land-buying program. Of that amount, DEP's land-buying program, which includes the Acquisition and Restoration Council priority list, receives about $100 million.

Land buying projects are proposed by residents, landowners, environmental groups, and local governments. The projects are then reviewed by the Acquisition and Restoration Council, which recommends to the Cabinet and Governor whether it should be placed on the A or B lists. "The Council originally had tried to limit the value of projects on the A list to four times the amount available to be spent", Glissen said. The list grew in recent years to 79 projects now worth an estimated $4 billion.

Usually, having more projects on the list created some competition among landowners vying for state purchases and gave the state more flexibility. However with the current number of projects it has been too difficult for the state's land acquisition agents to manage for negotiations, appraisals and title searches. "The ones on the A list really ought to be the shining stars. That is what we want to get back to", Glisson said.

Reducing the list back to four times the amount of the money available could require moving half the projects to the B list. The Acquisition and Restoration Council hasn't decided how many projects or how much value to keep on the list. The council plans to hold a workshop in January before it votes later that month to determing which projects will stay on the A list, and which will move to the B list.

Although having a long priority list doesn't help the land-buying program, there may not be a need to cut the list in half, said Richard Hilsenbeck, associate director of protection for the Florida Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. "There is ongoing work with a lot of these projects," he said. "They have to be very careful and judicious as to what they put to the B list."

Some parties involved in the land-buying process such as consultants and residents are concerned that only ecological criteria established by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory will be used in paring the A list. Other less measurable criteria established in state law, including the willingness of the seller and the threat of development to the property, are also considered in the decision-making process.

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