SESSION WATCH
THE BILL ITSELF

SR 1800

Florida Wildlife Corridor Day

VERSION S 1800 Filed · BACK TO THE SUMMARY · OFFICIAL RECORD

underlined language is being added; struck language is being deleted. Line numbers are the Legislature's own — the same ones amendments cite.

Florida Senate - 2026 (NP) SR 1800 By Senator Brodeur 10-01768B-26 20261800__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution affirming the importance of the Florida
3 Wildlife Corridor and its significant environmental,
4 cultural, economic, and tourism value as a unique
5 natural resource and recognizing February 17, 2026, as
6 “Florida Wildlife Corridor Day.”
8 WHEREAS, the campaign to establish the Florida Wildlife
9 Corridor began 16 years ago, and supporters saw their vision
10 become reality with the passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor
11 Act of 2021, and
12 WHEREAS, the Florida Wildlife Corridor establishes a
13 geographic area of more than 18 million acres of land, of which
14 10 million acres are public conservation lands that could be
15 permanently disconnected from each other without the additional
16 conservation of nearly 8 million acres of currently unprotected
17 opportunity areas connecting them, and
18 WHEREAS, Florida’s population has grown from 21.8 million
19 when the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act was signed to more than
20 23.8 million today, resulting in urban and suburban sprawl
21 consuming rural and natural land within and adjacent to the
22 corridor, and
23 WHEREAS, the nearly 8 million acres of opportunity areas
24 that still need protection consist largely of working ranches,
25 farms, and forests, the majority of which can be protected
26 through conservation easements with willing landowners, thereby
27 supporting the state’s agricultural economy and contributing to
28 the long-term food security of this state and the nation, and
29 WHEREAS, the Legislature has appropriated significant
30 funding for the state’s conservation programs, providing
31 incentive for conservation and sustainable development while
32 preserving the green infrastructure that is the foundation of
33 this state’s economy and quality of life, and
34 WHEREAS, since July 2021, more than 400,000 acres of land
35 in the Florida Wildlife Corridor have been approved for
36 protection by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet, including
37 Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, who made the
38 corridor a priority during his term as Senate President, with
39 funding appropriated by the Legislature from the Department of
40 Environmental Protection’s Florida Forever program and the
41 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and
42 Family Lands Protection Program, and
43 WHEREAS, the nearly 62,000-acre Raiford to Osceola Greenway
44 project, made possible through the voluntary conservation
45 easement by Weyerhaeuser Forest Holdings, Inc., is located
46 within the Florida Wildlife Corridor and serves as a historic
47 example as the largest conservation easement completed in
48 Florida’s history, led by the Department of Environmental
49 Protection’s Florida Forever program, helping to permanently
50 connect an urgent and vulnerable gap by utilizing the designated
51 funding for the Ocala to Osceola Wildlife Corridor, and
52 WHEREAS, the Florida Forever program continues to bolster
53 its statewide success, having closed on 210 conservation
54 easements totaling 464,846 acres and maintaining a robust
55 pipeline of interested landowners dedicated to land
56 conservation, as evidenced by the current portfolio of 138
57 projects totaling 2,088,443 acres, and
58 WHEREAS, since 2023, the Department of Agriculture and
59 Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection program has
60 experienced a 90 percent increase in interest from willing
61 landowners seeking to conserve working agricultural lands within
62 the Florida Wildlife Corridor, as demonstrated by the submission
63 of more than 500 applications from Florida landowners
64 representing over 600,000 acres at an estimated value exceeding
65 $2.1 billion, which highlights the growing commitment and
66 enthusiasm of landowners to participate in conservation efforts,
67 and is supported by the expansion of delegated authorities,
68 resulting in the successful protection of more than 224,000
69 acres of land since the program’s inception, advancing both
70 conservation and agricultural viability, and
71 WHEREAS, together, the Florida Forever program and the
72 Rural and Family Lands Protection program empower landowners to
73 do their part, making these programs critical to ensuring the
74 long-term protection and connectivity of the Florida Wildlife
75 Corridor by safeguarding both natural and working landscapes for
76 the benefit of future generations, and
77 WHEREAS, the state’s prioritization of the Florida Wildlife
78 Corridor has prompted many federal and local programs to
79 increase their investment in Florida conservation, and
80 WHEREAS, these programs share the state’s goal of
81 protecting an additional 600,000 acres in the Florida Wildlife
82 Corridor by 2030, balancing the state’s commitment to urgent
83 conservation with the demand for development to accommodate the
84 more than 2 million new residents projected to move to this
85 state within the next 5 years, and
86 WHEREAS, public access to the Florida Wildlife Corridor was
87 greatly expanded in 2023 when the Legislature passed and
88 Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that connected the
89 corridor to the Florida Greenways and Trails System and the
90 Florida Shared-Use Non-motorized (SUN) Trail Network, as well as
91 additional pathways to heritage small towns throughout this
92 state, and
93 WHEREAS, with the state’s funding commitment in recent
94 years to such projects, the Department of Environmental
95 Protection and the Department of Transportation have coordinated
96 the establishment of multiuse trails, including investment in
97 the planning, design, and construction of the SUN Trail Network
98 and the campaign to recognize various communities as “Trail
99 Towns,” in conjunction with Visit Florida’s promotion of trail
100 based tourism, and
101 WHEREAS, connecting trails with the Florida Wildlife
102 Corridor creates a means to preserve many natural areas and
103 provides expanded access for Floridians and visitors to hike,
104 run, and bike between trail destinations and see firsthand this
105 state’s unique natural habitat and picturesque small towns, and
106 WHEREAS, the Florida Wildlife Corridor provides strong
107 protection of other tourism and recreation destinations, such as
108 spring vents, rivers, estuaries, fisheries, and wetlands, which
109 support carbon sequestration, nutrient capture and cycling,
110 water storage, and groundwater recharge, which is critical to
111 water supply, and
112 WHEREAS, the Florida Wildlife Corridor is a nature-based
113 solution that supports the state’s resilience against
114 strengthening storms and provides billions of dollars’ worth of
115 flood hazard protection by keeping the current 10 million acres
116 of the state’s floodplains located within the corridor
117 undeveloped, NOW, THEREFORE,
119 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
121 That the Senate affirms the importance of the Florida
122 Wildlife Corridor and its significant environmental, cultural,
123 economic, and tourism value as a unique natural resource and
124 recognizes February 17, 2026, as “Florida Wildlife Corridor
125 Day.”