CAMP BLANDING – North Florida Land Trust and its partners have been awarded $15,243,902 by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Service through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

The funding will support the Corridor to Coast initiative that extends through the Northeast and Central Florida region to the east coast and includes a “critical linkage” within the Florida Wildlife Corridor and Ecological Greenways Network, the Ocala to Osceola (O2O) wildlife corridor. The RCPP will support the conservation of working farms, forests and natural buffer lands that provide ecological benefits to the region.

The C2C is an extension of the O2O partnership led by NFLT and includes public and private organizations dedicated to landscape-scale conservation. The C2C is approximately 5,200,000 acres and covers nine counties, including privately owned working lands and forests, freshwater wetlands, natural areas, pastures and public conservation lands. The RCPP will increase land protection and restoration funding in Baker, Clay and Putnam counties.

NFLT is committed to promoting conservation activities that protect Camp Blanding from the threat of encroaching development. Camp Blanding is in the heart of the C2C. NFLT partners with the military installation through the Army Compatible Use Buffer program, which provides funding for protecting land surrounding the Camp Blanding training center.

It also adds new funding opportunities in Nassau, Duval, St. Johns and Flagler counties.

The RCPP will bring local, state, and federal financial landowner assistance programs to private landowners for land management that protects natural resources and wildlife to enhance regional conservation goals further.

“Extending our conservation reach is so important right now because it is now or never,” said Allison DeFoor, president of NFLT. “This is the third time we have been awarded funding through the RCPP and have successfully improved the lands throughout the O2O. With this initiative extending from the corridor to the coast, we can expand our work to protect natural spaces and resources and increase our ability to make a major difference for our future.”

Protecting and improving the land and these natural buffers have many ecological benefits and provide habitats for many wildlife species. It helps protect against flooding by providing storage and decreases the potential for soil erosion and pollution like fertilizers, insecticides, oil, grease and other human-made and natural pollutants that can enter water sources through runoff, drainage, seepage or precipitation. These water-abundant landscapes are critical for protecting the region from rising sea levels, erosion, and increased rainfall.