The Wakulla County Commission has proposed a land swap between the county and the U.S. Forest Service involving approximately 200 acres of the Apalachicola National Forest near Crawfordville (to be developed as an active recreational complex) for 163 acres of county land (that contains the Wakulla County Equestrian Center).
The Florida Sierra Club stands opposed to this idea.
The Florida Sierra Club believes that public conservation land of the United States is an important natural heritage of all Americans. Public conservation land provides open space, clean water, important habitats for native plants and animals, a last stronghold for many endangered ecosystems, and opportunities for outdoor recreation.
We believe that public conservation land should be retained in public ownership and only traded in circumstances that meet the highest environmental standards.
The Apalachicola National Forest is Florida’s largest and one of its biologically diverse public conservation lands. It is part of our state’s irreplaceable ecological heritage. The forest’s wetlands, cypress swamps, sinkholes, and longleaf pine ecosystems support imperiled wildlife, protect regional water quality, and help recharge Wakulla Spring, the world’s largest and deepest freshwater spring.
The highest priority should be given to preservation of public conservation land of high biological and ecological value. Land traded out of public ownership generally should be of less biological and ecological value and the land acquired in any trade should be land of higher ecological value.
We find the county’s rationale for this exchange flawed and environmentally unsound.
The proposed forest parcel is hydrologically fragile, unsuitable for large-scale recreational infrastructure, and integral to the ecological balance of the region. The land includes extensive cypress wetlands and sinkhole terrain — conditions incompatible with the county’s stated goal of constructing a “multi-sport recreation complex” with ballfields, restrooms, and concession stands.
The county lands that are proposed to be transferred to the forest have been negatively impacted by the development of the Wakulla County Equestrian facility and includes an equestrian arena, picnic facility, hiking trail, restrooms, parking and horse trailer parking, and security lighting.
We urge the Wakulla County Commission to invest in improving existing recreational facilities. Independent consultants recently confirmed that ample space already exists within the county’s current recreation system and on school-owned property to meet all identified needs without acquiring federal land.
Prior to any further discussion on a proposed land swap, an environmental assessment of the Forest Service property and the county owned parcel (Wakulla County Equestrian Center parcel) parcel is needed.
But based on the information available to the Sierra Club, it is clear that the existing Apalachicola Forest parcel has higher environmental value than the Wakulla County Equestrian Center parcel. The Sierra Club asks the U.S. Forest Service to reject this proposed land swap and to reaffirm its commitment to protecting the Apalachicola National Forest.
This proposal betrays the very environmental and community values that make Wakulla County special.
The Florida Sierra Club stands with the residents of Wakulla County and all Floridians who believe our national forests should remain public, wild, and protected.
Grant Gelhardt is chair of the Conservation Committee of the Florida Sierra Club.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: U.S. Forest Service should reject Wakulla commission’s land swap proposal | Opinion
Reporting by Grant Gelhardt / Tallahassee Democrat
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