Hearing on Lake Harney Property - Volusia Residents’ Input Sought

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Acquisition Council (ARC) will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, March 12 at 4 p.m. to gather community comments about the nomination for the 5,578-acre Lake Harney property in Osteen to be considered for purchase by the Florida Forever land acquisition program. This property has been submitted to the Florida Forever program through Volusia Forever.

Under the voter-approved Volusia Forever program, the County seeks to partner with the Florida Forever program to purchase this property, as the Volusia County Council has identified it as a high-priority acquisition. The acquirement of the property would enhance the strategic value of conservation efforts in the area as the County already owns and manages the Deering Preserve at Deep Creek property, which is adjacent to the target property.

To make this property eligible for purchase by Florida Forever, FDEP's ARC must hold a local public hearing to gather community input. The hearing will be in the Recreational Hall of the Wekiwa Springs State Park, 1800 Wekiwa Circle, Apopka. ARC representatives will present and solicit feedback regarding the proposal to purchase the Ford Lake Harney property to become a part of Florida Forever.

The public is encouraged to participate in this hearing. Those unable to physically attend may provide written or verbal comments regarding the proposal to FDEP's ARC Coordinator Hank Vinson at 850-245-2314 or hank.vinson@floridadep.gov. The public hearing agenda, Volusia Forever property evaluation results, project report, and application submitted to Florida Forever can be accessed at www.volusia.org/forever.

The Florida Forever program replaced Florida’s Preservation 2000 (P2000) conservation land acquisition program and remains the largest public land acquisition program of its kind in the United States. There are currently approximately 10 million acres managed for conservation in Florida, and more than 2.6 million of those were purchased through the Florida Forever and P2000 programs. Since the inception of the Florida Forever program in July 2001, the state has purchased more than 897,785 acres of land, utilizing approximately $3.3 billion dedicated to land acquisition.