Conservation Collier

Marco Island land acquisition may have been a bit like the fireworks marking the beginning of one era and end of another as Conservation Collier wrapped up its 20th anniversary.

For conservationists, 2023 was described as bittersweet as the county conservation program made its largest land acquisition to date on Marco Island in 2023, while Collier County Commissioners also approved taking approximately $60 million from the program’s trust funds for 2024 during a September budget hearing. Commissioner Burt Saunders was the only commissioner to oppose the decision. 

Conservation Collier was created in 2003 following a referendum in November 2002 in which voters chose to be taxed to fund the acquisition and management of conservation land paid for by a portion of their property tax bills. Voters made the same decision three times to be taxed specifically to fund Conservation Collier to purchase land and manage land for conservation. 

“We were there to educate voters about Conservation Collier when it started,” said League of Women Voters of Collier County President Diane Preston Moore. 

She described the Commission’s decision to use conservation money for the general fund as a “bait and switch.”

“The people of Collier County voted for Conservation Collier and trusted that the county would manage the program without using its funds for other purposes,” she said. 

Just as people were celebrating 20 years of the program’s success with popular locations purchased and managed by the Conservation Collier program, including Otter Mound on Marco Island, Gordon River Greenway in Naples and Pepper Ranch in Immokalee, among others, the program’s future became uncertain in fall of 2023. 

The budget decision to approve a roll back of Conservation Collier’s .25 millage to about .22 mills was championed by Commissioner Bill McDaniel as a means to maintain a campaign promise of not increasing taxes, he said.

Amidst the disappointment for conservationists, Brad Cornell,  a policy official for Audubon Florida and Audubon of the Western Everglades, had stated at the time that the decision to take much of the money from the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition and the Land Management Trust Fund was poor decision-making for several reasons, especially because the interest from the Trust Funds paid for much of the $1.4 million maintenance of Conservation Collier property.

Approximately 20 percent of Conservation Collier money goes toward maintenance, according to a presentation prepared by Conservation Collier’s senior environmental specialist Molly Duval. 

Approximately $90 million accrued since the most recent referendum in 2020. The county created what became a time-consuming purchasing process with many properties denied purchase by commissioners, officials noted. Then, commissioners used that as their reason for taking the money— since it was sitting there unused for so long, they had said. 

As the Collier Museum at the Government Center in Naples closed its exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Conservation Collier in December, “Preserving Collier,” still, no formal vote was taken by the Commission to return the money. 

Despite the popularity of Conservation Collier, there were a couple of residents early in the budget process who supported reallocating the money used for land to use it toward other purposes they deemed more beneficial to people. 

Ad Valorem Taxes and Referendums

The voter-approved ad valorem millage of 0.25 mills is equivalent to $25 per $100,000 of taxable property value. Put another way, that same tax rate equates to $250 per year for a property with a taxable value of $1 million. This was approved by voters in 2020 to be collected for 10 years— so through 2030. As of 2023, before Commissioners took the money, there was approximately $90 million in Conservation Collier, including several million already allocated for purchases.

Sandy Parker, most known for her participation in the League of Women Voters, writes a blog about voters’ issues on the local, state and federal level. “The countywide taxable property value for fiscal year 2024 is roughly $138.7 billion, an increase of $16.6 billion over the prior year,” she wrote. 

“Of the increase, about $2.8 billion is due to new construction; the balance is due to increased market value,” Parker wrote on her blog, Sandy Parker’s Soapbox.

1st and 20th Anniversary Purchases by Conservation Collier

Marco Island meanwhile celebrated being the place of one of Conservation Collier’s first purchases and among its most recent. The first properties approved for purchase through Conservation Collier were in 2004, including Cocohatchee Creek Preserve on Veteran’s Park Drive in North Naples and Otter Mound of Marco Island. 

Technically, Cocohatchee Creek Preserve’s 3.64 acres was the first actual completed purchase, said Summer Araque, an environmental specialist of Conservation Collier. Marco Island’s purchase was negotiated soon after, Araque said.

Then, after almost 20 years of not purchasing another Marco Island property, the Commission voted to purchase three new nature preserves at a cost of approximately $5.4 million for more than 3 acres. These include adjoining lots totaling 2.13 acres, costing $3.14 million on South Barfield near Publix; 660 Inlet Drive for $627,500 and 1125 Caxambas Drive for $1.62 million. The latter two purchases are each about a half-acre. Caxambas Drive is home to dozens of gopher tortoises and the waterfront canal makes it a potentially popular place for public access, said Marco Island City Councilman Rich Blonna during a tour of the properties in November. 

Another one of the most recent purchases was 18.73 acres at a cost of approximately $1.67 million to expand Winchester Head Preserve, which gained preliminary approval in early 2023 and then vote to purchase by the Commission in November. This property is located east of Shell Island Preserve along Collier Boulevard. The land is mostly wetlands at the intersection of Port Au Prince Road and Collier Boulevard.

Highlights Over 20 Years

During these 20 years, Conservation Collier has acquired more than 4,700 acres in 22 preserves throughout Collier County. 

Of the purchases, 13 of them are open to the public for nature-based activities.

Some of the most visited Conservation Collier preserve lands are within the Gordon River Greenway and Freedom Park. The largest preserve is Pepper Ranch Preserve in Immokalee at 2,512 acres. 

How Properties Are Selected and Purchased

To be considered for acquisition, properties must support at least two of the following qualities: rare habitat, aquifer recharge capability, flood control potential, water quality protection and listed species habitat, according to county documents. Also, properties will be evaluated based on vulnerability to development, overall ecological quality and estimated feasibility and cost of management.

County Commissioners make the final decision after recommendation by a nine-member citizen advisory committee, called the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee.

The Outlook of Conservation Collier

According to the Commission’s November agenda report, $8.8 million will carry forward in the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Trust Fund and $515,000 in the Maintenance Fund. Among several properties of interest, Owl Hammock remains not yet purchased. It is more than 7,000 acres and gained preliminary approval in early 2023 Owl Hammock is almost three times bigger than any of the program's other acquisitions.

The county has not yet negotiated a price with the owner, Collier Enterprises, for the Owl Hammock property located approximately five and a half miles south of Immokalee in rural Collier County near the Okaloacoochee Slough.

Several other properties that connect to the Wildlife Corridor to help panthers and other animals safely traverse the state remain on the list of interest.

Members of the public as well as Audubon of the Western Everglades and the League of Women Voters of Collier County have continued to urge that the Commission to vote to replenish the Conservation Collier funds in 2025, creating a plan for returning any money they take in 2024. These conservation supporters also request to restore the full .25 mill tax to fund Conservation Collier going forward, as approved by voters in 2020, according to their letters and vocal pleas to the Commission during public meetings. 

Another concern voiced to the Commission is that after cutting the fund in 2023, it will be perceived as a tax increase when and if restored.

“The future of Conservation Collier doesn’t look so good since they took the money out,” said Judy Hushon of Naples during an interview in December. 

Hushon, an active member of the League of Women Voters of Collier County, hopes the commission continues to choose to fund it year-to-year going forward, she said. 

Share Your Comments on Conservation

Comments can be sent to Collier County staff and the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee members by emailing ConservationCollier@CollierCountyFL.gov or contacting Collier County Commissioners: dan.kowal@colliercountyfl.gov, Rick.LoCastro@colliercountyfl.gov.

Chris.hall@colliercountyfl.gov, bill.mcdaniel@colliercountyfl.gov.

and burt.saunders@colliercountyfl.gov. 

Email Coastal Breeze News at kelfarrell@yahoo.com.