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570.71 Conservation
easements and agreements.-- (1) The department, on
behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, may
allocate moneys to acquire perpetual, less-than-fee interest in land, to
enter into agricultural protection agreements, and to enter into resource
conservation agreements for the following public purposes: (a) Promotion and
improvement of wildlife habitat; (b) Protection and
enhancement of water bodies, aquifer recharge areas, wetlands, and
watersheds; (c) Perpetuation of open
space on lands with significant natural areas; or (d) Protection of
agricultural lands threatened by conversion to other uses. (2) To achieve the
purposes of this act, beginning no sooner than (a) Purchase
conservation easements, as defined in s. 704.06.
(b) Purchase
rural-lands-protection easements pursuant to this act. (c) Fund resource
conservation agreements pursuant to this act. (d) Fund agricultural
protection agreements pursuant to this act. (3) Rural-lands-protection
easements shall be a perpetual right or interest in agricultural land which
is appropriate to retain such land in predominantly its current state and to
prevent the subdivision and conversion of such land into other uses. This
right or interest in property shall prohibit only the following: (a) Construction or
placing of buildings, roads, billboards or other advertising, utilities, or
structures, except those structures and unpaved roads necessary for the
agricultural operations on the land or structures necessary for other
activities allowed under the easement, and except for linear facilities
described in s. 704.06(11);
(b) Subdivision of the
property; (c) Dumping or placing
of trash, waste, or offensive materials; and (d) Activities that
affect the natural hydrology of the land or that detrimentally affect water
conservation, erosion control, soil conservation, or fish or wildlife
habitat, except those required for environmental restoration; federal, state,
or local government regulatory programs; or best management practices. (4) Resource
conservation agreements will be contracts for services which provide annual
payments to landowners for services that actively improve habitat and water
restoration or conservation on their lands over and above that which is
already required by law or which provide recreational opportunities. They
will be for a term of not less than 5 years and not more than 10 years.
Property owners will become eligible to enter into a resource conservation
agreement only upon entering into a conservation easement or rural lands
protection easement. (5) Agricultural protection
agreements shall be for terms of 30 years and will provide payments to
landowners having significant natural areas on their land. Public access and
public recreational opportunities may be negotiated at the request of the
landowner. (a) For the length of
the agreement, the landowner shall agree to prohibit: 1. Construction or
placing of buildings, roads, billboards or other advertising, utilities, or
structures, except those structures and unpaved roads necessary for the
agricultural operations on the land or structures necessary for other
activities allowed under the easement, and except for linear facilities
described in s. 704.06(11);
2. Subdivision of the
property; 3. Dumping or placing of
trash, waste, or offensive materials; and 4. Activities that
affect the natural hydrology of the land, or that detrimentally affect water
conservation, erosion control, soil conservation, or fish or wildlife
habitat. (b) As part of the
agricultural protection agreement, the parties shall agree that the state
shall have a right to buy a conservation easement or rural land protection
easement at the end of the 30-year term. If the landowner tenders the
easement for the purchase and the state does not timely exercise its right to
buy the easement, the landowner shall be released from the agricultural
agreement. The purchase price of the easement shall be established in the
agreement and shall be based on the value of the easement at the time the
agreement is entered into, plus a reasonable escalator multiplied by the
number of full calendar years following the date of the commencement of the
agreement. The landowner may transfer or sell the property before the
expiration of the 30-year term, but only if the property is sold subject to
the agreement and the buyer becomes the successor in interest to the
agricultural protection agreement. Upon mutual consent of the parties, a
landowner may enter into a perpetual easement at any time during the term of
an agricultural protection agreement. (6) Payment for
conservation easements and rural land protection easements shall be a lump-sum
payment at the time the easement is entered into. (7) Landowners entering
into an agricultural protection agreement may receive up to 50 percent of the
purchase price at the time the agreement is entered into, and remaining
payments on the balance shall be equal annual payments over the term of the
agreement. (8) Payments for the
resource conservation agreements shall be equal annual payments over the term
of the agreement. (9) Easements purchased
pursuant to this act may not prevent landowners from transferring the
remaining fee value with the easement. (10) The department, in
consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, the water
management districts, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, shall adopt rules that establish
an application process, a process and criteria for setting priorities for use
of funds consistent with the purposes specified in subsection (1) and giving
preference to ranch and timber lands managed using sustainable practices, an
appraisal process, and a process for title review and compliance and approval
of the rules by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
(11) If a landowner
objects to having his or her property included in any lists or maps developed
to implement this act, the department shall remove the property from any such
lists or maps upon receipt of the landowner's written request to do so. (12) The department is
authorized to use funds from the following sources to implement this act: (a) State funds; (b) Federal funds; (c) Other governmental
entities; (d) Nongovernmental
organizations; or (e) Private individuals.
(13) No more than 10
percent of any funds made available to implement this act shall be expended
for resource conservation agreements and agricultural protection agreements. History.--s. 63, ch.
2001-279; s. 5, ch. 2002-4; s. 48, ch. 2002-295; s. 113, ch. 2005-2. |