The request to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Acquisition and Restoration Council for a land swap of 600 acres in the Guana River Preserve for 3,066.23 acres in four locations across the state has been withdrawn.
The proposal drew strong opposition from residents, as well as Audubon Florida, which is a conservation society with the goal of protecting and advocating for birds, special places and water quality in the state.
State representative Kim Kendall scheduled a press conference to oppose the land swap and offer a plan to address the issue; however, Kendall opened the press conference by pumping her fists in the air and shouting “we did it,” because Upland LLC, who owns 104.47 acres contiguous in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area, had withdrawn their request.
As soon as the word of the land swap request became known it began to spread less than a week ago, action quickly took place to make sure the community’s voice was heard regarding the issue including a protest effort where people came out with signs and posters and stood on the corner of State Road A1A and Mickler Road to help spread the word.
“By the grace of God and the heart of this community we were able to execute something very quickly,” Kendall said.
No proposed use for the swapped land was stated in the state documents, but private development is likely a motivation for the request. The properties that would have been subject to the swap would have been located in St. Johns, Lafayette, Osceola and Volusia counties.
Kendall was joined by several elected officials including St. Johns County Commissioners Clay Murphy, Ann Taylor, Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst, as well as St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline and St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell.
St. Johns County Commission chair Krista Keating-Joseph was also instrumental in helping the efforts against the proposed swap but was unable to attend the press conference due to a personal matter.
“We’re just a handful of people up here, and yes, we care about this community, but we don’t have the impact if our community doesn’t kick in, and everybody kicked in,” Kendall said. “I have always said that St. Johns County is a big, small town. We have the benefits of a big city, but we have that small town feel of neighbor helping neighbor, and Guana is part of that family.”
According to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Guana River Wildlife Management Area contains mesic hammock, xenic hammock, scrub, mesic flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods, maritime hammock, depression marsh and basin swamp.
“As a native of Florida, this land means more to me than just what’s marked on a map,” Rumrell said. “I grew up fishing the headwaters of the Guana River. I paddled those quiet waters and watched the sunsets over the marsh and felt the pull of a Redfish on my line. It’s part of who I am, and it’s part of who we are as a community.”
Kendall also wanted to make it clear that she believes the request did not fall under legislation that was passed in 2016 to address land swaps.
“It should have never been brought before the ARC (Acquisition and Restoration Council) and it is out of the spirit of the law for land swapping,” Kendall said. “In my opinion, this was a work around and I am committed toward legislation to figure out what we can button up to stop this from happening again.”
