Florida SB 1800: Parkinson’s Disease

Bill Text

1800 
Florida Wildlife Corridor Day 
2026-02-09T06:37:19Z 
Affirming the importance of the Florida Wildlife Corridor and its significant environmental, cultural, economic, and tourism value as a unique natural resource and recognizing February 17, 2026, as “Florida Wildlife Corridor Day”, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
SR 
Resolution 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 (NP) SR 1800 

 By Senator Brodeur 

 10-01768B-26 20261800__ 
 1 Senate Resolution 
 2 A resolution affirming the importance of the Florida 
 3 Wildlife Corridor and its significant environmental, 
 4 cultural, economic, and tourism value as a unique 
 5 natural resource and recognizing February 17, 2026, as 
 6 “Florida Wildlife Corridor Day.” 
 7 
 8 WHEREAS, the campaign to establish the Florida Wildlife 
 9 Corridor began 16 years ago, and supporters saw their vision 
 10 become reality with the passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor 
 11 Act of 2021, and 
 12 WHEREAS, the Florida Wildlife Corridor establishes a 
 13 geographic area of more than 18 million acres of land, of which 
 14 10 million acres are public conservation lands that could be 
 15 permanently disconnected from each other without the additional 
 16 conservation of nearly 8 million acres of currently unprotected 
 17 opportunity areas connecting them, and 
 18 WHEREAS, Florida’s population has grown from 21.8 million 
 19 when the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act was signed to more than 
 20 23.8 million today, resulting in urban and suburban sprawl 
 21 consuming rural and natural land within and adjacent to the 
 22 corridor, and 
 23 WHEREAS, the nearly 8 million acres of opportunity areas 
 24 that still need protection consist largely of working ranches, 
 25 farms, and forests, the majority of which can be protected 
 26 through conservation easements with willing landowners, thereby 
 27 supporting the state’s agricultural economy and contributing to 
 28 the long-term food security of this state and the nation, and 
 29 WHEREAS, the Legislature has appropriated significant 
 30 funding for the state’s conservation programs, providing 
 31 incentive for conservation and sustainable development while 
 32 preserving the green infrastructure that is the foundation of 
 33 this state’s economy and quality of life, and 
 34 WHEREAS, since July 2021, more than 400,000 acres of land 
 35 in the Florida Wildlife Corridor have been approved for 
 36 protection by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet, including 
 37 Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, who made the 
 38 corridor a priority during his term as Senate President, with 
 39 funding appropriated by the Legislature from the Department of 
 40 Environmental Protection’s Florida Forever program and the 
 41 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and 
 42 Family Lands Protection Program, and 
 43 WHEREAS, the nearly 62,000-acre Raiford to Osceola Greenway 
 44 project, made possible through the voluntary conservation 
 45 easement by Weyerhaeuser Forest Holdings, Inc., is located 
 46 within the Florida Wildlife Corridor and serves as a historic 
 47 example as the largest conservation easement completed in 
 48 Florida’s history, led by the Department of Environmental 
 49 Protection’s Florida Forever program, helping to permanently 
 50 connect an urgent and vulnerable gap by utilizing the designated 
 51 funding for the Ocala to Osceola Wildlife Corridor, and 
 52 WHEREAS, the Florida Forever program continues to bolster 
 53 its statewide success, having closed on 210 conservation 
 54 easements totaling 464,846 acres and maintaining a robust 
 55 pipeline of interested landowners dedicated to land 
 56 conservation, as evidenced by the current portfolio of 138 
 57 projects totaling 2,088,443 acres, and 
 58 WHEREAS, since 2023, the Department of Agriculture and 
 59 Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection program has 
 60 experienced a 90 percent increase in interest from willing 
 61 landowners seeking to conserve working agricultural lands within 
 62 the Florida Wildlife Corridor, as demonstrated by the submission 
 63 of more than 500 applications from Florida landowners 
 64 representing over 600,000 acres at an estimated value exceeding 
 65 $2.1 billion, which highlights the growing commitment and 
 66 enthusiasm of landowners to participate in conservation efforts, 
 67 and is supported by the expansion of delegated authorities, 
 68 resulting in the successful protection of more than 224,000 
 69 acres of land since the program’s inception, advancing both 
 70 conservation and agricultural viability, and 
 71 WHEREAS, together, the Florida Forever program and the 
 72 Rural and Family Lands Protection program empower landowners to 
 73 do their part, making these programs critical to ensuring the 
 74 long-term protection and connectivity of the Florida Wildlife 
 75 Corridor by safeguarding both natural and working landscapes for 
 76 the benefit of future genera