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AMENDMENT 4 CONSERVATION TAX SUPPORT
Statement of Groups Endorsing "Yes on 4, the Conservation Land Amendment" Posted July 30, 2008
Private landowners protect and manage some of Florida's best wildlife habitat. Some have placed large parcels of land in permanent protected status with
conservation easements. Others use their land primarily for the benefit of
wildlife, water resources and outdoor recreation.
As Florida grows, valuable habitat is being converted to other uses. In many cases local property taxes lead people, who would otherwise manage their
land for wildlife and water protection, to convert it to other uses.
To encourage private stewardship of wildlife habitat and water resources,
Florida's leading conservation groups urged the Taxation and Budget Reform
Commission to place an amendment on the November 2008 ballot to reduce the
property tax burden on privately owned conservation land.
Amendment 4, if approved by 60% of the voters, will do two things:
- Give property tax exemptions for land placed in permanent
protection.
- Direct the Legislature to pass a law to allow land managed for
conservation to be taxed according to use.
Amendment 4 will benefit the Florida Panther, the Florida Black Bear, many
bird species and special places such as the greater Everglades ecosystem, and
will help protect our water supplies.
Amendment 4 holds great promise to supplement public land acquisition programs such as Florida Forever by providing incentives to private landowners to conserve their land and manage land for conservation purposes.
The following organizations endorse Amendment 4 and urge their members and
Florida's citizens to "Vote 'Yes' on 4, the Conservation Land Amendment!"
Group Name, Authorizing Person, Email/Web Site Address
Florida Wildlife Federation, Manley Fuller, fwfonline.org
Audubon of Florida, Eric Draper, edraper@audubon.org
The Nature Conservancy, Jeff Danter, janet_bowman@tnc.org
National Wildlife Federation, Ron Warnken, warnken@nwf.org
Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute (Gopher Tortoise
Conservation Initiative), Ray Ashton, Tortfarm2@aol.com
Please add your group's name and return to Citizens for Conservation
Land, Inc. via the following e-mail address: 4conservationland@gmail.com; or fax to (850) 942-4431; or mail to P.O. Box 6870, Tallahassee, FL 32314.
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