This is good for the economy, it�s good for St. Andrew Bay and good for the well-being of all of us who treasure the renewal and rejuvenation we get from great natural areas such as are found in this conservation area.
I suspect that most residents of Bay County are not aware of the extent of the good news that was briefly reported in The News Herald on Dec. 4 (�St. Joe unveils development plan,� Local & State). At an open house on Dec. 3, the St. Joe Co. made a long-sought commitment.
Let me give a bit of background information. In 2001 the development of the West Bay Sector Plan began. It included the approximately 75,000 acres surrounding West Bay. After joint meetings, large and small, attended by representatives of St. Joe, state agencies and many concerned Bay County residents, the West Bay Vision Plan was adopted. In the adoption process, The Nature Conservancy of Florida reviewed the lands to be included in the conservation areas and suggested the addition of about 2,000 acres, bringing the total to 41,000. St. Joe readily accepted that addition.
The �vision� process did not establish in Bay County�s Comprehensive Plan actual land-use provisions concerning the 41,000 acres. So for over a decade we have been working to guarantee the permanency of this conservation area. We have worked with at least three St. Joe presidents, many other of the company�s land-use experts and several state and federal environmental agencies. We have worked to have a perpetual Federal Regional General Permit issued. We have placed the lands on the Florida Forever list.
On Dec. 3, St. Joe Senior Vice President Jorge Gonzalez made the commitment we have sought for so long. As part of the plan to expand the West Bay Sector to the west, the company will take the steps necessary to guarantee, in perpetuity, all 41,000 acres of the West Bay Conservation Area. The provisions we established years ago will be made permanent, the Regional General Permit with its strict perpetual easements will be pursued, and the lands with easements attached will be offered to the State�s Florida Forever Program.
Approximately 17,000 of the 41,000 acres are already protected through perpetual easements: 10,000 acres as mitigation for the new airport, and 7,000 which make up a mitigation bank at Breakfast Point.
This is a wonderful development for the people of Bay County, indeed for all Floridians. This is good for the economy, it�s good for St. Andrew Bay and good for the well-being of all of us who treasure the renewal and rejuvenation we get from great natural areas such as are found in this conservation area.
This has sometimes been a frustrating process, not because anyone tried to weaken or prevent the establishment of the conservation area, but because of uncertainty as to how it should be done. Both the St. Joe Co. and state land use/environmental agencies went through times of upheaval and change. We can be thankful that neither the company, the state nor Bay County officials ever abandoned the concept. I for one want to tell them that I appreciate that.
This conservation area will provide protection for one of the finest bays in Florida; no other bay of this size enjoys such protection. The result of this accomplishment will be that one can take a boat to West Bay and look toward all of its shores and know that in 100 years it will look just as it does now. We can know that our grandchildren and their grandchildren will enjoy this blessing just as we do.
Editor�s note: The writer is a board member and former chairman of the Florida Chapter, The Nature Conservancy.