FLORIDA CONSERVATION GROUP INC

Programs

1. Land protection we work to protect the most important areas for water and wildlife, with a focus on the southern peninsula of florida. Over the past year we submitted applications representing over 57,000 acres of land with the state's rural and family lands protection program and the florida forever program. This entailed: submitting detailed applications, conducting ecological evaluations and advocating for the properties in front of decision making bodies, florida forever is our state land protection program and is a national model for science-based land protection; the focus is on protecting our most important natural resources. The rural and family lands protection program is our state's agricultural easement program the focus is on protecting our most important agricultural lands. Both programs are very competitive. The properties we submitted are now eligible for state funding to ensure their permanent protection and we will continue to advocate for their protection. We work with many state, federal and regional agencies as well as landowners to protect these lands.

   $75,942 spent$179,772 earned by the program
   7% of program spending

2. Advocacy and outreach we continued working with landowners to develop and implement conservation plans for their properties. We are active throughout southwest and southcentral florida. There are myriad of different state and federal conservation programs available; the challenge is to bring together the best fit for each landowner and property, as well as to secure the appropriate funding for each property. Over the past year, we met with 58 different landowners, to provide outreach and the various conservation programs that are available to protect and manage private land for conservation. We conducted one-on one outreach with landowners to provide information on conservation programs. We are currently working with various landowners to apply for funding and advocate the protection of their lands. We also hosted 5 smaller group meetings with landowners to discuss conservation easement programs available to them. We also worked with the united states fish and wildlife service national wildlife refuge system to reach out to landowners on the new everglades to gulf conservation area. The proposed conservation area will encompass 4 million acres and is an opportunity area, where…

   $83,444 spent$33,780 earned by the program
   8% of program spending

3. Science the everglades to gulf conservation area we partnered with the university of florida's center for landscape conservation planning and the u.s. Fish and wildlife service (usfws) to provide the science foundation for the usfws' effort to establish an everglades to gulf conservation area. Within this proposed 4-million-acre conservation area in southwest and south-central florida, the usfws would work with willing landowners to pursue conservation easements or feetitle acquisitions. Land protection in southwest florida is critical because this area is home to over 70 federally or state-listed threatened and endangered species including the florida panther, florida scrub jay, and crested caracara. However, this ecologically diverse area faces threats from climate change, rapid population growth, and land use intensification. Protected lands, including those within the florida wildlife corridor, would improve species' resilience in the face of these threats. Land protection also supports family farms and ranches and improves water quality."

   $497,160 spent$476,221 earned by the program
   48% of program spending

4. Landowner assistance florida conservation group (fcg) and our partner common ground ecology (cge) assisted florida nrcs at the state, area, and field office levels by hiring three ranchland management specialists who, along with cge ecological staff, provided programmatic consultation to state conservationists, guidance to district conservationists and field office staff on grazing planning organization and process, and prescribed grazing technical assistance directly to local ranchers enrolled in nrsc cost-share programs. This assistance included the evaluation of land for improved grazing management and the development of final prescribed grazing plans. Grazing plans were provided to producers to implement, improving the quality and quantity of surface water by promoting native and desired species composition and decreasing soil compaction and nutrient run-off. Outcomes have been evaluated based on consistent feedback from nrcs that our team is satisfying actual grazing assistance needs at all levels, resulting from initial standardization work that lead to an average production rate over the final 3 months of 1 plan per 4.6 days, totaling 21 approved prescribed grazing plans…

   $370,505 spent$5,900 earned by the program
   36% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,027,051.