MARTIN COUNTY — Martin County's voter-approved land conservation program is continuing its work despite a lack of new funding for one of its longtime state partners.
Martin County Forever was approved by voters in 2024 as a half-cent sales tax dedicated to acquiring land for conservation. The program generates about $20 million annually to preserve environmentally sensitive lands in perpetuity.
One of the program's key partners has been Florida Forever, the state's flagship land conservation program. While Florida Forever did not receive additional funding in the state's fiscal year 2026-27 budget, county officials say the slowdown is not expected to derail local conservation efforts.
John Maehl, Martin County's environmental resource administrator, said Florida Forever has faced funding challenges in recent years but remains an important conservation tool.
"Florida Forever really hasn't been well funded the past couple of years. We don't believe it's going away," Maehl said.
The two programs have worked together on conservation projects in Martin County, including the acquisition of Bar-B Ranch. Maehl said Florida Forever contributed $12 million toward that purchase.
Rather than changing course, the county is focusing on other opportunities to leverage state conservation funding.
"I think we're going to be one of the standard partners for funding rural and family lands easements in Martin County," Maehl said. "It's been a fun and a really productive way for us to keep moving forward the Martin County Forever program, even though Florida Forever is not well-funded right now."
Maehl said the county is also continuing to pursue land acquisitions that might previously have involved Florida Forever funding, even if that means purchasing properties without a state partner for now.
"Some of our acquisitions we're making this year that would normally be Florida Forever partnerships, and we're going it alone because we might not get another shot to buy the land," he said.
He said those properties could still become part of future funding partnerships if Florida Forever receives additional funding in coming years.
"We can have plenty of opportunity to leverage those dollars down the road," Maehl said. "So Florida Forever's program would allow us to come back two, three, four, five years from now when they have funding and establish that funding partnership."
Despite the current funding gap, Maehl said he expects Florida Forever to receive funding again in the future. In the meantime, he said Martin County's conservation efforts will remain focused on acquiring land before development opportunities arise.
"Nothing moves the needle more than land acquisition," Maehl said. "With land, if you lose that once to condominiums or to strip malls, whatever, the war's over, right? If you don't own the land and you're trying to conserve it through land development regulations, comp plan, zoning, future land use, you have to win every single battle. You lose the war when you lose one battle."