Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet agreed Tuesday to spend $2.9 million to conserve just over 2,300 acres of rural land in Northeast Florida that includes a blueberry-growing operation.
The purchase of what is known as a "conservation easement" at the Clay Ranch in Putnam County, near the town of Grandin, is the 31st by Scott and the Cabinet through the Rural & Family Lands Preservation Program.
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Conservation easements typically allow landowners to continue longstanding uses of property, such as farming, while limiting future development.
Florida State Forester Jim Karels said the deal includes 97 percent of the Clay Ranch site, which is between the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station and Etoniah Creek State Forest.
“It's a great connector project in between a number of a conservation properties,” Karels said.
The deal leaves about 71 acres for a residential homestead.
The land has been used for farming and ranching for 160 years.
Karels said the latest crop is a 20-acre blueberry field that "is currently in production with plans to expand."
The Legislature approved $35 million for the Rural & Family Lands program in the current fiscal year, $10 million more than Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam requested.
Putnam has asked lawmakers to allocate $50 million for the program in 2017.