Martin County committee recommends Palmar settlement parcels for county acquisition

Martin County's Environmental Lands Oversight Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners consider acquisition of parcels in the Palmar settlement area after a staff presentation described a mix of land purchases and a swap that would enlarge the county's conservation holdings.

The committee was told by Michael Houston, senior project manager in the Martin County Environmental Resource Division, that the package on the table would result in a net increase of public acreage in the Palmar acquisition zone. "So in total, we're actually gaining 2,107 acres while trading away 559 acres in the Chimney area. So our net increase is 1,548 acres," Houston said during the committee's presentation.

Committee members heard staff describe the Palmar area as a connecting corridor between Hungryland and the Corbett Wildlife Management Area and as containing high-quality wetland systems and headwaters to the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River. John Vale, environmental resource administrator, told the panel that tax revenues collected for the program totaled about $6,600,000 through…