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Resident urges Pasco County to back land-acquisition program that protects wildlife corridors
Summary
A resident praised Pasco Countys environmental lands acquisition and management program, saying it was founded in 2005, spans seven ecological corridors and that a recent 4G conservation easement preserved an entire corridor while linking nearby preserves with help from FDOT and matched state funding.
A resident urged support for Pasco Countys environmental lands acquisition and management program, saying it has the science and partnerships needed to protect key wildlife corridors.
"The environmental lands acquisition and management program was created back in 2005 to uh protect environmentally sensitive lands in Pasco County," the resident said, arguing the program identifies and secures meaningful conservation parcels.
The speaker said Pasco County contains seven ecological corridors and credited a recent conservation easement for a parcel referred to as "4G" with preserving one entire corridor in a single transaction. "The acquisition of the conservation easement for 4G was one entire corridor taken down in one single acquisition," the resident said, adding that the easement also connects the Connor Preserve to the Crossbar Albbar Ranch, a linkage the speaker described as an accomplishment.
The comment emphasized public-safety and wildlife benefits from such connectivity, noting that creating safe passage for large wildlife species reduces the number of vehicle collisions: "When you work in a program like this and ensure that there's safe passage specifically of large wildlife species ... you're going to see a lot less of those accidents occurring," the resident said.
The speaker credited interagency partnerships for making the project possible, saying collaboration with the Florida Department of Transportation on an undercrossing helped ensure unimpeded access "between 52" and that matching funds from a state "family rural lands program" enabled the county to meet acquisition objectives.
No formal action or vote was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. The resident concluded by urging continued use of partnerships among county and state programs to advance conservation goals.
