Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is proud to announce the preservation of 13,000 acres of ranchland through the Rural & Family Lands Protection Program. Partnering with Buck Island & Adams Ranches protects agriculturally productive, economically significant, and enviro-rich Florida ranchlands. #cowskeepfloridagreen.

The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLPP) is an agricultural land preservation program designed to protect important agricultural lands through the acquisition of permanent agricultural land conservation easements. The program is written into Section 570.70, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 5I-7, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.).

Projects are reviewed by a Technical Review Team, ranked through a formal process by the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program Selection Committee, and approved by the Governor and Cabinet.

The program is designed to meet three needs:

Protect valuable agricultural lands.

Create easement documents that work together with agricultural production to ensure sustainable agricultural practices and reasonable protection of the environment without interfering with agricultural operations in such a way that could put the continued economic viability of these operations at risk.

Protect natural resources, not as the primary purpose, but in conjunction with the economically viable agricultural operations.

Originally created in 2001 with the passage of the Rural and Family Lands Protection Act, the program has successfully acquired conservation easements on nearly 69,000 acres of working agricultural land. The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program recognizes that working agricultural lands are essential to Florida's economic future. Agricultural lands are being increasingly threatened by urban development.

To counter this trend, the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program coordinates with farmers and ranchers to ensure sustainable production practices while reasonably protecting natural resources. The program’s conservation easements ultimately provide a two-fold benefit: protecting a viable agricultural sector while providing rural landscapes and open space.