Ned Hancock wants to get into heaven, so he’s not selling.
A generational citrus grower and cattleman in the Peace River Valley in Hardee County, Hancock remembers his great-aunt drilling into his head the wisdom of holding onto and working the land their ancestors settled in the 1850s that contains Charlie Creek Marsh.
Profiting from the rights to develop the land, however, was a different matter.
Across Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, and Polk counties in recent years, nearly $30 million in taxpayer dollars has been approved through Florida’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program for more than 9,100 acres.
That included about $6 million for conservation easements on 1,373 acres at Charlie Creek Marsh. Buying the easements puts the development rights in public hands, while the landowners, usually a farming family, don’t sell the land itself and can continue to use it as they have been.
The Hancock family wants to use the proceeds to reinvest in the citrus portion of its holdings, which has been decimated during the last few decades by freezes and diseases such as citrus greening.
The statewide land conservation program has protected more than 240,000 acres since it was created in 2001, and more than $1.1 billion in state funding has been approved for it since 2022.
Protecting wetlands and floodplains in the Peace River watershed is crucial to the health of the Charlotte Harbor estuary and the Gulf of Mexico.
Charlie Creek Marsh stores floodwater that might threaten downstream communities. It also helps maintain water quality and natural flows into Charlotte Harbor.
The land also lies within the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a connected network of public and private lands that allows animals to move between larger conservation areas. It provides critical habitat for wide-ranging wildlife, including Florida black bears and endangered Florida panthers.
Large open areas of uplands are disappearing in Southwest Florida. And the greater Sebring region is no exception, with urban sprawl extending out and residential development from Florida’s Southwest Coast reaching in.
The Peace River Valley’s wetlands also help store floodwater needed during the upcoming dry season, as well as filter stormwater and runoff.
“This family knows that our land is key to protecting not just our family’s legacy, but the whole Charlie Creek system of marshes and water flows to the Peace River,” Hancock said. “My great-aunt warned us that we might not get to heaven if we sell it off.”
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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