The Southwest Florida Water Management District is spending $7.5 million to protect two ranches with four miles along the Peace River from becoming subdivisions or strip malls.

That’s nearly 1,300 acres along the Peace River is being protected under the popular Florida Forever land preservation program.

C&D Ranch and Rock Bend Ranch cover land half-again as large as New York City’s Central Park, including the riverfront in DeSoto and Hardee counties.

The district isn’t buying the land outright. It’s buying the development rights, through what’s called a conservation easement.

The purchase essentially puts the development rights in the hands of the taxpayer.

About half of the acreage is wetlands, a natural system that filters pollutants before water flows, in this case, to Charlotte Harbor.

Both ranches sit within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Since voters approved the constitutional amendment in 1998 that led to Florida Forever, the program has more than one million acres in protection.

Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.

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