SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Sarasota County continues to make sure the Longino Ranch stays out of the grasp of developers with another preservation easement purchase. County officials and the landowners say it is an investment in nature.
"We have been working on it for several years and in my family we're very supportive of conservation easements in Florida," said John Minton Jr., President of Longino Ranch.
First purchased in 1934, the Longino Ranch was built to extract turpentine from pine trees.
It was one of the key turpentine camps in the area, and the workforce was mostly made up of African American laborers and sharecropping families.
"There was a railroad stop on the property where they loaded the barrels on trains and so that was viable for a number of years and then the whole industry kind of changed so we transitioned over to cattle and timber production," Minton Jr. said.
The 656-acre land, located on Turpentine Still Road, off State Road 72 heading towards Arcadia, sits on the wildlife corridor and farmland areas considered watersheds for the Myakka River.
Through the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program, and in partnership with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, the county has paid nearly $2.9 million to acquire rights to the land for preservation.
This is the third such parcel purchase on the sprawling ranch following purchases in 2002 and 2010. This brings the total protected Longino Ranch land under the conservation easement program to 8,060 acres.
Conservationists say this keeps developers from getting to it first and ensures the land stays in its natural state and is preserved strictly with conservation as a priority by both the current and any potential future owners.
"Florida is one of the fastest growing states in the nation land and development is pushing farther and farther east. Land preservation is the only way that we can preserve those things that are precious to us," said Lee Amos with the Conservation Foundation of The Gulf Coast.
"A lot of us live here in Florida and even in Sarasota County because we want to see green space that we can utilize on any given day," said Nicole Rissler, Director of Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources.
Minton Jr. added that this sort of partnership between owners of vast lands is an important part of land preservation from overdevelopment and urban encroachment.
"This is where the surface waters originate and flow towards the coast. Also, you know easements are important for protecting or improving our water quality. There's still a lot more work to be done in Southwest Florida, particularly on preserving land and the time is now to keep going with the conservation efforts," Minton Jr. said.
While this purchase allows ranching activities to continue as normal, the area is closed to the public. County officials said they continue to look for more of such acquisitions to provide more water and beach access to the community and encourage the community to nominate property they feel should be part of the preservation program.
The program which is taxpayer-funded sunsets in 2029 and county officials have said they will be going back to the voters to seek a ballot referendum in 2026 to extend the program.