SEVAS Conservation
Protecting Florida’s Future: Why Florida Forever and Volusia Forever Matter—Together
Florida Forever is a state program and Volusia Forever is a county program. Together, they acquire and preserve environmentally sensitive lands that protect wetlands, forests, wildlife corridors, and water resources. Conserved lands safeguard habitats for endangered and threatened species, preserve water quality by protecting watersheds and aquifer recharge areas, and act as stormwater infrastructure and buffers against flooding and hurricanes. Conservation supports tourism, property values, and the health and quality of life of residents.
Conservation Programs at Risk—Despite Public Support
Funding for Florida Forever has been drastically reduced in recent years, despite widespread support by Floridians, and State legislators will be making budget decisions in 2026 that could further reduce Florida Forever funding. Now, Volusia Forever is having similar difficulties. The Volusia County Council is reconsidering Volusia Forever. Volusia voters decided to establish Volusia Forever back in 2000, voting to tax themselves over 20 years to cover the cost. In 2020, more than 75% of Volusia voters decided to continue the program for another 20 years. Despite strong constituent support for Volusia Forever, the County Council will be discussing potentially slowing land conservation momentum.
Why Slowing Conservation Is the Wrong Move
Now is not the time to put the brakes on conservation efforts. If anything, it is time to accelerate them. Land is being rapidly swallowed by development and the wild spaces that remain are becoming more expensive. Now is the time to purchase and conserve before developers purchase what remains. Otherwise, wildlife corridors will remain fragmented, water resources will become more vulnerable, and development will continue to encroach on sensitive lands. Destruction of our county's natural resources will create greater costs for homeowners and taxpayers in the future.
Why We Must Support Both Florida Forever and Volusia Forever
Why support both Florida Forever and Volusia Forever? Why not just focus on one? Florida Forever and Volusia Forever can provide matching funds to each other. This expands the funding available and is a requirement for some applications for other supplemental funding sources. But that is not the only benefit. When Volusia Forever partners with Florida Forever, there is an added layer of governance. Governance ensures that conservation commitments endure. When lands are protected through partnerships between local and state programs, decisions about their future require agreement across multiple entities. This shared ownership creates checks and balances, making it far less likely that short-term political or budgetary pressures will undo long-term protections.
In other words, governance spreads responsibility and strengthens resilience. When both state and county programs hold stakes in a property, decisions to weaken protections require consensus, making conservation more likely to remain secure across generations.
Take Action
Ask the legislators who represent you in Tallahassee to fully fund Florida Forever. Click here:
Ask your Volusia County Council members to support Volusia Forever and allow Volusia Forever to partner with Florida Forever and other conservation organizations so that
there will be more conservation dollars available to purchase property and
there are added layers of governance so that the property purchased with our tax dollars will remain in conservation for generations to come.
Send an email today! It is helpful to copy EchoVolusiaForever@gmail.com on your email. It also helps to personalize your message with why it’s important to you to conserve environmentally sensitive land.
Your County Council email addresses are:
Jeff Brower jbrower@volusia.org
Jake Johansson jjohansson@volusia.org
Don Dempsey ddempsey@volusia.org
Matt Reinhart mreinhart@volusia.org
Danny Robins drobins@volusia.org
Troy Kent tkent@volusia.org
David Santiago dsantiago@volusia.org
George Recktenwald grecktenwald@volusia.org
Click below to use our email template, and add your personal thoughts:
Advocacy Made Easier
Download our guide, Working to Make Democracy Work: How to Advocate for Your Interests A Guide by Tiffany Kyle, 2025 SEVAS Conservation Committee
In subsequent newsletters, we will strive to provide information about the procedures for advocacy in more of our local cities. There is general information about in this summary.
Stay tuned for more from our Conservation Committee!
