Florida Department of Environmental Protection is considering selling parts of Blackwater Heritage State Trail in Santa Rosa County and Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park in southwest Escambia County. They are part of the more than 5,300 acres from 168 different parcels at 67 state parks and other publicly owned sites that are being considered for sale.
DEP has planned six workshops in late September and early October in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers for public input. The goal is to raise up to $50 million for future land-conservation efforts.
Tarkiln Bayou Preserve is home to four species of endangered pitcher plants, as well as other rare and endangered plant species. The rare, carnivorous white-top pitcher plant is unique to the Gulf Coast and found only between the Apalachicola and Mississippi rivers.
In April 2002, we covered the political battle to purchase of the last acres of what would become a 4,290-acre preserve. The state had already spent $24.2 million to buy the first 3700 acres. Developer Dan Gilmore and Vince Whibbs, Jr. and their Tarkiln Bayou Development Company wanted to develop a subdivision on their 42 acres. Trilogy Corporation of Northwest Florida, owners Neal Nash, Michael Green and James Marks, had the adjacent 144 acres. The owners were tough negotiators. The county and DEP threatened to take away their building permits. Emerald Coastkeepers and other environmentalist weighed in.
In Nov. 2002, Gov. Jeb Bush and his Cabinet voted unanimously to approve $1.2 million to purchase the two separate parcels on Tarkiln Bayou. Escambia County chipped in $238,000. The purchase was seen as preserving the bayou’s entire shoreline from development and protecting the flight path for jets out of NAS Pensacola.
Eleven years later DEP is willing to sell off part of the park.
Here is the complete list of state lands being considered: Potential-state-lands4sale-list