By Ryan Ballogg | Bradenton Herald
As Florida’s wilderness shrinks by the day, conservationists around the state, including in Manatee County, are in a race against the clock to protect some remaining pieces from being paved.
Conserved lands protect air and water quality and safeguard the unique plants, animals and iconic natural vistas found in Florida, as well as saving parts of “the great outdoors” for people to enjoy. In the era of climate change, they’re also increasingly recognized as a buffer against extreme weather, spiking temperatures, sea level rise, flooding and other threats.
But in Manatee County, where natural areas face growing pressure from rapid housing and commercial development, data shows that land conservation efforts lag behind most of the region.
The Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI), a statewide program dedicated to tracking conservation efforts, keeps a running tally of every county’s protected lands. It includes conservation lands under federal, state, local and private management.
According to FNAI’s 2025 report, only about 14% of Manatee County’s lands are in conservation. That’s a little over 67,000 acres of the county’s roughly 474,000-acre land area. By percentage and land area, Manatee County’s conservation efforts rank near the bottom in Southwest Florida and the Tampa Bay area.
An aerial photo shows Manatee County’s Robinson Preserve on July 1, 2025. Tiffany Tompkins ttompkins@bradenton.com
What does that mean for the future of Manatee County? Conservation experts who spoke with the Bradenton Herald say that Manatee’s relatively low numbers are cause for concern.
“I think that most experts would recommend a percentage of land in conservation higher than 14%,” said FNAI’s director, Frank Price.
“We are losing the lands that provide clean water, wildlife habitat, provide food and the green space we all crave and need as human beings,” said Julie Morris, Executive Director of the Florida Conservation Group. “And we are losing the rural heritage that makes this area great and unique and proud and has defined the character of the county for hundreds of years.”
But on an optimistic note, experts point to local efforts that are underway to help close the gap.
“I know that the county has a great Environmental Lands Program, and so it’s clear that voters are electing leaders that support conservation and those officials are following through,” Price said.
Manatee’s natural lands ranks among least in region
Comparing counties by the percent of land protected, Manatee’s 14% lags behind most counties in Southwest Florida and the Tampa Bay area.
For example, Sarasota County is 33% conserved, and Charlotte County, which has a similar land area to Manatee, is 42% conserved. Larger neighbors Lee and Hillsborough counties are 21% and 17% conserved, respectively.
Only two counties rank lower than Manatee in the region. Hardee County, where a majority of land use is dedicated to agriculture, is only 6% conserved, according to FNAI. And Pinellas County, which is the most densely populated county in the state, is 12% conserved.
By land area, Manatee County’s 67,000 conserved acres also trails behind most of the region:
- Charlotte County: 186,770 acres
- Sarasota County: 121,300 acres
- Hillsborough County: 116,510 acres
- Pasco County: 115,360 acres
- Lee County: 107,490 acres
- DeSoto County: 73,480 acres
- Hardee County: 26,310 acres
- Pinellas County: 20,850 acres
An anhinga, a Florida native waterbird, stretches its wings at Manatee County’s Robinson Preserve in this May 30, 2021, Bradenton Herald file photo. Ryan Ballogg rballogg@bradenton.com
How much land should be conserved?
Globally, many conservation organizations and governments have set conservation targets of at least 30 to 50% of a region’s land and water to protect biodiversity and maintain “ecosystem services” — the natural resources that people rely on for food, water, medicine, fuel, fiber, recreation, tourism and more.
While there aren’t specific guidelines for how much land should be conserved at the local level, more is generally considered better.
But it’s not all about acreage. Price says that also of great importance is the quality and rarity of habitat being protected and the specific goals of each conservation project.
“Rather than thinking of a particular percentage, I think it’s more important to consider how well a jurisdiction’s portfolio of conservation lands capture the variety of natural communities within that jurisdiction and ensure that functioning examples of all communities are effectively conserved,” Price said.
“It’s also important to consider what species or habitats are targets for conservation,” Price said. “While a rare scrub plant might benefit from conservation of just a few acres, you’ll need a lot larger tracts to protect a panther or an ecosystem that requires prescribed fire to persist.”
Morris notes that Manatee County has also had a very different conservation history than some of its neighbors. In Sarasota County, for example, conservation efforts started much earlier. Myakka River State Park, one of Florida’s oldest and largest parks, was opened in 1941 with assistance from the Civilian Conservation Corps. Today it’s grown to over 37,000 acres, and it’s part of an even larger patchwork of conservation areas known as the “Myakka Island” — around 130,000 acres that buffer the Myakka River.
“Manatee County was for so long predominantly agricultural and there wasn’t a whole lot of movement there for years on the state level,” Morris said. “But I think with the rapid growth we are seeing support for land protection across the board.”
“The landscape is changing faster than you can blink,” Morris added.
An aerial photo shows Manatee County’s Neal Preserve entry and parking area on July 1, 2025. Tiffany Tompkins ttompkins@bradenton.com
Manatee County adding conservation lands
Conservation experts agree that one of the biggest challenges facing today’s conservation efforts is securing enough funds to buy land in the midst of a competitive real estate market.
“There are opportunities for land protection, but people that want to sell their land can only wait for so long, and we have private interests that are very active in the region,” Morris said. “The area is changing rapidly and we need funding.”
“In recent years, higher levels of development have led to more interest in conservation but also record real estate prices,” Price said. “It’s kind of a sad, cyclical trend in Florida that interest in and funding for conservation tends to peak around the same time as real estate prices.”
Price notes that just as Florida’s real estate prices are beginning to cool, the state legislature cut millions in funding for land conservation purchases from this year’s budget.
Despite the challenges, local conservation efforts are making strides. Since 2020, conservation lands in Manatee County have increased by almost 5,000 acres, or about 1%, according to FNAI data.
And several organizations and programs are actively adding to that number. They include Manatee County Government’s Environmental Lands Program, which is using a tax fund approved by voters in 2020 to buy new conservation lands.
An aerial photo shows Manatee County’s Neal Preserve and the Anna Maria Sound on July 1, 2025. Tiffany Tompkins ttompkins@bradenton.com
Among the purchases so far: 68 acres for the new Crooked River Preserve in Parrish and 97 acres to expand Emerson Point Preserve in Palmetto, as well as work in progress to acquire 550 acres in Myakka that would contribute to the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
“The county is doing amazing work and I am super impressed by the strategic land conservation they are doing,” Morris said.
Price points to Robinson Preserve as an example of how conservation efforts can get creative as the availability of land shrinks. Formerly used as farmland, the county went through extensive efforts to restore the coastal land to a natural state.
“I think this is a great example of how you can maximize the conservation value of existing parks and preserves through thoughtful restoration and management in addition to acquiring more land,” Price said.
There are also organizations like Morris’s Florida Conservation Group working to bring privately held lands into permanent conservation through land easements. Easements allow owners of ranching and agricultural properties to continue working on the land while permanently giving up rights to develop it.
And groups like the Big Waters Land Trust (previously the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast) help coordinate and fund local conservation purchases with support from local donors. Earlier this year, the organization announced a new plan to target Southwest Florida’s “most urgent” conservation opportunities, including several in Manatee County: The Terra Ceia area, the upper Manatee River area and ranch lands in Myakka.
“It is our hope that this plan leads to new partnerships, increased resources and more land saved quickly,” said Christine P. Johnson, president of Big Waters Land Trust, in a news release.
What’s the future of local land conservation?
Another challenge facing Florida’s conservation programs is the increasing rarity of large, unspoiled parcels of land left in the state.
Price points to Manatee County’s 22,000-acre Duette Preserve as an example of the large-scale conservation opportunities that are becoming nearly impossible to find these days.
“…There just isn’t another Duette left in the county,” Price said. “Future acquisitions in Manatee County and everywhere are going to be smaller, more expensive and require more restoration to maximize their conservation value.”
While conservation will look a little different going forward, Price said it’s still possible to protect meaningful lands.
“There’s that old saying about the best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago, but the second best time is today. I think that same rule applies to land conservation,” Price said.
An aerial photo shows Manatee County’s Emerson Point Preserve on March 5, 2024. Tiffany Tompkins