Teresa Stepzinski

tstepzinski@jacksonville.com

The nonprofit North Florida Land Trust has received $9.4 million in federal funds to preserve a 1.6 million-acre network of public and private lands connecting the Ocala and Osceola National Forests.

The 100-mile long network of rural and natural lands is deemed crucial habitat for imperiled and other wildlife species, essential to the watershed and helps buffer sprawling Camp Banding Joint Training Center in southern Clay County.

The land trust, headquartered in Jacksonville, was awarded the funding for the project — commonly known as the O2O Wildlife Corridor — from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service via its Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

The organization leads a partnership of public and private groups dedicated to conservation of the land connecting the two national forests.

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) award specifically supports the O2O project through 2025.

“We are thrilled to receive a second RCPP award. It is a clear recognition of the efforts of the partnership to protect an incredibly important and nationally recognized wildlife corridor,” Jim McCarthy, president of the Land Trust, said in a news release.

McCarthy also said they are looking forward to working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, landowners and other partners.

Their common goal, McCarthy said, is to have 140,000 acres protected within the corridor by 2040.

RELATED | Read more Jacksonville-area news

The O2O encompasses the two national forests, Camp Blanding and other state and local conservation lands.

It is considered a critical link in the larger Florida Wildlife Corridor — the blueprint for landscape-scale conservation in Florida.

The O2O provides habitat for the Florida black bear, as well as endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern indigo snake and gopher tortoise, Land Trust leaders say.

Many other threatened and endangered species also inhabit the O2O, and three imperiled habitats occur in the region.

Partnering with the land trust in the project are the Army National Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services via the Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Putnam Land Conservancy.

“Through collaboration and aligning our resources toward a common goal, we’re making an impact for natural resource conservation that could never have been realized on our own,” said Matthew Lohr, chief of the National Resources Conservation Service.

The funding is the second award from the National Resources Conservation Service in support of the O2O initiative. The first was initiated in 2018.

In total, there will be more than $11 million dedicated to O2O land protection under the agency which complements the $33 million already expended or committed by partner programs, according to the Land Trust.

The Land Trust is funded largely by private and corporate contributions. It works closely with willing landowners and public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations.

Since founded in 1999, the Land Trust has preserved tens of thousands of acres of land through donation or purchase of land as well as conservation easements.

Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-4075