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Hi friends,
Last year, Martin County voters made a decision that says a lot about who we are as a community.
We approved the Martin County Forever Land Acquisition Sales Tax, setting aside funding to help protect important lands before they’re lost to development.
At the time, a lot of folks supported the idea. Others wondered how quickly we’d actually see results.
Well, here’s the good news.
Conservation is already starting to happen.
Over the past few months, the county has closed on three properties through the program: Bar-B Ranch, Pal-Mar, and the Perry Beach Addition. Together, they represent thousands of acres of land that will now remain protected for generations to come.
Each property is different, but each one matters.
Bar-B Ranch, at nearly 1,800 acres, protects one of the largest remaining working landscapes in Martin County. The land was protected through a conservation easement, which means it will remain privately owned and continue operating as a working ranch while preventing future development.
And thanks to a major investment from the State of Florida, Martin County only needed to contribute $5 million from the voter-approved sales tax to help make that protection possible.
Ranchland like this does more than support agriculture. It stores water during heavy rains, provides wildlife habitat, and preserves the wide-open spaces that give western Martin County its unique character.
Pal-Mar helps strengthen an important ecological corridor linking Martin and Palm Beach counties. Large, connected landscapes like this allow wildlife to move, wetlands to function the way they should, and ecosystems to stay healthy over time.
And then there’s the Perry Beach Addition. Just one acre. But when that single acre sits along the ocean on Hutchinson Island, it’s incredibly valuable. Protecting it expands the existing Perry Beach Preserve and helps safeguard sensitive coastal dunes, mangroves, and native shoreline habitat.
 Big projects. Small projects.
They all add up.
And they show exactly what the Martin County Forever program was designed to do: protect important places when the opportunity comes along.
There’s also more work ahead. The Martin County Board of County Commissioners has approved 15 additional properties to move forward as potential acquisitions, based on recommendations from the citizen-led Environmental Lands Oversight Committee.
Conservation doesn’t happen overnight. These projects involve appraisals, negotiations with landowners, and coordination with state partners. But step by step, the program is doing what voters asked it to do.
Protect the lands that make Martin County special.
Soon, the community will have a chance to hear more about these conservation successes and celebrate them.
A Martin County Forever Conservation Celebration is being planned where residents can learn more about the lands protected so far and what’s ahead for the program.
The event will be held Friday, April 17, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Timer Powers Park in Indiantown.
The invitation is included below.
We hope you’ll come out, say hello, and celebrate a little good news for the land.
Because conservation isn’t just about acreage on a spreadsheet.
It’s about the places that make Martin County feel like home.
With appreciation,
Rick Hartman and the One Martin Board of Directors
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