We are dedicated to preserving and enhancing quality of life by protecting North Florida’s irreplaceable landscapes. We conserve agricultural lands, forests, coastal marshes, shorelines, and wildlife habitats because every protected acre benefits the community. Conservation helps safeguard clean air, clean water, productive soil, wildlife habitat, compatible land uses near military installations, and access to natural areas for generations to come.

As a land trust, we help shape the landscapes of our community four ways: acquisition, advocacy, stewardship, and accountability. Through acquisition, we work with willing landowners to buy land outright or secure conservation easements, which allow landowners to retain ownership while permanently limiting future development. Through advocacy, we educate the community about the benefits of land conservation. Through stewardship we care for an restore the land to its natural and native state. Through accountability, we work with partners, community leaders, elected officials, and agencies to encourage the right conservation outcomes for the right land.

Conservation takes time, trust, and negotiation. Our team identifies properties with strong conservation value, builds relationships with landowners, evaluates funding options, and works with partners to move each project from possibility to protection.

Since we began working as a land trust in 1999, NFLT has preserved more than 125,000 acres of land in Florida. Once we find willing landowners and bring a project to closing, the land may be owned by NFLT or by one of our conservation partners. When NFLT owns the property, our stewardship department takes responsibility for caring for the land over the long term.

The lands we care for range from longleaf pine sandhills to hardwood forests to coastal marshes and wetlands. The properties are extremely important ecosystems that help reduce flooding, buffer storm surge, protect clean water, and provide a home to many endangered and threatened species, including the gopher tortoise, red-cockaded woodpecker, indigo snake, West Indian manatee, and the wood stork.

To manage NFLT’s growing portfolio, currently at 16,000 acres, our team creates and implements management plans for the diverse ecosystems on our nature preserves. We restore and maintain habitats using tools such as prescribed fire, large-scale longleaf planting, and the treatment of exotic and invasive species so native plants and wildlife can thrive. We also manage the conservation easements we hold by working with landowners to determine the best ways to care for the land, and we monitor each property to ensure these parcels remain natural for generations to come.

Protecting land is only part of the story. When appropriate, we also look for ways to connect people with these conserved places so they can experience the landscapes, wildlife, and waterways that make North Florida worth protecting. Preserved lands also provide opportunities for public recreation. At Bogey Creek Preserve, visitors can enjoy hiking trails through maritime hammock and pine-oak forests, a kayak landing on Clapboard Creek, a picnic area, and interpretive signs about the surrounding ecology. Visitors can also hike a portion of the Florida Trail through Smith Lake Preserve’s scenic sandhill landscape, where interpretive signs explain local habitats and North Florida conservation efforts. On Amelia Island you can visit Fort Clinch State Park and enjoy expansive views of salt marsh and maritime hammock along Egan’s Creek in our Thornton Family Preserve right next door.

Conservation land trusts operate in all 50 states, each focused on protecting the natural landscapes, resources, and wildlife habitats that define its region. Land trusts share a common purpose: to protect important natural places before they are lost to development. These efforts have a direct impact on our quality of life. In a future post, we’ll explore more of the ways conservation directly benefits you and your community.

You can help protect Florida’s natural spaces now by becoming an NFLT member. Your support directly funds land conservation, habitat care, stewardship, and daily operations, while giving you a closer look at the conservation work happening across North Florida.

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“We greatly appreciate the support from the Hoffmans and Delores Barr Weaver, both of whom have been a tremendous help to us and our mission,” said Allison DeFoor, president and CEO of NFLT. “This project was on our to-do list for a while, and thanks to our generous donors, our stewardship team was able to remove the fence that had become submerged in Smith Lake. Now the lake is safer for all.”

The cross-fencing on Smith Lake was built in the early 2000s for livestock grazing, when the land was privately owned and the lakebed had been exposed due to a severe drought. Over the years, the water levels naturally rose, submerging the fence and impeding the movement of aquatic species like fish, turtles, amphibians, and alligators, causing population imbalances and disrupting ecological processes.

The stewardship team brought in North Florida Dock Service to assist with removing just over 1.5 miles of mostly submerged fencing. Mini-excavators, skid steers, floating barges, and watercraft were used to remove the fence from the freshwater marsh habitat. The work was done with no impact on the surrounding environment. The fence removal restores natural migration, enhances the environmental balance, and ensures safe access to the lake.

Smith Lake Preserve is a 463-acre preserve in Clay County within the Ocala to Osceola (O2O) Wildlife Corridor, a 1.6-million-acre network of public and private lands that connects the Ocala and Osceola National Forests, a critical link within the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The preserve includes a portion of the Florida National Scenic Trail. NFLT obtained Smith Lake Preserve in 2019, and it serves as the headquarters of NFLT’s stewardship department.

About North Florida Land Trust

North Florida Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the quality of life by protecting North Florida’s irreplaceable natural environment. Founded in 1999, NFLT has preserved tens of thousands of acres of land through the donation or purchase of land as well as conservation easements.  NFLT is funded largely by private and corporate contributions and works closely with willing landowners and public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations.

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NFLT President and CEO Allison DeFoor was joined by Carol Saviak, FPL’s external affairs manager for North Florida, as they debuted the new signage at Smith Lake Preserve in Keystone Heights.

“We are extremely grateful to be here with our partners from FPL and are very thankful to have them support us with these signs,” said DeFoor. “FPL has a long history of involvement in this state. Carol and I both grew up in Florida, and protecting what is left of Florida resonates with us. We know it is now or never.”

“We are honored to join the North Florida Land Trust in revealing these exciting new interpretative signs for the preserve,” said Saviak. “Provided by NextEra Energy Foundation to align with our company’s environmental stewardship programs, this is a wonderful opportunity to share with others who may not be familiar with the flora and fauna in our state.”

Opened to the public in 2023, the Florida Trail runs for approximately 2.2 miles through Smith Lake Preserve and takes hikers through sandhill, scrub, marsh and oak hammock habitats. Signs at the trailhead kiosk explain NFLT’s mission to protect and preserve the natural landscape and ecosystems of North Florida and why conservation is so important. It also gives a history of Smith Lake Preserve. The kiosk was created in partnership with Eagle Scout William Allen, Scout Troop 26 from Jacksonville and the Florida Trail Association. Allen and his team helped build and install the structure.

Along the trail, the signs explain the habitats and wildlife throughout the preserve. Topics include the role of fire in maintaining an ecosystem, the increasingly rare sandhill habitat, a closer look at the Florida Scrub habitat, and exploring wet prairies and lake habitats. The signs showcase the birds found in Smith Lake Preserve, including the sandhill crane, great blue heron, little blue heron, anhinga, snowy egret, great egret, and robin. There is also a sign about the gopher tortoise, a keystone species found within the preserve, and which is protected under state law.

Smith Lake Preserve is a 463-acre preserve that NFLT obtained in 2019 and serves as the headquarters for NFLT’s stewardship department. It is within the Ocala to Osceola (O2O) Wildlife Corridor, a 1.6-million-acre network of public and private lands that connects the Ocala and Osceola National Forests, a critical link within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

About North Florida Land Trust

North Florida Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the quality of life by protecting North Florida’s irreplaceable natural environment. Founded in 1999, NFLT has preserved tens of thousands of acres of land through the donation or purchase of land as well as conservation easements.  NFLT is funded largely by private and corporate contributions and works closely with willing landowners and public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations.

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