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DEP Holds Meeting On State Land Sales, Including Cottage Hill Forest
October 1, 2013
The Florida Florida Department of Environmental Protection held the first of four statewide meetings in Pensacola last night on the proposed sale of thousands of acres of state lands.
In Escambia County, the state may look to sell the Cottage Hill State Forest and 3.4 acres of the Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park. In Santa Rosa County, and 4.8 acres of the Blackwater Heritage State Trail and the 20 acre Gillis Road Track could be put on the market.
There are 4,235 acres still up for potential sale at 47 sites across the state. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will hold additional workshops in Fort Myers (Oct. 3), Viera (Oct. 
and Orlando (Oct. 9) as the state looks to sell some parcels of publicly held land to raise up to $50 million for future land-conservation efforts. The money from any sale will be combined with $20 million that lawmakers included in the budget for the purchase of land to protect springs, water quality, water quantity or to serve as buffers for military bases.
In North Escambia, the Cottage Hill State Forest is located in the Cottage Hill Community north of Cantonment. The forest has no public road frontage, but is in the area bounded by McKenzie Road, Chavers Road, Williams Ditch Road and Highway 95A. About 24 acres of the site is uplands, while 4.7 acres is flood plain and wetlands.
University of Florida/IFAS Extension Dean Nick Place made a three-part final recommendation in July for Escambia County 4-H. Following the sale of the Langley Bell 4-H Center to Navy Federal Credit Union, Place was tasked with deciding a future location or locations for the 4-H program. His proposal included the Cottage Hill State Forest for environmental and horticultural sciences, outdoor education, forestry and other 4-H activities. [Read more...] According to a task force report, the state was willing to deed the property to Escambia County at no cost, while the state would continue to maintain fire breaks on the property.
Pictured: The Cottage Hill State Forest as shown on a Florida DEP map.
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