Agreement Concludes Nearly 20 Years of Effort
Forest Systems announced today that it has completed the sale of a conservation easement on a sensitive, 32,000-acre swamp in Northern Florida to the Suwannee River Water Management District for $13.6 million.
The easement concludes nearly 20 years of effort by private and public conservation organizations to protect the California Swamp, a dense, thickly wooded wetland teeming with wildlife and unique plant species. The transaction was completed with the assistance of The Conservation Fund, a national, non-profit, land protection organization based in Arlington, Virginia.
"Our goal is to optimize the long-term, financial performance of the forests we manage," said Richard Smith, president of Forest Systems. "Growing and selling timber is a core part of our business, but finding creative ways to protect and realize other forest values, like a property's sensitive conservation attributes, also is an important element of the equation. This transaction demonstrates how investment oriented forestland owners can practice innovative stewardship."
Richard Rocco, land acquisition coordinator for the Suwannee River Water Management District, a state agency responsible for managing water resources in Northern Florida, said his organization wished to protect the swamp for its attributes as a freshwater filtration basin for the Lower Suwannee watershed.
"With more than 16,600 acres of wetlands, open water and watershed benefits, this is one of the most sensitive conservation easements we have ever completed," said Rocco
Forest Systems acquired the swamp in 1999 from the Packaging Corporation of America. The State of Florida first identified it as a conservation priority in the 1970s. However, subsequent efforts by public and private agencies to acquire the land and to place it under conservation restriction were unsuccessful, largely because the local community preferred to see the land remain in private ownership to preserve its multiple use status.
"The use of a conservation easement allowed us to balance competing land use priorities while preserving our ability to conduct forestry operations," said Scott Griffin, southern region manager for Forest Systems. "In our view, an easement was the only way this land was ever going to be protected. The Suwannee River Water Management District understood this and they worked hard to craft an agreement that should serve as a model for other owners of private forestland who are faced with similar pressures."
Smith said the easement was negotiated over the course of a year. He praised The Conservation Fund for helping to facilitate the transaction. He said the fund's officials educated Forest Systems about the swamp's conservation values and history prior to the company's acquisition of the property, and then arranged and supported discussions between its representatives and officials of the water management district.
"Forest Systems was committed to finding a solution that would protect the California Swamp and, at the same time, benefit its shareholders and the community. Conservation easements, like this one, provide a workable option for the protection of large ecosystems. This project is an example of the 'new conservation' that integrates economic and environmental goals. Everybody wins," said Patrick F. Noonan, chairman of The Conservation Fund."
The California Swamp drains into the Suwannee River system. Its mosaic of large, hardwood timber stands, which are heavily populated with bald cypress, hickory, water oak, laurel oak, swamp tupelo, sweetbay and sweet gum, serve as a filtration system for the river. Portions of the swamp, which straddles the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, also provide important habitat for rare plants and unique wildlife.
The area is home to many bird species, including the swallow-tailed kite, short-tailed hawk and turkey, as well as numerous wading birds, like the ibis, cormorant, kingfisher and various species of heron and egret. Large mammals, such as the white-tailed deer, black bear, bobcat, gray fox and gulf salt marsh mink also inhabit the swamp, as do various reptiles and amphibians, including the American alligator, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake, water moccasin and numerous species of turtles.
A conservation easement is a legal instrument that allows one to sell a sub-set of one's "bundle of rights" as a landowner to a private or public conservation entity. The landowner retains the remainder of those rights as well as the underlying ownership of the land. In this case, Forest Systems sold the right to develop land within the California Swamp on behalf of its investors. It also sold the land's mineral rights, oil and gas rights, and the right to harvest hardwood timber.
Forest Systems is an investment focused forest management company that acquires and operates forests on behalf of large investors. It was founded in 1998 and its long-term strategy is to form a forest operating company that will make forest ownership opportunities available to a broader array of value oriented investors, including individuals. The firm's national office is located in North Easton, Massachusetts. It currently oversees more than 350,000 acres of forestland nationwide.