St. Johns celebrates after Guana River land swap proposal is withdrawn
Bicycling at Guana Wildlife Management Area
A sunrise ride in the north end of Guana Wildlife Management Area.
- A proposed land swap involving 600 acres within the Guana River Wildlife Management Area has been withdrawn.
- The proposal faced significant public backlash and accusations of “misinformation” by the applicant, The Upland, LLC.
- Local officials and community members celebrated the withdrawal and reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the Guana Reserve.
St. Johns County’s Guana River Wildlife Management Area, which is a part of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, is safe.
Local leaders and government officials held a celebratory news conference May 20, thanking each other and the community for thwarting a proposal to swap 600 acres within the Guana Reserve for 3,000 acres of non-contiguous land scattered throughout St. Johns, Lafayette, Osceola and Volusia counties.
The Upland, LLC, the organization spearheading the swap, formally withdrew its application May 19 because of “public sentiment” and “misinformation.”
“While the applicant believes this 5-to-1 acre land swap would have been a net positive conservation benefit to the state of Florida, and the proposed swap represented .007% of the state lands at issue, the applicant is withdrawing the application due to public sentiment resulting from misinformation,” Tallahassee environmental law attorney Gary K. Hunter Jr., of the Holtzman Vogel law firm, wrote to Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Bryan Bradner. The letter wad first reported by Florida Politics and later provided to the USA TODAY Network – Florida.
“To be clear, there was never any intention to develop the acquired land for commercial or community development purposes,” Hunter added. “Rather, the swap would have resulted in additional acres for Florida land conservation. The applicant remains committed to preserving Florida’s natural habitat and supporting the State’s conservation efforts.”
Rumors of a high-end resort and golf course, born from an agenda item listed for discussion between Department of Environmental Protection and the Acquisition and Restoration Council scheduled for May 21 in Tallahassee, galvanized community outrage.
With less than a week to respond, anger led to an organized protest and a media onslaught that included Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s chief of state and longtime resident of northeast.
On May 20, state Rep. Kim Kendall, R-St. Augustine, congratulated everyone while committing herself to “button this down as hard as we can, which includes giving more notice than three business days.”
She also said that in a letter received by the applicant’s legal counsel, the applicant said they remain committed to preserving Florida’s natural habitat and supporting the state’s conservation efforts.
“In that regard we look forward to continued conversations on the preferred method of observing Florida’s conservation lands and how we may contribute to that critical goal,” she said.
Dylan Rumrell, mayor of the City of St. Augustine Beach, described the Guana Reserve as more than “what’s marked on a map.”
“I grew up fishing the headwaters of the Guana River,” he said. “I’ve paddled those quiet waters, watched the sunset over the marsh, and felt the pull of redfish on my line. It’s part of who I am — and part of who we are as a community.”
Rumrell acknowledged that the developer didn’t rescind his application “by accident.”
“It happened because people stood up,” he said. “Neighbors, conservationists, community leaders like Katie Wiles and national leaders like Susie Wiles and Byron Donalds. You reminded everyone that this land is not just important, it’s worth protecting. It’s a vital habitat for countless species. It helps protect our waters, our wildlife, and our way of life. If we had let it be developed, we wouldn’t just lose trees and wetlands — we’d lose part of what makes this part of Florida so special.”
Rumrell encouraged everyone to keep showing up and speaking up.
“Many of you know the book ‘A Land Remembered,’ the story of a Florida that once was wild, untamed, and full of life. If we’re not careful, we’ll write the sequel — A Land Forgotten. Let’s not let that happen.”
St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline expressed pride to everyone “who made their voices heard.”
“In June of 2017, the City of St. Augustine and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to incorporate portions of the city’s submerged lands as buffer lands within the GTMNERR boundary to provide continuity in science-based management of the Reserve’s coastal resources,” she said. “This effort was in support of the Reserve’s mission to preserve, protect, develop and, where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the nation’s coastal zone.
“And while we, the City of St. Augustine and the surrounding region in St. Johns County, benefit immeasurably from the Guana River WMA as an outstanding and intact coastal ecosystem, we also recognize this area as an invaluable resource for education, research and responsible outdoor recreation; not to mention that it is home to several resources of historic and pre-historic significance.”
With the environmental integrity of the ecologically sensitive and irreplaceable natural areas now “spared,” Kline urged everyone to “continue to uphold the mission of preserving this area and protecting its natural wonders.”
“Today’s call to action has turned into a celebration of what can be accomplished when people gather together with one voice and say no,” St. Johns County Commissioner Clay Murphy said. “When you look at the heart of this ecosystem, Guana, Matanzas, St. Johns, you realize that it must be protected.”
Murphy underscored the importance of “never letting our guard down.”
County Commissioner Ann Taylor spoke to the “passion, dedication, and unwavering voices of the people of St. Johns County.”
“Your calls, your emails, your presence, your voices – they were heard loud and clear, and they made all the difference,” she said.
Taylor thanked Audubon Florida, Save Guana Now, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Susie Wiles, Kendall and Congressman John Rutherford for publicly opposing the proposal.
“Your influential voices were invaluable in protecting our cherished Guana,” she said. “Let this victory serve as a wakeup call. We must ensure that our public lands are managed with the utmost transparency and that the promise of ‘forever wild’ is truly upheld.”
Commissioner Sarah Arnold didn’t mince words.
“To everyone listening, especially in Tallahassee, I hope you’re keeping score,” she said. “St. Johns County is two for two. I’d think long and hard before coming for us a third time.”
Commissioner Christian Whitehurst underscored the county’s efforts to conserve land through LAMP (Land Acquisition Management Program) grants, the state’s Rural and Family Lands Program and Live Wildly.
“Anyone paying attention should know that we’re not only in favor of conservation but also completely opposed to developing within our existing conservation lands,” he said.
‘An outrageous betrayal of the public trust’
The Guana Tolomato Matanzas Reserve, one of 30 areas in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, is protected for research, water-quality monitoring, education and coastal stewardship. The area is described by many environmentalists as prized, delicate and pristine. Managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection with assistance from local organizations, the Guana River Wildlife Management Area offers public access for fishing, hunting, hiking, paddling, trail hiking, kayaking, beach access and wildlife viewing.
The proposed exchange of lands, which would have removed 600 acres from Guana River Preserve, blindsided the public and conservation advocates.
Brent Fannin from the Wild Florida Alliance described the “conservation” deal as a developer’s dream cloaked in greenwashing.
“Trading away irreplaceable, intact conservation land in a coastal wildlife preserve for fragmented scraps of unknown origin is an outrageous betrayal of the public trust,” he said in a news release. “The Guana River Wildlife Management Area is a crown jewel of Florida’s public lands — home to gopher tortoises, bald eagles, and other imperiled species, as well as a treasured recreational destination for hikers, hunters, birders, and families. Florida taxpayers have invested millions over the past 30 years to preserve and restore this vital habitat. Now, the state may trade it away.”
While the swap was touted to increase Florida’s Wildlife Corridor by over 2,000 acres by the applicant, Fannin underscored the undefined parcels as lacking “ecological connectivity, consistent conservation value, or clear ownership transparency.”
“The applicant, The Upland LLC, cannot even be located in Florida’s public business registry,” he said.
Fannin was not alone in his assessment. The Florida Wildlife Federation issued a statement that said The Guana River WMA parcel delegated for the switch contains rare and threatened coastal habitats — maritime hammock, mesic flatwoods, salt marsh — critical to biodiversity and climate resilience.
“You can’t swap 600 acres of coastal lands for thousands of fragmented inland parcels and pretend it’s a ‘win,’ the federation said.
‘Crown jewels of our land acquisition program’
Former Commissioner Henry Dean, who was on site in 1984 when the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve was purchased by Florida taxpayers under the Conservation and Recreation Lands program, told the St. Augustine Record that the land was slated to be protected forever.
“Gov. Bob Graham, who oversaw the 1984 purchase, described the area as one of the ‘crown jewels of our land acquisition program in the state of Florida,’” he said. “Development was never in question.”
In a news release, Clay Henderson an environmental lawyer, author, conservationist and former president of the Florida Audubon Society, wrote that two years ago, ARC approved the management plan for Guana River with this statement of purpose:
“It is unusual for a single proposed project area to combine such a diversity of valuable natural, cultural, and recreational resources. These include: (1) excellent ocean-front beach with high dunes stabilized by natural vegetation; (2) an unusually extensive natural area of undisturbed Atlantic coastal strand (scrub) vegetation; (3) extensive maritime hammock containing an unusual natural association of mature trees; (4) extensive estuarine wetlands (marsh); (5) extensive areas of pine flatwoods; (6) bird rookeries, including a sizable population of the endangered wood stork; and (7) extensive aboriginal middens, aboriginal burial mounds, and artifacts of aboriginal and Spanish colonial (origin).”
“Per the management plan approved by ARC just two years ago, ‘It is unusual for a single proposed project area to combine such a diversity of valuable natural, cultural, and recreational resources,'” he wrote.
Dean said that Florida, which leads the nation in conservation lands acquisition and conservation, cares deeply about its state parks and conservation areas.
“Florida has a very long and successful history, more so probably than the federal government in the last 70 years, of buying beautiful pristine forests and marshes up the coast and down the interior,” he said. “Ask anyone: Florida is way ahead of the curve. It would be a shame to lose any of that to development.”
Information from James Call of the USA Today Network-Florida was used in this report.
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