CFRPC, in partnership with Archbold Biological Station, identified areas where potential development may occur within Florida Wildlife Corridor Opportunity Areas across the Heartland counties of DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Okeechobee, and Polk. The pilot project focused specifically on potential residential development, reflecting the region’s greatest development pressure. The study served as a model for similar work completed statewide.
Key Details:
The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act became effective July 1, 2021.
The Corridor extends from the Everglades to Georgia, and west to Alabama.
It helps ensure Florida’s wildlife populations and critical natural resources remain connected and protected.
The Corridor was developed to create incentives for sustaining and conserving green infrastructure.
Florida has nearly 18 million acres within the Corridor, with 46% identified as Opportunity Areas (areas not yet conserved).
Data Collection included:
County parcel data
Generalized Future Land Use
Land suitability
Existing infrastructure relevant to future development
Building permits
Local government zoning data
Development entitlements
Study Findings
The study identified vacant parcels with land use characteristics supportive of future residential development and pinpointed locations where higher concentrations of potentially developable parcels occur within critical, not-yet-conserved areas of the Corridor. Residential building permit data was mapped and compared against these identified high-growth areas.
View the Statewide study findings: https://archbold-open-data-archbold.hub.arcgis.com