The following article appeared in the Venice Gondolier on October 21, 2026:
As a teen in the mid-1970s, I would eagerly await my father bringing home last year’s REDI maps. REDI maps were large quarter-section aerial photographs that covered all of Sarasota County.
They were updated every other year, and I would take the older aerials and lay them out over the living room floor (now Roessler’s Restaurant dining room) and scout for undeveloped areas for hunting.
After looking at these aerials through the 1970s and ‘80s, it became clear to me that the undeveloped areas of Sarasota County were rapidly disappearing, and that within my lifetime there would be no undeveloped land remaining except in preserves.
This sobering realization motivated me and a small group of community leaders to create an environmental lands protection program that could get ahead of the development curve and offer landowners a conservation alternative to selling their lands for subdivisions and shopping malls.
In 1999, Sarasota County voters overwhelmingly approved the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program. The program would use a small portion of property taxes to acquire, preserve, and maintain open space and environmentally sensitive lands for future generations.
Twenty-seven years later, the environmental lands program has earned the reputation of being one of the most trusted initiatives in Sarasota County. The program undergoes annual audits, properties are evaluated by a citizen advisory committee, and all purchases are made with an open, transparent vote by the county commission.
This critical environmentally sensitive land preservation program is up for reauthorization, and your “Yes/Yes” vote of approval on both of the last two questions on your November 3 ballot can make it happen.
Environmentally sensitive lands and parks are essential infrastructure and just as vital as roads, libraries, or utilities. During storm events, conservation lands store large volumes of stormwater that would otherwise flood homes and businesses.
These lands retain the water, allowing it to slowly filter over natural landscapes before reaching the bay. This natural purification reduces pollutants and nutrients that feed Red Tide. Think of conservation lands as a giant natural water treatment facility that works without a monthly utility bill.
Sarasota’s economy and nature are inseparable. Healthy waterways, wildlife, and nature-based recreational activities contribute a significant share of Sarasota County’s $3.6 billion in tourism economic impact.
Imagine if the voters had not approved past bond referendums beginning in 1952 to purchase Siesta, Nokomis, and Manasota Key beaches. Followed by referendums that created Caspersen (Venice) and Palmer Point (Osprey), and South Lido beaches. Without these voter-approved referenda, Sarasota County would have no public beach system!
If you have read “A Land Remembered,” the award-winning historical novel by Patrick D. Smith, you’re aware that cattle, agriculture, and land conservation shaped Florida’s history. That history is still alive in Sarasota County, but it too will be lost if we continue to convert our heritage ranches into ever-sprawling suburban development.
Conservation easements have protected 22,000 of the 42,000 acres of land preserved by the environmental lands program. The conservation easements preserve both natural resources and the agricultural heritage of Sarasota’s legacy ranches.
The county’s environmental lands program is voluntary and only negotiates with willing sellers. It adds choices to the marketplace that benefit sellers and the community. While features such as wetlands, floodplains, and endangered species may make properties less attractive to developers, they are assets to the environmental lands program and, when preserved, provide a significant public benefit.
The environmental lands program also purchases land within urban areas to create neighborhood parks. The park now known as Red Bug Slough had been approved for over a hundred condominium units, and the developer was ready to bulldoze and build.
But because voters had approved the environmental lands program, the county was able to save that land from development and created one of the most beloved parks in the region.
The second, and last, question on your ballot enables the county to bond future revenues approved by the first question so that we can save the land now. The demand to develop Sarasota’s last remaining open spaces is insatiable.
If we don’t act now, the opportunity will be lost and lost forever. Time is of the essence. Bonding also spreads the cost over many years so that future residents will also pay their fair share in protecting the parks that they, too, will benefit from.
Vote “yes” to approve bonding to purchase environmental lands before it’s too late.
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