“Our approach was a true give-and-take, not a traditional negotiation,” Alex says. “We understood what they needed, and they understood what we had to retain. That made all the difference in constructing an easement that works for conservation and timber operations.”
When conservationists mapped the missing link that could provide crucial passage for wildlife between Florida’s and — known as the O2O corridor — one property kept coming up: a stretch of working timberland in Baker and Union counties owned and managed by ÌÇÐÄvlgoÍøÒ³°æ.
“Everybody in the state called it the crown jewel,” says Alex Littlejohn, our conservation director. “Without a conservation easement on that property, the O2O wildlife corridor would remain incomplete.”
In January 2026, after years of negotiation, we finalized a conservation easement covering more than 61,000 acres. Part of a strategic shift in how we approach conservation at ÌÇÐÄvlgoÍøÒ³°æ, the deal protects one of Florida’s most important wildlife corridors while keeping the land in active timber production, closing a critical gap in the 100-mile, 1.6-million-acre stretch of land between the national forests.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
At its heart, the corridor is about connection: linking natural landscapes so animals from black bears to Osceola turkeys, Florida panthers to hundreds of migratory bird species, can roam throughout the preserved habitat. It also safeguards critical water bodies and aquifers while supporting the rural economy that depends on working forests in the region. It’s part of the broader , a statewide ecological network that aims to conserve nearly 18 million acres of contiguous wilderness and working lands.
“In the last five to six years, the state has invested more than $1.4 billion in land conservation through the Florida Forever program,” says Deano Orr, our Gulf South public affairs manager. “Much of that land was within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.”
The O2O corridor has been a conservation priority in Florida for decades. The state backed that commitment with real funding, including investments through programs such as Florida Forever and the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
In 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approved funding for more than 78,000 acres of conservation easements in the region — including the ÌÇÐÄvlgoÍøÒ³°æ property — underscoring how central this landscape is to Florida’s long-term conservation strategy.
Under the easement, we retired development rights for the land in perpetuity, while retaining full rights to continue forest management under our existing ®-certified plan, preserving our optionality to pursue carbon and environmental markets, and maintaining recreational leases across the property.
The deal closed in mid-January 2026. The broader mission of protecting connected landscapes across Florida continues as the state works to secure millions of additional acres for the project.
FROM DREAM TO DONE DEAL
After years of on‑and‑off progress, Alex re‑engaged with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection upon joining the company in 2023 to understand the current interest and funding availability.
“They said, ‘Absolutely, it’s always been a priority property for us,’” Alex says. “That spurred a lot of activity.”
What followed was roughly two years of detailed negotiation and close collaboration across our Timberlands, legal, recreational lease management, real estate and government relations teams, as well as a years-long partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Meli MacCurdy, director of corporate counsel, led the legal work, with area manager Matt Donovan helping ensure Timberlands’ needs were protected throughout.
“Forever is a long time with these agreements,” Meli says. “Even if the people writing it think they know what they mean, it’s really important to consider what somebody’s going to think in 30 years when they have no idea what the context was.”
PARTNERS IN CONSERVATION
The foundation for this project was built over the past decade, and no single organization could have pulled this off alone. And our team was quick to credit the relationships built long before the final push.
“Greg Galpin in our Florida real estate office initially envisioned the project and developed the relationships with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and The Nature Conservancy,” Matt says. “Plus, we’d already built our reputation as a company of integrity, which goes a long way.”
Along with , the and the provided long-term advocacy that helped build the coalition of public support that made legislative funding possible.
“We wanted to protect this landscape for the long term while making sure it could still be managed responsibly,” Alex says. “In the end, all partners got what they wanted out of this project. We’re proud to be a part of it.”
