Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson on Friday announced the permanent preservation of more than 2,200 acres of working agricultural land in Madison County through the state’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
The Kip Whaley Ranch, a 2,292-acre cattle and timber operation near the Aucilla River, will be permanently protected from future development under a rural lands protection easement. The easement allows agricultural operations to continue while ensuring the land cannot be converted to nonagricultural use.
“Every acre we preserve through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program strengthens Florida’s food security and protects our natural resources,” Simpson said in a statement. “By keeping working lands like Kip Whaley Ranch in private, productive agriculture, we’re investing in the long-term prosperity of our rural communities and ensuring that Florida agriculture endures for generations.”
The property consists of pasture and planted timber interspersed with forested wetlands and provides a riparian buffer to Rocky Creek, which runs through the southwest portion of the land. About two-thirds of the ranch overlaps with the Aucilla/Wacissa Watershed Florida Forever project, part of a broader conservation effort to protect connected natural landscapes across North Florida.
The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, created in 2001 under the Rural and Family Lands Protection Act, partners with landowners to preserve working agricultural properties through voluntary easements. The approach allows the state to purchase development rights while keeping land under private ownership and management.