Florida Supreme Court justices are urged to weigh environmental funding

Share
Florida Wildlife Corridor
Properties in nine Florida counties will be added to the Florida Wildlife Corridor. Photo by Carlton Ward Jr / CarltonWard.com. Used by WMNF with permission

©2024 The News Service of Florida

Environmental groups Thursday urged the Florida Supreme Court to take up a long-running legal battle over state conservation funding.

Attorneys for the groups filed a brief arguing the 1st District Court of Appeal erred in February when it upheld the dismissal of the case, which stems from a 2014 constitutional amendment that requires setting aside a portion of real-estate documentary stamp tax revenues for conservation efforts.

Environmental groups said the money, which is put in what is known as the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, is supposed to go to buying and managing additional property and have contended in the case that the state improperly diverted money to other expenses.

The allegations involve state budget decisions for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

In February’s ruling, a three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed with a 2022 decision by Leon County Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh that the case had become moot.

“Key to our analysis is the narrow scope within which the plaintiffs consistently framed their claims,” the appeals court ruling said. “They alone controlled their pleadings, and they challenged only the validity of specific 2015-16 appropriations, asking the trial court to order those funds returned to the LATF (Land Acquisition Trust Fund). Once those appropriations were completed or reverted and the fiscal year ended, however, no remedy remained within reach of the active complaint as pleaded, through no fault of the defendants. The claims were moot.”

But in the brief Thursday at the Supreme Court, attorneys for the environmental groups disputed that the issues are moot.

In part, the brief said the “appropriations recur every year including in the 2024 legislative session that just concluded.”

The groups are the Florida Wildlife Federation, St. Johns Riverkeeper, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the Sierra Club.

You may also like

Indigenous Peoples Day, economy of nations and human rights

The upcoming election will show who is energized and who...

Flooding continues in Tampa Bay days after Hurricane Milton landfall

Listen: Dangerous flooding continued to inundate Tampa Bay well after...

The Scoop: Mon. Oct. 14th, 2024, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

The latest information on Hurricane Milton recovery.

Black architecture, history and power

The historical importance of the builders is on topic as...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Excellent Zest
Player position: