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Record Group Number: 000500
Series/Collection Number: .S 1621
Creator: Florida. Dept. of Natural Resources.  --Office of Land Use Planning and Biological Services.  --Land Acquisition and Planning Section.
Title, Dates: Conservation and Recreation Lands project proposal and land acquisition files, 1972-1990.
Amount: 40.00 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: Organized into two main sequences of project files. Numerical by agency-assigned project number.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:     The Dept. of Natural Resources was created in 1969 (Ch. 69-106, Laws), combining the functions of the State Board of Conservation; the Canal Authority; the Commission on Marine Sciences and Technology; the Florida Keys Aqueduct Commission; the Board of Parks and Historic Memorials; the Outdoor Recreational Development Council; the Board of Drainage Commissioners; and the Suwannee River Development Authority.  In 1975, the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund also became part of the Dept. of Natural Resources (Ch. 75-22, Laws).

    The Department was responsible for the administration, supervision, development, and conservation of the natural resources of Florida.  The Governor and Cabinet headed the Department and appointed an Executive Director who managed the Department. The 1993 Legislature combined the Dept. of Environmental Regulation with the Dept. of Natural Resources into a new Dept. of Environmental Protection (Ch. 93-213, Laws).

    The Conservation and Recreation Lands (C.A.R.L.) Trust Fund and the Division of State Lands were established within the Department of Natural Resources in 1979 (79-255, Laws).  The CARL program incorporated the 1972 Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) program.  CARL's purposes were to: 1) conserve lands containing "naturally occurring and relatively unaltered flora and fauna," "habitat critical to, or providing significant protection for, endangered or threatened species of plant or animal," or "an unusual, outstanding, or unique geologic feature;"  and  2) acquire other lands in the public interest, for instance to enhance or protect water quality or quantity or to protect fish or wildlife habitat, to restore altered ecosystems or correct environmental damage, to preserve significant archeological or historic sites, or for state parks, public beaches, or other recreational uses.

    CARL is administered by three entities:  1) the Land Acquisition Advisory Council (LAAC), which evaluates, selects, and ranks state land acquisition projects for CARL's priority list;  2) Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (Governor and Cabinet), which approves, in whole or in part, the LAAC's ranked list of land acquisition projects (the Board can delete projects, but it cannot add to or change the ranking of the priority list), allocates funds from the CARL Trust Fund, and oversees land leases and management plans and administers program rules;  and  3) the Division of State Lands of the Department of Environmental Protection, which provides primary staff support for CARL projects and administration, including negotiation of land purchases.

Summary:     This series comprises the central file documenting the land acquisition projects and activities connected with the Conservation and Recreation Lands program, in which the State of Florida purchases endangered or environmentally damaged areas for use as natural resource preserves and/or recreation areas.  CARL is the successor program to the Environmentally Endangered Lands (E.E.L.) Program, and many incomplete or abandoned EEL projects are revisited as CARL project proposals in these files.

    The files include correspondence and memoranda of the Department of Natural Resources, including its Division of State Lands, Bureau of Land Acquisition, and its Division of Recreation and Parks, Bureau of Park Lands and Development, as well as other department offices and other state agencies.  Also included in the series are land acquisition project proposals and summaries; project evaluations; land surveys and deeds; leases; maps; and photographs of endangered or damaged lands under consideration for acquisition.

    The bulk of the files are project case files arranged by project number.  There are two sets of sequentially-arranged files with some projects appearing in both sets of files, as well as a small set of oversize files at the end of the series, so researchers should check the entire container list for references to any specific projects.

Finding Aids:
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials: Series S1620, Environmentally Endangered Lands (E.E.L.) Project Proposal and Land Acquisition Files, documents projects that were part of the predecessor program to the C.A.R.L. program.
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Florida. Conservation and Recreation Lands Program.
Florida. Division of State Lands.  --Bureau of Land Acquisition
Florida. Division of State Lands.  --Bureau of Park Lands and Development
Florida. Division of Recreation and Parks.
Land use Florida
Land use Planning
Conservation of natural resources Florida
Conservation projects (Natural resources)
Environmental policy Florida
Natural resource management areas Florida
Natural resources conservation areas Florida
Natural resources Florida
Nature conservation Florida
Government purchasing of real property Florida
Land surveys. aat
Added Entries Florida. Conservation and Recreation Lands Program.
Florida. Division of State Lands.  --Bureau of Land Acquisition
Florida. Division of State Lands.  --Bureau of Park Lands and Development
Florida. Division of Recreation and Parks.