The Guana Wildlife Management Area is a state-owned conservation area north of St. Augustine where visitors can walk on paths and enjoy the great outdoors, but also hunt for waterfowl. | Flickr, Justin Ellenberger
Published on May 15, 2025 at 1:28 pm
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A state committee next week is set to discuss swapping a 600-acre plot of conservation land in the state-owned Guana River Wildlife Management Area north of St. Augustine in exchange for non-contiguous parcels of land across the state, at the request of a developer.
If the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Acquisition and Restoration Council approves the trade of those 600 acres for five times as many acres of conservation land elsewhere, the governor’s office will have to sign off on letting Upland LLC take over the currently protected land.
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Public notice of the May 21 meeting shocked local environmentalists like Chris Farrell. He works as the Northeast Florida policy associate for the National Audubon Society, the bird conservation nonprofit.
Ferrell says developing within the wildlife management area would be disastrous for animals that call it home as well as the ones who live on nearby sensitive lands and waterways.
“This land in particular is part of connected pieces of public land along the coast that provide a very important bit of preserved coastal habitat here in Northeast Florida,” Ferrell says. “And this development would just cut a huge swath right through the middle, separating conservation land to the east and west, and would create many problems in the management.”
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Some of that conservation land to the west is the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. The reserve is made up of more than 75,000 acres of conservation land running from Ponte Vedra to Palm Coast and is where scientists research everything from water quality to native species.
DaleAnn Viger is executive director of the Friends of GTM, the nonprofit that supports the research reserve. She says she and her board were blindsided by the news of the land swap and strongly oppose it.
“This proposal undermines more than three decades of investment, research and stewardship,” Viger says. “The lands in question are not surplus — they are integral to the health and function of one of Florida’s most ecologically significant estuarine systems.”
“Development adjacent to these protected lands would fragment habitats, increase pollution, threaten biodiversity and hinder the reserve’s ability to manage the ecosystems,” she says.
The proposal
The 600 acres that the state may give up are part of the Guana Wildlife Management Area near State Road A1A in St. Johns County.
Wildlife management areas are like state parks with fewer regulations. The state still oversees the land, but uses like hunting are allowed.
In exchange for the 600 acres of public land, applicant Upland LLC is offering 3,000 acres of land across Florida. That includes 220 acres elsewhere in St. Johns County, about 1,400 acres in the forests of Lafayette County and 250 acres adjacent to the Volusia County Conservation Corridor.
“Even though it might look enticing to get a larger number of acres in a few other places, it’s not really, considering the value of this specific property and the investment we’ve had over the years,” Ferrell says.
As for who’s behind the proposal?
In order for the state to deem the land in the wildlife management area no longer in need of conservation, an applicant must own land adjacent to the state’s land. Only one entity does: New Outpost LLC.
New Outpost bought the parcel from a subsidiary of Jacksonville’s Gate Petroleum, Ponte Vedra Corp., which was at the center of a controversial development proposal for the property several years ago.
Gate President John Peyton tells Jacksonville Today they have since sold the land and are “absolutely not involved” in the currently proposed land swap.
Gate founder Herbert Hill Peyton sold a chunk of the land that makes up Guana to the state in the 1980s. In a statement to Jacksonville Today, the elder Peyton said he opposes the plan.
“Guana State Park is the finest land in Northeast Florida and no portion should be sold, swapped or developed,” he said. “This land belongs to the people of Florida and should be preserved forever.”
What could be developed?
Very little information is available about what could potentially be built in the Guana Wildlife Management Area. The applicant’s paperwork says “a majority of the wetland habitats will be avoided to ensure they are under conservation in perpetuity.”
With so little information publicly available and a hearing announced with only a week’s notice, Audubon’s Ferrell says he’s reminded of last year when the Department of Environmental Protection, under the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, proposed to develop golf courses and lodges in state parks, including Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine. That proposal died amid loud public outcry.
GTM’s Viger says, “We ask all those who care about Florida’s wild places to raise their voices. This is a critical moment to stand for science, transparency and the public good.”
The state’s Acquisition and Restoration Council meets at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21 in Conference Room 137 of the Department of Environmental Protection’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building, 3900 Commonwealth Blvd., Tallahassee.
More information about the meeting, including a sign-up for digital access.
This story was updated on May 15, 2025, with a statement from Gate Petroleum founder Herbert Hill Peyton.
