Earlier this year, a plan emerged that could have resulted in the State of Florida trading 600 acres of protected land near Ponte Vedra Beach to a private company in exchange for scattered plots around the state.

The company proposing the land swap backed out after widespread protest, but, had it gone through, that land in the Guana Wildlife Management Area could have been paved over.

Now, Florida Rep. Kim Kendall, R-St. Augustine, is pushing for protected lands to have one extra layer of defense.

“In short, it’s going to give more transparency, more notice and more clarification,” Kendall tells Jacksonville Today. 

She and Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, filed HB 441 last week. The bill proposes changes to the state’s rules surrounding when a private company or individual can propose a land swap with the state.

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If it passes:

• The Florida Department of Environmental Protection would have to give 30 days notice ahead of a public meeting about a potential land swap. Right now, the state only requires seven days’ notice.
• The state would have to provide a statement explaining why conservation land that could be traded to a private entity is no longer in need of conservation.
• The state would also have to provide information about how much land would be developed and how much would be maintained as conservation land after the trade.

Kendall says these changes came about not just because of the brief window between when the Guana land swap became public knowledge and when a state board was set to vote on it, but because of the lack of information that was available, too.

In May, when public outcry against the land swap began, Kendall reached out to a representative of Upland LLC, the company that sought to obtain the 600 acres of conservation land. She was unable to speak with anyone there, and beyond rumors, no information has come to light about the people behind the company or their plans.

“These are public lands, public tax dollars,” Kendall said. “If it’s great for the state, you should have no issues showing us what a wonderful deal this is.”

Land swap legislation

Opposition to the Guana land swap was bipartisan — local environmentalists and elected officials across political parties opposed the move, as did politicians on the national level, like President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. 

Likewise, the bill’s backers are diverse. Along with Kendall and Tant, the House bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. The Senate companion to the bill, SB 546, is sponsored by Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne.

Kendall says she doesn’t see why the bill wouldn’t garner bipartisan support in the Legislature. 

“I will be surprised if we don’t pick up every single vote,” she said. “I care about all my bills, but this is the most important bill to me.”

Still, Kendall acknowledged that the Legislature hasn’t always made decisions in the best interest of local governance. 

Local elected officials have voiced their opposition to last year’s SB 180, a disaster recovery bill that included language that has constrained decision making on development matters at the municipal level.

Kendall voted for that bill at the time, but she says she supports altering it to remove parts that she says take away local decision-making powers.

“It appears that there has been a shift where we’re losing our local control,” Kendall said. “The state shouldn’t be coming in so many of the areas that they. There’s reasons we have elected officials at every single level.”

Kendall’s bill is one of many that legislators will vote on when they convene in Tallahassee for the 2026 legislative session that kicks off Tuesday, Jan. 13.