Mission to save 14 acres of old Florida hits fundraising goal

State of play: The $1.5 million raised by the resident-formed nonprofit WK Preservation Group will go toward the $3 million asking price to buy the land.

• The other half will come from Pinellas County, which will buy and manage the land. It will join the adjacent 76-acre Mariner's Point Management Area, a pocket of coastal uplands preserved by the county.

Catch up quick: This week's milestone ends a more than four-year preservation effort. The land represents less than 1% of the original Florida scrub left in Pinellas County.

• It's been owned for decades by the School Board, which couldn't find a use for it. Officials put it up for sale in 2020, and developers circled.
• The highest bid came in at $3.3 million to develop condos, group president Tex Carter previously told Axios.
• As word spread, residents organized and approached the school board, which eventually agreed to give them time to raise $3 million to buy the land themselves.

• Then, in 2023, the county stepped in, offering to split the purchase price, using money from a one-cent sales tax known as Penny for Pinellas.

What's next: The land sale has a closing date of April 19, but county parks and conservation resources director Paul Cozzie told Axios it likely won't take that long.

• The preserve will be considered a management area, which means it's managed to benefit the flora and fauna and won't be open to the general public.
• But officials may explore occasionally opening the preserve to volunteers, he said.