With deadline approaching, preservation group raising money to save 14 acres of old Florida

Four long years into an effort to save a piece of old Florida from development, Tex Carter knows his way around the land.

• He can point out the largest gopher tortoise burrow, or take you down an overgrown path to a rare colony of Florida rosemary that, without dedicated land management, is dying slowly in the shade of an oak tree.

---

Why it matters: The nonprofit WK Preservation Group is just weeks away from a critical fundraising deadline in its bid to convert the parcel off West Klosterman Road just south of Tarpon Springs into a nature preserve.

• The odds of making it, according to Carter, the group's president: "Not good."

Driving the news: Under an agreement with Pinellas County, Carter's group has until Sept. 15 to raise $1.5 million toward the $3 million purchase price. County officials will pay the other half — if the nonprofit group holds up their end of the deal.

• The group was short about $500,000 as of last week.

Why they want to save it: The 14-acre parcel, known as the West Klosterman Preserve, represents less than 1% of original Florida scrub left in Pinellas County. The ecosystem is bursting with native and imperiled wildlife, including longleaf pines, gopher tortoises and giant air plants.

• The property shares a border with the 76-acre Mariner's Point Management Area, an area of coastal uplands preserved by the county.
• Together, they've "been part of one ecosystem forever," Carter said.

Some giant air plants. Photo: Kathryn Varn/Axios

Catch up quick: Pinellas County Schools has owned the land for decades but couldn't find a use for it. School board officials put it up for sale in 2020, and developers circled. The highest bid, Carter said, came in at $3.3 million to develop condominiums.

• 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.
• Twice, the group thought they'd secured state funding for the effort:
• A $3 million allocation in 2022 was axed in a veto by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Later that year, $2.5 million was lost after the governor let a grant program lapse .

Carter points out a gopher tortoise burrow on the property. Photo: Kathryn Varn/Axios

New hope came last year when Pinellas County commissioners partnered with the group to buy the land. By that point, the nonprofit had raised about $700,000 .

State of play: Under the agreement, the county would own and manage the land and add it to Mariner's Point.

• While that area has no public access, the deal leaves room for the county to turn the West Klosterman property into a passive-use park with walking trails, informational signs and benches.

What's next: The saga may not necessarily end at the Sept. 15 deadline.

• County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters told Axios the commission "will continue to work with them until they reach their goal."