Gainswave Therapy in The Acreage, FL

Introduction

Driving across Central Florida, one might notice a vast landscape dotted by citrus plants and other trees native to the state. These two goods are the primary resources utilized by large Florida-based companies. In fact, the largest landowners in the state of Florida mainly deal in timberland management and agriculture. On the other hand, some large landowners in Florida engage in real estate, insurance, and the production of biofuel. Overall, much of Florida’s land is privately owned by companies and families committed to producing the best products and services for their customers. Discover the 11 largest landowners in Florida and determine how many acres of Florida land they own.

Seven Facts About Land in Florida

1) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – 673,000 acres

The Church’s total land owning in Florida has been disputed. It is known that the church purchased around 382,000 acres of land from St. Joe Company nearly a decade ago. At the same time, others believe the total amount to be 678,000 acres, according to the World Population Review. Another estimate approximates that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns nearly 2% of the state’s entire landmass, amounting to 672,834 acres. If this estimate is true, the Church would be the largest private landowner in Florida. Thus, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes the number one spot on the list of Florida’s largest landowners.

2) Foley Timber and Land Company – 562,000 acres

Founded in 1994, Foley Timber and Land Company supply various lumber and home improvement products. The company harvests an abundance of timber yearly, often exceeding one million tons. The headquarters of Foley Timber and Land Company are in Perry, Florida. Although ranking number two on the list of Florida’s largest landowners, Foley owns the largest connected parcel of land in the state. The parcel of land is also one of the largest east of the Mississippi River. The company owns 562,000 acres of land in the state of Florida.

3) Plum Creek Timber – 415,000 acres

Plum Creek Timber was a company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, before its merger with Weyerhaeuser in 2016. The company produced lumber products and managed property development and mining. Plum Creek Timber first established itself in the state of Florida in 2001. Plum Creek Timber owned land across 22 counties in Florida, and the company owned 6.8 million acres total across 19 states. As part of Weyerhaeuser, this company owns 415,000 acres in Florida, ranking them number three on the list of Florida’s largest landowners.

4) Rayonier Company – 400,000 acres

Rayonier Company, also known as Rayonier Timber, owns approximately 400,000 acres of land around its headquarters. Rayonier’s headquarters are located in Jacksonville, Florida. The company focuses on the production of performance fibers, which are used in a variety of products, such as pharmaceuticals and diapers. The company owns 200,000 acres between Savannah, Georgia and Daytona Beach, Florida. Rayonier Timber takes the number four spot on the list of Florida’s largest landowners.

5) Mosaic Company – 380,000 acres

Mosaic Company owns 380,000 acres of land in Florida, and its headquarters is stationed in Plymouth, Minnesota. Mosaic is the largest supplier of phosphate in the world and mines all its phosphate in the state of Florida. Nearly two-thirds of the 380,000 acres owned by Mosaic Company in Florida have been mined for phosphate extraction and production. The company has already made efforts to put its reclaimed land to other uses. For instance, Streamsong Golf Resort in Central Florida was established and eventually sold by the Mosaic Company. Mosaic holds the title of the fifth-largest landowner in the state of Florida.

6) Lykes Bros. Co. – 340,000 acres

Lykes Bros Co. is an insurance company and agricultural firm based in Florida. The company also works to provide resources for producing biofuels such as ethanol. Lykes Bros Co. owns between 337,000 and 340,000 acres of land in Florida. The company also owns much land in Texas and dabbles in citrus production. The headquarters of the company is located in Tampa, Florida. Lykes Bros Co. ranks number six on the state’s largest landowners list.

7) The Collier Family – 280,000 acres

The Collier family is not only one of the largest private landowners in Florida but also ranks as the eighth largest landowner in the United States as of 2015. The family owns approximately 280,000 acres in the state of Florida and has a net worth of $2.3 billion. The Barron Collier Companies and Collier Enterprises are owned by the Collier family and based in Naples, Florida. Barron Collier Companies provides diverse services, including industries like agriculture, real estate, resource management, and land ownership. The Collier family ranks number seven on Florida’s largest landowners list.

8) Florida Crystals Corporation– 194,500 acres

Florida Crystals owns approximately 194,500 acres of land in Florida, allowing it to rank number eight on the list of Florida’s largest landowners. Started by the Fanjul family, Florida Crystals is a family-owned business that produces crops like sugarcane and rice. Florida Crystals is also committed to conservation and sustainability. Their renewable-energy plants use leftover sugarcane to create biomass, which can be used to power homes and businesses through electricity. The term “organic” is a staple of this company, which is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida.

9) Bascom Southern – 194,000 acres

Bascom Southern Timberlands is a branch in Florida managed by Campbell Group, which operates out of Portland, Oregon. In 2021, Campbell Group was bought by prominent asset management company J.P. Morgan. Campbell Group, under J.P. Morgan, continues to manage timberland and natural resources across many states, including Florida. The company claims to manage forests in a sustainable manner that positively impacts surrounding environments. The Bascom Southern branch owns 194,000 acres of land in Florida, making it the ninth-largest landowner in the state.

10) The St. Joe Company – 171,000 acres

The St. Joe Company had been Florida’s largest private landowner until 2009. Plum Creek Timber took the number one spot for a period after acquiring nearly 600,000 acres in the state. However, Plum Creek Timber sold off some of its land and merged with another company, allowing St. Joe Co. to rise to the top once again. After St. Joe sold over 380,000 acres to the Mormon Church, though, they lost their title of Florida’s largest landowner. The company primarily deals in asset management and real estate development. St. Joe Co. headquarters is in Watersound, Florida, which sits just outside Panama City Beach, Florida. With 171,000 acres, St. Joe Co. holds the title of Florida’s tenth-largest landowner.

11) U.S. Sugar Corporation – 154,000 acres

Finally, the U.S. Sugar Corporation owns 154,000 acres of land in Florida, making it the final largest landowner in the state at rank number 11. Approximately 700,000 tons of cane sugar are produced by U.S. Sugar Corp. annually. These 700,000 tons amount to around 10% of all cane sugar produced within the United States. The company also handles citrus and vegetable production, including sweet corn. U.S. Sugar Corp. has been operating for nearly a century, expanding gradually over time.

Summary of the 11 Largest Landowners in Florida in 2024

Here’s a recap of the largest landowners in the state of Florida.

Who Are the Largest Landowners in the United States?

There are two worth mentioning as relating to the largest landowners in the United States. The first is probably pretty obvious-the U.S. Government. Shared between the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Defense, over 640 million acres of U.S. land are owned by the Federal Government. That’s roughly ⅓ of all the land in the United States, which averages out to a total of 2.3 billion acres.

The largest landowner in the United States other than the Federal Government is the Emmerson family, whose patriarch Red Emmerson founded Sierra Pacific Industries in Anderson, California. This company is focused on lumber production, operating a number of sawmills. The Emmerson family owns approximately 2,330,000 acres of land.

The other top largest landowners in the U.S. are:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Alexander Lukatskiy/Shutterstock.com

It stretches from the sand dunes of the Panhandle to the deepest parts of the Everglades.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is a state effort aimed at securing conservation lands across the Sunshine State, from the state line near Georgia and Alabama to Florida Bay and the keys.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC, is spearheading the project, which includes public lands already secured as well as private lands that help endangered animals like the Florida panther survive.

Helping animals like the Florida panther disperse and spread back into lands it once occupied is one of the key benefits of the project, FWC says.

The agency staff will give an update presentation on the corridor on Dec. 5 at their scheduled commission meeting.

"Lands within the corridor must be managed to continue to have value to wildlife," an FWC website reads. "The FWC has multiple programs that address land management and priority species. For example, FWC’s Landowner Assistance Program (LAP) works with private landowners, providing free technical assistance, writing management plans, providing mapping tools, providing recommendations on wildlife and habitat management, and hosting outreach events to landowners and the public."

The state agency is in charge of protecting threatened and endangered wildlife as well as regulating hunting and fishing.

More:Florida posts 'cryptic' public notice for proposed changes to Estero Bay preserve

A wildlife corridor of this size will preserve existing habitat and protect the home of threatened and endangered species while also allowing animals like the panther to grow their range.

Building a wildlife corridor doesn't mean the state will force owners to sell or use and eminent domain process to acquire the lands.

The outline of the corridor contains 18 million acres, and, of that, about 10 million acres is already in conservation, according to FWC records.

How big is 18 million acres?

Millions of acres of preserve lands are found in eastern Collier County alone, but it can be difficult to imagine 18 million acres exactly.

The corridor is more than three times as large as the state of New Jersey and is equal to about 40% of the Sunshine State.

More:Reporter has greatest wildlife viewing day of past quarter-century in SWFL

Nearly 700 imperiled species use or live within the corridor, and much of the land could be ideal for projects like spreading the panther population to areas north of Lake Okeechobee.

Million of those acres are in areas like Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve, two massive swaths of land partially located in Collier County.

FWC has identified 'critical linkages'

Around 3.3 million acres of private land is being targeted as "critical linkages," according to FWC.

Those are lands that would benefit existing park and preserve lands and function as a lifeline for animals trying to disperse and grow their range.

The corridor is spread throughout the state and includes many rural sections of Florida, areas that have some form of habitat value for species like swallow-tailed kites and black bears.

Large swaths of land to the north and east of Lake Okeechobee as well as the Big Bend are part of the project.

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal jury rejected claims Tuesday that Pratt & Whitney was responsible for a cancer cluster in The Acreage more than a decade ago.

The verdict said that the aerospace giant did not release pollution or transport radioactive materials into the community from its facility located along Beeline Highway in western Palm Beach County.

While the jury found that Pratt & Whitney was not responsible for cancer that multiple residents contracted, the verdict said that the company "failed to exercise reasonable care in the use and disposal of radioactive materials" at the facility.

READ THE VERDICT BELOW:

The lawsuit was filed in 2016, but the issue started well before in 2009 when several residents in the community reported brain and head tumors that were increasingly above expected rates.

The plaintiffs were parents and families from The Acreage who claimed that Pratt & Whitney was to blame for the cancer cluster.

"We were just really shocked that it came back not in their favor," Stephanie Ankiel West of the B.R.A.I.N Cancer Foundation of the Treasure Coast said. "If they can't get that verdict, it kind of dimmers where we're at here because what is it going to take here? We can't even have it called a cancer cluster."

Attorneys claimed that the state failed to properly test for specific radioactive contamination, ignored concerns voiced by its own people and neglected to hold Pratt & Whitney accountable for not cleaning up years' worth of toxic contamination in the area.

West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola took the lead on this case for the Acreage residents.

Members of Scarola's team said Wednesday that their fight isn't over yet.

"We’'re disappointed with the outcome," Mara Hatfield, an attorney with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, PA said. "We're confident that in subsequent cases, we'll be able to establish that the radioactive materials that Pratt & Whitney mishandled on its property, as the jury found, were, in fact, transported to the Acreage."

The plaintiffs' attorneys will appeal this week's decision and said there are other cases brought by residents that have not gone to trial.

A Pratt & Whitney spokesperson released the following statement regarding the verdict:

"The jury's verdict confirms our conviction that Pratt & Whitney did not cause any contamination in the Acreage and did not cause any cancers in the cancer cluster."

Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Is there a list of all state-owned lands that are available for sale?

Yes. See Buy Land from the state under the State Lands' Quick Links for a complete list of properties for bid or sale.

Why can’t an individual buy property that has been purchased for conservation? It doesn’t appear to be used by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Land purchased for conservation is often unimproved, allowing for “passive” enjoyment by the public. Some properties are obtained for a purpose, such as preservation of habitat for a specific species of foliage or wildlife. Still other land is purchased for the sole purpose of preserving natural Florida for future generations.

The Florida Constitution requires that lands owned by the state for natural resources conservation purposes be managed for the benefit of the citizens and may be disposed of only if two-thirds of the Board of Trustees determines that the property is no longer needed for conservation purposes.

Property owned by the state is listed as owned by TIITF or IITF; what does this stand for?

It stands for Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, which consists of the Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Chief Financial Officer of the state of Florida.

What are Murphy Act Lands?

Chapter 18296, Laws of Florida (1937), is known as the Murphy Act. The Act provided for forfeiture of lands for nonpayment of property taxes. Tax certificates were issued to landowners who failed to pay their taxes. If the taxes were not paid by June 9, 1939, title to the land went to the state, and these lands are now administered by the Board of Trustees. Chapter 253, F.S., is where the details for Murphy Act Lands can be reviewed. Many lands received under the Murphy Act are wetlands or marshland or have other natural resources, and these are managed as conservation lands. However, there are many small Murphy Act parcels scattered about the state that are offered for sale as surplus.

How does the state determine the sales price for state-owned surplus lands?

Florida Statutes require that an appraisal of the property be taken into consideration, or, when the estimated value of the land is less than $500,000, a comparable sales analysis or broker’s opinion of value may be considered.

Can an applicant see the appraisal?

Florida law prohibits sharing of appraisals with applicants until two weeks before a contract or agreement for exchange or disposal of surplus land is first considered for approval by the Board of Trustees.

Who pays closing costs on land purchased from the state of Florida?

The purchaser of state-owned land is responsible for all costs associated with the purchase, including, but not limited to, all appraisals, surveys, title searches, closing costs and recording fees.

What happens if the purchaser changes his mind after paying for an appraisal?

The appraisal fee is non-refundable after the appraisal has been ordered, as indicated on the Application to Purchase Surplus Lands.

Is a warranty deed provided with the purchase of state-owned land?

No, Florida Administrative Code requires that property be conveyed by a quitclaim deed without warranties or representation.

Does the state donate or sell land at a reduced rate to nonprofit organizations?

No. All surplus land sales follow requirements in Florida Statutes. If state land is not needed for conservation or for state agency use, it must first be offered for lease to state agencies, state universities and community colleges, with priority consideration given to state universities and community colleges. It may then be offered to the public. Florida Statutes require that the sales price for surplus land take into consideration an appraisal or, when the estimated value of the land is less than $500,000, a comparable sales analysis or a broker's opinion of value.

Will an adjacent land owner be given the option to purchase the property before consideration of any other private party, local government or state agency?

No. Pursuant to requirements in Florida Statutes, a parcel of land that is being considered for surplus must first be offered for lease to state agencies, state universities and community colleges, with priority consideration given to state universities and community colleges, prior to being designated as surplus. It can then be offered for sale or bid to the general public.

An adjoining property owner does not receive priority over anyone else who may be interested.

TALLAHASSEE — One of the rare bipartisan highlights of Florida’s legislative session this year was the decision to spend $300 million buying up land for conservation.

Republicans, Democrats and environmentalists called it a boon for the environment, helping save thousands of acres of land in Florida’s delicate wildlife corridors from development.

The result could be a boon to landowners and developers as well.

The fine print in this year’s budget includes a stipulation that some environmentalists fear could spur development in the state’s wetlands.

In a reversal of the state’s current land-buying policy, lawmakers this year wrote in the budget that anyone whose development rights are purchased with the $300 million can also use their land for wetland “mitigation banking” — an obscure environmental program that some environmentalists believe is bad for the state’s wetlands.

Mitigation banking is used by developers, the Florida Department of Transportation and other builders to offset damage their projects cause to the environment. When a developer tears up acres of wetland for a new project, they often spend money at a mitigation bank, which is usually a plot of rehabilitated land nearby. The contribution, in theory, offsets the developer’s original damage.

The fact that state lawmakers are allowing mitigation banking on land it’s already buying for conservation — something it hasn’t allowed in its Florida Forever land-buying program — surprised both environmentalists and those in the mitigation banking industry.

It’s also dampened some of the enthusiasm for an otherwise historic and long-sought victory for Florida’s environment.

“We’re not going to pop the champagne just yet,” said Aliki Moncrief, executive director of Florida Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group. “$300 million going into Florida Forever versus $300 million going to wetland mitigation banking is very different.”

How much land will end up as mitigation banks, and what it will mean for Florida’s wetlands, won’t be known for years, after the state’s Department of Environmental Protection starts buying up development rights through easements. One environmental group said it’s not worried about it.

But environmentalists are correct that lawmakers deliberately allowed the use of mitigation banking to spur development, said Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the state’s environmental budget.

Albritton, whose district includes eight counties in rural central Florida, said his goal was to balance the needs of the environment, land owners and the local economy.

Some of the most pristine parts of the state will be permanently saved from development, he said. Landowners, including farmers, could get paid twice: once by the state for the development rights, and again if the land is used as a mitigation bank.

And additional mitigation banks means more opportunities for development. Despite the state’s economy booming the last few decades, many towns in rural Florida have remained stagnant or shrunk.

“It’s a real problem, and unless you live in rural Florida, you don’t really see it,” Albritton said.

Albritton’s district also appears to have a shortage of available mitigation credits. When the Department of Transportation went to buy credits in his district to offset the impact of a Central Polk Parkway extension, it had to find credits outside the area.

The conservation money, coming from American Rescue Plan dollars, is part of a plan passed by lawmakers this year to preserve thousands of acres of land, with a focus on preserving paths to food, shelter and mates for animals like the endangered Florida panther.

Environmentalists, including the National Geographic photographer Carlton Ward, have been working for years to protect those wildlife corridors, which culminated in lawmakers’ unanimous passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act this year.

Related: A famed nature photographer weighs in on the lessons of nature

“Land conservation is an essential tool for environmental protection, and the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act will further our already successful efforts,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a ceremonial bill signing last week.

The bill also had help from Tampa tech billionaire Arnie Bellini, who hired a top lobbyist and gave more than $200,000 to three lawmakers, including to Albritton and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, ahead of this year’s legislative session.

To make the corridors a reality, lawmakers added $100 million to acquire land through the state’s Forever program, which buys land for conservation and recreation but has been starved of funds by lawmakers over the last decade.

Lawmakers also added another $300 million to get land, but assigned the money in a separate part of the budget, with a specific order: that the Department of Environmental Protection “not restrict a landowner’s ability” to also use the land for mitigation banking.

Since the 1990s, federal policy has required a developer to replace any wetlands it destroys. That spurred an explosion in mitigation bankers — individuals or groups that buy swampland, or former swampland, and restore it by removing invasive plants and turning it back into wetlands. Those bankers then sell “credits” of the land to developers.

When a developer buys those credits, the money can count as replacing the wetland the developer would destroy. Today, there are more than 100 mitigation banks in the state.

While it’s supposed to be an equal split, mitigation banks aren’t always successful. Sometimes the banks are dry land, not wetlands. Environmentalists say they need more regulation. (The state once approved a mitigation bank that the developer wanted to use to chop 40 acres of mangroves to create a better view on his property.)

Some environmentalists point to the state’s shrinking wetlands as evidence of a failed state program. Lee and Collier counties alone have lost more than 30,000 acres of wetlands since 1996, said Beth Alvi, policy director for Audubon Florida. The group manages its own wetlands mitigation bank in the area, but doesn’t believe mitigation banking works well without stricter implementation of the state’s wetland permitting program.

“If our public lands are going to be considered for mitigation, it should be a red flag and we should be concerned about it,” Alvi said.

The Department of Environmental Protection told the Times/Herald that it will approve mitigation banking “if appropriate” when it buys the development rights for conservation. The department does not expect mitigation banks to be permitted on the land after the contracts are signed, a spokesperson said.

Temperince Morgan, executive director of the Florida chapter of The Nature Conservancy, which also manages its own conservation bank, said the organization did its own analysis of the budget language and decided it was comfortable with it.

“We don’t see it creating any significant obstacles to getting good conservation done and protecting the corridor,” she said.

Albritton said he understands that mitigation banking might not “work perfectly” in all situations, but it’s a system that could help keep thousands of acres of undeveloped Florida stay that way.

“That is a very romantic proposition to me,” he said.