A federal grant could help preserve land in the Peace River Valley

About $47 million could potentially be used to protect lands from being gobbled by development in several counties, including Polk, Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte, in an area that supplies drinking water to several counties.

A grant awarded this week to a local conservation group could go a long way toward preserving land in the Peace River Valley. This area supplies drinking water to several counties in Central Florida.

The federal grant of $21 million will be matched by grants from the state Department of Agriculture, and another $5 million has been pledged by the Division of State Lands. That means about $47 million could potentially be used to protect lands from being gobbled by development in several counties, including Polk, Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte.

Jim Strickland is a sixth-generation cattle rancher in Manatee County and vice president of the Florida Conservation Group, a consortium of scientists, ranchers, and conservationists.

"Peace River supplies the drinking water for about 1 million people. So looking at the lack of conservation lands in the heart of in the heart of Florida, and looking at the significance of the Peace River Valley, that I think this is a void that absolutely needs to be filled," Strickland said.