We’re lucky to have a lot of green and sprawling places in Marion County – lush, fertile farmland, pristine lakes and rivers, and an industry based around horses that places a value on keeping them healthy and thriving. In a way, conservation is embedded in the figurative DNA of the Horse Capital of the World®.
Helming the months of careful planning and coordination were Showcase brokers Mary O’Neal and Valerie Dailey, who were specifically and exclusively asked to represent the seller because of their expertise with comparable agricultural properties.
“What’s so unique about this property is that someone had the wherewithal and the motivation to put such a large tract of land into a conservation easement,” explains Dailey. “It sets it up to protect not just the property’s beauty, but also its natural, ecological evolution. It’s an incredibly generous thing for them to do.”
“What’s so unique about this property is that someone had the wherewithal and the motivation to put such a large tract of land into a conservation easement. It sets it up to protect not just the property’s beauty, but also its natural, ecological evolution. It’s an incredibly generous thing for them to do.”
Why is it so generous, you wonder? It might sound a little dramatic to say it, but it’s true: If we take care of the planet, it’ll take care of us. Protecting and helping our ecosystems to thrive provides the foundation of our well-being – clean air and water, fertile soil for agriculture and raising livestock, and a stable, reliable climate.
The cause and effect of healthy biodiversity means more resilience of a healthy food system and more opportunity for a the ecosystem to flourish. And while the phrase ‘self-care’ may seem a bit overused these days, it can’t be emphasized enough that natural, clean spaces are incredibly vital for our mental and physical health – places we can go for a run or hike, a horseback ride or a cycling outing, or just to find a tree, sit in the shade, and relax for a while.
Protecting these Earth assets isn’t just an environmental mission; it’s necessary to make sure we have as much of a stable, sustainable future where in three hundred years’ time, descendants of the early 21st Century can enjoy the same spaces we’ve left behind.
Florida, of course, has many designated state and local land preserves and parks, but privately owned easements like Bopodo Farm are essential to the long-term survival and health of our natural environments and are powerful allies and partners in that effort.
A conservation easement is a legal agreement between the owner and the Conservation Trust, limiting certain types of development while also allowing landowners to retain many private property rights. Nature preserves are generally supervised and managed by federal, state, or local authorities and organizations and have public access. For locals, familiar examples of this are Payne’s Prairie – Florida’s first official state preserve – and the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a collection of 18 million acres of protected habitat with the Land Trust Alliance, managed and stewarded by Conservation Florida – an organization that was integral to the shaping of Bopodo Farm’s easement agreement.
Conservation easements are privately held, and the owner gives up development rights on the property. They can live on it, sell it, mortgage, and raise horses or livestock on it, but cannot subdivide, add roads, or plant non-native plant species. While the responsibilities and restrictions of stewarding an easement are vigorous, they’re also benchmarks to safeguard the health and longevity of the land, and the agreement with the owner is an investment in preserving it for figure generations.
“This set a precedent. This raises the bar and proves there’s a value in conserving our lands. It was such an honor to have been asked to represent the O’Neill family with this extraordinary property.”
“This set a precedent,” agrees O’Neal, who points out that this isn’t simply a business transaction; it’s a testament to the property’s impact and legacy. “This raises the bar and proves there’s a value in conserving our lands. It was such an honor to have been asked to represent the O’Neill family with this extraordinary property.”
O’Neal is a 20-year veteran in farm property sales and an active advocate and promoter of farmlands in the region, while Dailey’s three decades in agriculture and conservation efforts in Marion County gave her an intimate knowledge of the intricacies involved in the process. Both have negotiated similar deals and have a genuine commitment to protecting unspoiled environments. They both also realized immediately the impact such a large easement could have for the community and the region.
In addition to the Conservation Easement, Bopodo is also a Stewardship Forest and a Certified Tree Farm – forest land that is recognized for sustainable stewardship. The certification is given to forest owners who manage their lands according to defined standards of sustainability – much like the Conservation Easement guidelines. These forests are managed for diverse purposes including water, wildlife, wood and recreation, and protecting ecological benefits during harvest.
Essential to the process was Conservation Florida, an organization founded in 1999 by David Carr. HIs parents were formidable and influential environmental activists who left indelible legacies to the Florida landscape; his father Archie was one of the most widely respected conservationists of the 20th Century and the renowned founder of conservation biology. His mother Marjorie Harris Carr was instrumental in the creation of Payne’s Prairie Preserve, and she was also the driving force behind the effort to stop the Florida Barge Canal project.
The organization is accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and is a leading force in environmental conservation, working with over 100,000 conservation projects across the State of Florida. They promote land conservation through fundraising, education outreach, land purchases and donations, and helping facilitate conservation easements like Bopodo Farm. Their expertise is enormously valuable and indispensable in helping landowners navigate the protection process and everything it entails. Along with Forest Management, they helped to craft the original easement details and they served as an incredibly rich fount of information throughout the sale of Bopodo. That alliance creates a strong foundation that helps the new owners continue to shepherd and safeguard that land for future generations.
“It takes a special person to understand and work with that. The buyer’s knowledge of conservation properties was a significant advantage, ensuring the land’s continued protection and stewardship. “
Easements like Bopodo Farm can serve as an anchor for other, similar preserves and nature areas, allowing science to monitor the environmental and ecological development of the land.
These lands will thrive, flourish, and remain available to enjoy for several generations. By partnering with the Trust while living on and working the land, the owners are both protectors and stewards of it.
“It takes a special person to understand and work with that,” points out Tom Kay, Executive Director of the Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT). “The buyer’s knowledge of conservation properties was a significant advantage, ensuring the land’s continued protection and stewardship.”
He was particularly pleased to work with Showcase as an advisor and sounding board on the Trust agreement, having worked with Dailey before. As a former client of Showcase and longtime friend and colleague of Dailey’s, he was an invaluable resource when it came to a deep-dive into the nuances of what was entailed in the easement. As director of ACT, he drew on his own professional background to help clarify overall understanding of the agreement details. Because of his long-standing relationship with Valerie, he was confident they would deliver the best results for everyone involved.
“They’re really engaged in the process, and they know the various people and entities involved in a sale like this,” he says. “So it’s really helpful to have that expertise and connection.”
