Conservation Land Acquisition and Management (CLAM) Plan

NASSAU COUNTY IS 

ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS OF PROPERTIES

FOR POTENTIAL ACQUISITION THROUGH THE

 CONSERVATION LAND ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (CLAM)

Nomination Period:  July 24, 2021 through December 31, 2021 

The Nassau County Conservation Land Acquisition and Management (CLAM) program was created to preserve and conserve the county’s natural, historic, and working lands resources by identifying, ranking, and assessing conservation lands for acquisition and management. 

 The County shall accept nominations of properties for potential acquisition by the County through the CLAM Program from any person or organization, including the County, nonprofit organizations, and local, regional, state, or federal governmental entities. To nominate a property for potential acquisition, the nominator shall submit an application to the Nassau County Planning Department.  Nominators may nominate an entire parcel for acquisition in fee simple or only a specific portion thereof or interest therein.  In nominating properties, nominators should consider, at a minimum, the information contained in the Conservation Plan, the CLAM Resource Rankings Map, and the CLAM Manual.

 Nominations must be received by the Nassau County Planning Department no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, December 31, 2021.  Nominations received after the nomination period will not be considered.  CLAM documents and nomination form can be found within the below links, or nomination forms can be picked up and dropped off in person at: 

 Nassau County Planning Department

96161 Nassau Place 

Yulee Florida.

Nomination Form

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE CLAM PROGRAM

In 2020 Nassau County was behind the state's average for counties in terms of natural resource protections, having only preserved 7% of their landmass, as compared to a statewide average of 29%. Nassau County is also facing new and significant development threats, transforming from a mostly rural county to a growth center in the Northeast Florida region.  However, the County has a bounty of natural resources, including wild and scenic waterways like the St. Marys, Nassau, and Bells Rivers; a unique barrier island; and large tracts of timberland.

To begin the process of preserving and conserving the county's natural, historic, and working lands resources, the County Commission directed Planning Staff to develop a plan to conserve and manage conservation lands.  This plan was developed by County Staff with the assistance of the North Florida Land Trust (NFLT), a 501(c) non-profit operating in Nassau County and throughout North Florida. NFLT was retained by the county to bring their experience in the identification and acquisition of conservation resources to assist in the creation of a countywide Conservation Lands Acquisition and Management (CLAM) program.  NFLT utilized their experience in strategic conservation planning to develop for the county a plan to identify, rank, and assess conservation lands for acquisition and management.  The final CLAM is a manual of operations for the administration and management of the CLAM program.

An essential tool of the CLAM program is the CLAM Resource Ranking Map, a GIS (Geographic Information Systems)-based plan developed to create, analyze, and manipulate geographic information, known as data layers. These data layers are maps of resources which can be displayed as they overlap and interact, and where different statistical and analytical processes can be applied to better understand a landscape filled with multiple interacting resources.  Nineteen different data layers were selected for consideration, representing different potential conservation resources.  The different data layers all relate to one of the four most common considerations for acquiring conservation land: Water Issues, Habitat and Species Protections, Working Lands, Outdoor Recreation and Quality of Life.  This map will be used to analyze properties being considered for acquisition.

The CLAM was adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on January 25, 2021.  The CLAM Committee has been established and will soon begin the job of reviewing and ranking nominated properties, recommending potential acquisitions, reviewing management plans, and reviewing the monitoring and enforcement of conservation easements.