The Jelks Family Foundation recently awarded a $25,000 grant to the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast for conservation of priority land in Manatee County. The grant will be held in Conservation Foundation’s revolving Land Fund. Established in 2017, the Land Fund is used to quicken the pace of land conservation when other public and private funding resources are unavailable. Conservation Foundation Board of Trustees oversee the use of the Land Fund to conserve priority land based on staff’s recommendation of the property’s ranking against scientific criteria. Utilization of the Land Fund allows Conservation Foundation to act quickly in hot real estate markets when time is of the essence.

To date, Conservation Foundation has protected over 18,500 acres across 48 properties in five counties. Of those 18,500 acres, 1,794 are in Manatee County.