TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — To Kay Carter, it almost seems unreal. After a prolonged fight, thousands of donations, and cooperation with state and local leaders, her WK Preservation Group now has the funding necessary to save an untouched piece of wilderness in Tarpon Springs.
Various species of plant and animal life can be found on the 13.5-acre plot of land, which is located on West Klosterman Road on the southern boundary of Tarpon Springs. Those fighting for its preservation say the land is ecologically and environmentally important in a county that is losing more and more greenspace after each new development.
“The more I learn, the more I realize how important this is to the next generations,” said Carter. “If we don’t (save this land now) — and I mean now — we won’t be able to do it in the future.”
But the preservation battle was not easy.
The site is owned by Pinellas County Schools, which last year announced its intent to sell the property. Neighbors feared developers wanted to buy the land to build condos, so they raced to raise $3.2 million to save it from potential bulldozers.
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“People need a place to live, and that’s really important, but there are certain properties that are unique and that have so much of what is the natural environment, and it needs to be saved,” said Carter.
Months ago, with the preservation group’s fundraising efforts falling short, the state legislature stepped in and budgeted money to preserve the land.
However, in early June, when Governor Ron DeSantis announced his list of vetoes from the state budget, the funding to save the property on West Klosterman Road was on the list. According to DeSantis’ veto letter, the cuts will help prepare the state for a possible recession.
“It was just like having the rug pulled out from under you,” Carter said at the time. “I felt it in the pit of my stomach. It was like it’s hard to believe that that actually happened.”
Now, after a “miraculous” last-ditch effort, Carter and the other members of the preservation group are celebrating.
“I just have kind of been pinching myself to think that we actually were able to accomplish it,” she said.
They managed to secure funding from a separate pot of state money known as “Local Support Grants.”
On Friday, a legislative committee agreed to spend $175 million in “local support grants” on 238 projects across the state. Included on the spending list was a $2.5 million one-time grant for the acquisition and preservation of the West Klosterman site.
In his request for the grant funding, Rep. Chris Latvala (R-Pinellas) said there was “strong community sentiment” to preserve the land.
The grant request differed slightly from the budget item vetoed by Gov. DeSantis in June.
Latvala’s request stipulates that Pinellas County will use the grant funding to purchase the land from the school district.
The $2.5 million grant is also smaller than the amount originally requested from the state. The WK Preservation Group, however, will make up the difference using donations the group raised since its campaign to save the land began in 2021.
“We have squeaked in,” said Carter, who added that every donation made a difference. “I mean, every single dollar did, because I mean, without every single one of them, we wouldn’t have that $500,000. We are that close.”
According to Carter, the land will be designated for environmental protection before it’s deeded to Pinellas County.
Currently, the public has no access to the heavily-wooded site, and Carter said there’s no plan to change that. She said the county would have to determine if nature trails can be added to the preserve, at a later date, without disturbing the environment.
Meanwhile, she said the WK Preservation Group would continue its fundraising efforts with the hope of preserving other sites in the future.
