HB 427

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to state reserves; creating s. 258.166,
3	F.S.; establishing the George Kirkpatrick State Reserve;
4	directing the Office of Greenways and Trails of the
5	Department of Environmental Protection to develop
6	multipurpose recreational opportunities and provide
7	supervision of the area; requiring that certain
8	alterations of the reserve be approved by general law;
9	allowing public hunting; authorizing the Division of State
10	Lands to acquire adjacent or contiguous property;
11	providing an effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1.  Section 258.166, Florida Statutes, is created
16	to read:
17	258.166  George Kirkpatrick State Reserve designated.--
18	(1)  There is designated and established a state reserve to
19	be known as George Kirkpatrick State Reserve, in Marion and
20	Putnam Counties, which shall include all state-owned lands
21	within the floodplain of the Oklawaha River and those hereafter
22	acquired by the state from Eureka Dam in Marion County to
23	Buckman Lock in Putnam County. Those lands are deemed and held
24	to be a state reserve, under the supervision of the Office of
25	Greenways and Trails of the Department of Environmental
26	Protection. The office is charged with the duty of providing for
27	the development of multipurpose recreational opportunities at
28	this reserve and the care, upkeep, maintenance, and
29	beautification of the George Kirkpatrick State Reserve,
30	including all those dams, locks, and other structures
31	transferred by the Federal Government to the state. Any action
32	that would substantially alter the area encompassing the reserve
33	as the area existed on January 1, 2007, must be approved by
34	general law. However, nothing in this section precludes the
35	Office of Greenways and Trails of the Department of
36	Environmental Protection from performing necessary maintenance
37	and improvements as required for the continued operation of the
38	dams, locks, or other structures and facilities within the state
39	reserve.
40	(2)  Public hunting is allowed in the George Kirkpatrick
41	State Reserve as authorized by the Fish and Wildlife
42	Conservation Commission.
43	(3)  The Division of State Lands of the Department of
44	Environmental Protection may acquire in the name of the Board of
45	Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund any additional
46	property adjacent or contiguous to the George Kirkpatrick State
47	Reserve from private owners or from the United States Government
48	for improved management and recreational opportunities.
49	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.