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 |
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13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
14 |
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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. |