Florida Senate - 2025 SB 388
By Senator Rodriguez
40-00723-25 2025388__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to trust funds for wildlife
3 management; amending s. 379.201, F.S.; authorizing the
4 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to invest
5 and reinvest the funds and the interest thereof of the
6 Administrative Trust Fund; specifying that any balance
7 in the trust fund at the end of the fiscal year
8 remains in the fund; amending s. 379.205, F.S.;
9 revising the purposes for which the commission may
10 spend money from the Florida Panther Research and
11 Management Trust Fund; amending s. 379.206, F.S.;
12 revising the uses of the Grants and Donations Trust
13 Fund; amending s. 379.209, F.S.; deleting the
14 requirement that the commission designate an
15 identifiable unit to administer the Nongame Wildlife
16 Trust Fund; authorizing the commission to use the
17 proceeds from the trust fund for law enforcement;
18 authorizing the commission to enter into specified
19 agreements with private landowners; providing an
20 effective date.
21
22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
23
24 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 379.201, Florida
25 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (3) is added to that
26 section, to read:
27 379.201 Administrative Trust Fund.—
28 (2) The trust fund is established for use as a depository
29 for funds to be used for management activities that are
30 commissionwide in nature and funded by indirect cost earnings or
31 assessments against trust funds. The commission may invest and
32 reinvest the funds and the interest thereof of the trust fund.
33 Moneys to be credited to the trust fund include indirect cost
34 reimbursements from grantors, administrative assessments against
35 trust funds, interest earnings, and other appropriate
36 administrative fees.
37 (3) Notwithstanding s. 216.301 and pursuant to s. 216.351,
38 any balance in the trust fund at the end of a fiscal year must
39 remain in the trust fund and be available for carrying out the
40 purposes of the trust fund.
41 Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (2) of
42 section 379.205, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
43 379.205 Florida Panther Research and Management Trust
44 Fund.—
45 (2) The commission shall spend money from the fund and all
46 interest derived from its investments and reinvestments only for
47 the following purposes:
48 (a) To manage and protect existing Florida panther
49 populations by increasing panther food sources where food is a
50 limiting factor, determining conflicts between public use and
51 panther survival, maintaining sufficient genetic variability in
52 existing populations, providing research and monitoring of
53 feline diseases, and undertaking management and enforcement
54 activities that protect panther habitat.
55 (c) To reestablish Florida panthers into areas of suitable
56 habitat, where feasible, by assessing the necessity of a captive
57 breeding program for purposes of reintroduction of the panthers
58 into the suitable habitat; selecting potential sites for
59 reintroduction and investigating associated human sociological
60 aspects; and assessing the potential for panther habitat
61 acquisition; and acquiring lands for panther habitat.
62 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 379.206, Florida
63 Statutes, is amended to read:
64 379.206 Grants and Donations Trust Fund.—
65 (2) The fund is established for use as a depository for
66 funds to be used for allowable grant and donor agreement
67 activities funded by restricted contractual revenue. Moneys to
68 be credited to the trust fund shall consist of grants and
69 donations from private and public nonfederal sources,
70 development-of-regional-impact wildlife mitigation
71 contributions, interest earnings, and cash advances from other
72 trust funds.
73 Section 4. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 379.209,
74 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
75 379.209 Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund.—
76 (2)(a) There is established within the Fish and Wildlife
77 Conservation Commission the Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund. The
78 fund shall be credited with moneys collected pursuant to ss.
79 319.32(3) and 320.02(8). Additional funds may be provided from
80 legislative appropriations and by donations from interested
81 individuals and organizations. The commission may invest and
82 reinvest the funds and the interest thereof of the Nongame
83 Wildlife Trust Fund. The commission shall designate an
84 identifiable unit to administer the trust fund.
85 (b) Proceeds from the trust fund must shall be used for the
86 following purposes:
87 1. Documentation of population trends of nongame wildlife
88 and assessment of wildlife habitat, in coordination with the
89 database of Florida natural areas inventory.
90 2. Establishment of effective conservation, management, and
91 regulatory programs for nongame wildlife of this the state.
92 3. Public education programs.
93 4. Law enforcement.
94 (3) The commission may enter into cooperative agreements,
95 voluntary agreements, or memoranda of understanding with related
96 agencies and private landowners to coordinate nongame programs.
97 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.