St. Johns County Successfully Stops Proposed Land Swap of Guana River Wildlife Management Area
- 22 May 2025
- Category: SJC News District 1 District 2 District 3 District 5
- Tags: 2025
County leaders join the community to oppose the project.
On May 20, 2025, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners joined State Representative Kim Kendall and the local community at a press conference at the North Guana Outpost to oppose the proposed land swap for 600 acres within the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. The St. Johns County Office of Public Affairs produced a video recap of the press conference.
Those invited to participate included State Representative Kim Kendall; St. Johns County Commissioners Krista Joseph, Clay Murphy, Ann Taylor, Sarah Arnold, Christian Whitehurst; St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline; St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell; and Audubon Florida Northeast Florida Policy Associate Chris Farrell.
A company called The Upland, LLC, was seeking the state’s approval for 600 acres inside the Guana River Wildlife Management Area in the northeast part of St. Johns County. In exchange, The Upland, LLC would give the state 3,000 acres of land across four counties.
On May 19, the landowner withdrew the plan to acquire 600 acres of Northeast Florida conservation land. The letter sent to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to formally withdraw its application partly stated that Upland LLC withdrew its plan “due to public sentiment resulting from misinformation. To be clear, there was never any intention to develop the acquired land for commercial or community development purposes.”
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