An Open Letter to the County Commission To Preserve Cone Ranch

To the Board of County Commissioners of Hillsborough County, Florida:

I am a 55-year old lifelong resident of Hillsborough County and a person who, like all residents of Tampa, relies upon the Hillsborough River as the sole source of my potable water.

Over the years, I have watched our local governmental officials continuously say “yes” to unbridled development, and as a result, we have, over the last 3 decades, casually caused the disappearance of our natural landscape. I am deeply concerned about the preservation of the Cone Ranch property, and I have been fully supportive of the County Commission’s decision to appoint the Cone Ranch Environmental Advisory Panel to study the issue of Cone Ranch and to make recommendations of what would be the best ways to administer this largest undeveloped contiguous parcel remaining in Hillsborough County.

The Cone Ranch Environmental Advisory Panel overwhelmingly recommended a straight forward, easy to understand, course of action to the BOCC “to direct the Water Resource Services Dept. to convey title to the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) of the entire Cone Ranch property. We believe this is the best way to protect, preserve, and restore Cone Ranch in perpetuity.”

It is imperative that the BOCC now immediately adopt ALL of the Final Recommendations of the Advisory Panel, including the one that says: “Time is of the essence and the BOCC needs to take immediate action to transfer Cone Ranch to ELAPP; or if a decision is made in the interim to consolidate water utilities, that his Cone Ranch property will not be a part of that transfer….”

Stories have circulated that the BOCC may consider not following the recommendations of the Cone Ranch Environmental Advisory Panel. Those stories suggest that the BOCC may consider obtaining an appraisal for the Cone Ranch property, and only impose Conservation Easements on the property rather than convey the property to ELAPP where it can be restored and protected in perpetuity.

May I remind you that the citizens of Hillsborough County reauthorized the funding of the ELAPP program just last year in a referendum with the largest majority vote in the history of this County (79%)?

The citizens of Hillsborough County do not need an appraisal of this property. Why spend the money for an appraisal---which is nothing more than one person’s opinion of the value of this property? If you are looking for one person’s opinion of its value, let me give you my opinion of what the value of Cone Ranch is-- without spending thousands of taxpayer dollars for an appraisal—it’s Priceless!

Ask yourselves before voting to hire an appraiser: (1) Why are we spending taxpayer dollars on an appraisal? (2) What “Comparable Sale Properties” are there for the appraiser to use in coming up for his or her opinion of the value of Cone Ranch? There simply aren’t any properties which are comparable to Cone Ranch. It is unique.

And finally, in searching for wisdom in making your decisions as the guardians of our publicly owned lands, please be guided by these thoughts:

“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.” (Native American Proverb)

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” (Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732).

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” (Great Law of the Iroquois)

And finally, please don’t make Ansel Adams’ words ring true. He said, “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.”

Please vote to immediately transfer full and complete ownership and control of the Cone Ranch Property to ELAPP.


I've written and sent my letter to the Board of County Commissioners, now it's your turn.