Pinellas County Saves 14-Acre Nature Preserve for After 5 Year Push

After years of community action, Pinellas County paid $3 million for the West Klosterman Preserve. The purchase blocked a planned 76-unit condo project on the 14-acre site. Local efforts stretched across five years to protect the space.

"It's wonderful," said Tex Carter, president of the nonprofit WK Preservation Group, to Bay News 9. "We wanted to save this piece of property and make it part of the Mariner's Point Management Area and preserve a pretty good-sized chunk of natural Florida."

Back in 2020, Pinellas County Schools tried to sell the site to builders for $3.3 million. When the public pushed back, school leaders offered a chance to buy it for $3 million instead.

Money poured in from the public. Over 2,000 people gave what they could. Small gifts of $10 mixed with big checks up to $350,000. The county stepped up, splitting costs after the group got its nonprofit status.

"The school board was almost ready to do a contract with the developer to turn this into 76 condos and bulldoze all the trees and all the wildlife that's here," Carter said.

Next door sits the county's 76-acre Mariner's Point Management Area. Together, these spaces make one big natural zone. "This is one active ecosystem integrated with different kinds of habitats for different kinds of plants and animals," Carter said. "If you took this out and turned it into condos, it would destroy the ecosystem all the way down to the ocean."

For now, the space stays closed to keep wildlife safe. Scientists might okay some walking paths later, but only if they won't harm the animals.

This success proves what can happen when people work with their local officials. "That brought us together, the county and us together, to do more than we would have been able to do as individuals, and that's a good thing," Carter said.

He added: "It's really great for people when people realize they can make a difference with government, and it's always great when government responds to its people."