Lower land prices a plus for conservation

The slowing Florida real estate market may not be bad news for everyone. As developers choose not to build new homes, they are selling the undeveloped land to conservationists, who are taking advantage of the lower prices to purchase large tracts of land. In Florida, city and county applications for funds to buy undeveloped land went up to $272 million in 2007, about twice the amount in 2004. Gov. Charlie Crist told the state Department of Environmental Protection to look for opportunities to buy more open land.