DeSantis signs bill to protect barrier island in Brevard County

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill intended to keep an environmentally fragile portion of a barrier island in Brevard County from development.

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One of nine measures signed Tuesday, the HB 1489 bill, designates the Brevard Barrier Island Area as an Area of Critical State Concern, which borders the Indian River Lagoon.

The area’s Atlantic side is considered a critical nesting ground for threatened and endangered sea turtles.

Read: Lawmakers push to make portion of Brevard County an area of critical state concern

“The southern Brevard Barrier Island is especially worthy of protection. Its beaches, dunes, coastal scrub, and maritime hammock areas represent one of the most fragile and endangered natural upland communities in the state and the nation,” the group 1000 Friends of Florida, which works on growth-management issues, said in a news release.

The barrier island becomes the sixth area with the designation, joining the Florida Keys, Key West, Big Cypress, the Green Swamp and the Apalachicola Bay area.

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