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State money, local sales tax revenue, may protect about 1,700 acres from development
Posted on September 3, 2025
MARTIN COUNTY — About 1,700 acres of ranchland here may stay just that.
Negotiations are underway with the Troup family to have the county buy development rights to most of Bar B Ranch in central Martin County, which would take the property off the market in perpetuity. It could cost about $17 million, most of which would come from the Florida Forever program, a state conservation and recreation lands acquisition program.
"There's a lot of opportunity for big money grabs all over," said County Commissioner Ed Ciampi before he and his colleagues voted unanimously to help buy the rights.
National home builders and developers "search out families such as yours," Ciampi told Lance Troup and his daughter Brennan Troup, "and offer pie-in-the-sky numbers" because that way "they can obviously exponentially increase their profits."
The ranch could accommodate 95 residential units, said Michael Yustin, senior project manager with Martin County Public Works, and plenty of the land there is developable.
Troup could not be reached for comment.
Gratitude for purchase
But he said, through his daughter, Brennan Troup, "My daughters as the next generation are so very appreciative of being able to continue our family's heritage without development and pressure under the conservation easement of the Bar B Ranch."
A conservation easement protects a land's natural, scenic and open space values and prevents developers from purchasing it.
"It's one of the most beautiful parcels of land that depicts old Florida that I've seen," said County Commissioner Stacey Hetherington, who said she toured the property a couple of years ago.
The ranch consists of pine flatwoods, pine forests, large marsh areas and open pastures, Yustin said.
Cost to Martin County
Martin County would pay its share of the purchase from the county conservation sales tax passed by voters in 2024. That tax revenue is earmarked for the purchase of conservation land.
Exact cost of the easement was unavailable from Martin County.
"The state is leading the efforts to acquire this conservation easement, and they are still technically in the negotiation phase," Yustin said. "We do know that the state will be requesting less than 50% of the acquisition cost from the county, but we would be uncomfortable posting an actual amount at this time."
Importance of the land
Bar B Ranch "will protect a critical part of the hydrologic connection between the St. John’sRiver and the Everglades watershed, provide valuable wildlife habitat and support the protection of a wildlife corridor extending from western Palm Beach County to Central Florida," according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
An easement would provide an "opportunity to restore a naturally occurring area of shallow water storage" to improve the water quality in the St. Lucie River Estuary and the Indian River Lagoon as a part "of the effort to restore Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Everglades," FDEP said in a Florida Forever report.
An easement may also provide an opportunity to protect hundreds or more snail kites, a federally endangered raptor that is found only in Florida. Snail kites once were on the verge of extinction, according to FDEP.
Questioning the purchase
Commissioner and budget hawk Eileen Vargas asked Yustin whether county money would go further if the county outright bought the land instead of placing an easement on it.
The cost would be higher if the county bought the land, Yustin told her.
The county may also have to restore and manage the habitat, Yustin added, and might have to provide public access facilities if it bought the land.
"It is a beautiful property," County Administrator Don Donaldson told Lance and Brennan Troup, who were at the Aug. 26 commission meeting. Donaldson also has toured the ranch.
"You've done such an excellent job with it," he added. "It is in good hands."
Keith Burbank is TCPalm's watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882.
