Anonymous donor gives $1 million for Nassau County conservation

The North Florida Land Trust (NFLT) has received an anonymous $1 million donation restricted to conservation work in Nassau County.

The Fernandina Beach News-Leader reported the gift Sept. 7. The donor's identity has not been disclosed, and NFLT has not said which properties or projects the money will fund.

The gift comes with one condition: It must go toward conservation in Nassau County.

"These natural spaces are irreplaceable, and once they are gone, they are gone forever," Allison DeFoor, president and CEO of NFLT, said in a statement.

Egans Creek Greenway Expansion Adds 28 Acres

The donation lands during an active stretch for land conservation on Amelia Island. Sept. 1, the Fernandina Beach City Commission voted 4-0 to spend up to $240,000 from its Land Conservation Trust Fund on five properties totaling about 28 acres near Sadler Road. Those parcels would expand the Ron Sapp Egans Creek Greenway, a protected corridor through the center of the island. NFLT is contributing about $500,000 toward the about $740,000 acquisition, according to the Fernandina Observer.

City Commissioner Joyce Tuten, who lives next to the greenway, endorsed the expansion at the Sept. 1 meeting. "The greenway is a critical piece of flood water absorption for us," Tuten said, the Observer reported Sept. 5.

The $1 million gift is separate from the greenway deal. DeFoor said the organization is honored to accept the donation for Nassau County conservation and credited the anonymous donor with helping NFLT continue protecting what she called "old Florida."

Land Trust's Broader Conservation Record in North Florida

NFLT, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit founded in 1999, has protected tens of thousands of acres across North Florida through purchases, donated land and conservation easements. The organization relies largely on private and corporate contributions, according to the County Insider. Nassau County and NFLT have also partnered on the Atlantic to Okefenokee Conservation Corridor, a 55,864-acre project approved for the state's Florida Forever list.

In December 2024, the Thornton family donated about 396 acres on Amelia Island to NFLT, a gift the News-Leader described at the time as a big win for island conservation.