Good morning!

We are writing you on the advice of the Alachua County Building Department, Alachua County Property Appraisers Office and the Office of Water Policy in Tallahassee. My wife and I purchased 18 acres in Eastern Alachua with the intention of relocating our small teaching farm to a larger location and closer to more agricultural resources. Every department in the county has been very supportive except EPD. We invited them out to help us and all we get is contradictory statements from the inspector and they are refusing to sign off for permits for agricultural use even after telling us that the area we picked was not wetlands due to prior construction. I was scolded for removing trash from a pond but told minuets later that I could go in and remove invasive trees and apply chemicals to keep them from growing. I was also told that the GIS maps that EPD uses are inaccurate but want us to pay thousands of dollars to update it. We were even told we “don’t have enough money to fight it”. I have called Farm Bureau, Department of Water Management in Tallahassee and ST Johns WMD and they all said that Alachua County EPD is the worst in the state. As of now this has been going on since August with no end in site. We understand the importance of natural resource preservation and that is part of our business model for alternative farming but this is not the way to treat farmers trying to teach others. As a disabled veteran and small farmer there should be more support but all we are finding is that unless there is big profits there is no help.

Thank you,
Ed and Lori Johnson
River Bend Ranch Florida
(202) 826-6168

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