This movement is growing because of YOU.
10 Tampa Bay News Reporter, Chris Hurst , interviewed me for the news report on the growing support for protecting Little Manatee South.
Every single signature on our petition to protect the Little Manatee South Community has helped bring attention to what is happening here. Thousands of people have spoken up, and now even local news is taking notice.
This is proof that when a community stands together, people listen.
Little Manatee South is more than open land on a map.
It's a vital wildlife corridor where deer, bobcats, foxes, bears, gopher tortoises, bald eagles, and countless other species move and survive.
It's wetlands that naturally filter our water and reduce flooding.
It's part of the land that protects the aquifer many families depend on for their drinking water and private wells.
If this landscape is opened up for major development, the consequences won't stop at our neighborhood.
Increased pavement, more traffic, habitat fragmentation, higher flood risks, greater demands on our water supply, and pollution all have impacts that extend far beyond Little Manatee South.
This fight has never been just about adding a road to the Community Plan.
It's about protecting what that plan was created to do.
Once roads are placed on a county planning map, they can make it easier to pursue funding and future development. That's why this amendment matters. It's about preserving the vision of a rural planning area that was established to protect agriculture, natural resources, and the character of this community.
Fifty years ago, Florida had room to grow.
Today, we need to ask a different question.
Not "Where else can we build?"
But "What places are too important to lose?"
Little Manatee South is one of those places.
Protecting this land means protecting wildlife, clean water, rural communities, and future generations.
Together, we can protect one of the last remaining critically important rural landscapes in South Hillsborough County.
Watch the segment here: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/little-manatee-river-development-petition-sundance/67-1abb0899-c123-403d-9e45-c0b2233bec9b
Please continue to share the petition. We greatly appreciate your support.
Thank you for caring!
Dr. Cori