Conservation Collier will make an offer to buy Pepper Ranch in Immokalee for environmental preservation.

County commissioners gave unanimous approval for the program to offer $33.2 million to buy the 2,500-acre tract, which would be the program’s biggest purchase.

Commissioners also gave the program the go-ahead to seek money to pay for the purchase, which would cost significantly more than the $6 million available in the fiscal 2008 budget after subtracting the cost of other possible acquisitions.

Taxes are levied yearly on Collier County property owners to support the preservation fund. Money to buy Pepper Ranch would be borrowed or bonded.

After the offer is made, a formal agreement between Conservation Collier and the current owners will be made and presented to county commissioners in September for final approval.

During discussion, board members sought clarity regarding stewardship credits awarded to the current owners under the county’s rural land stewardship program as well as panther habitat mitigation credits that will be included in the purchase. Commissioners made approvals with the condition that the final agreement clarifies those issues.

“I think that things went very well and we will now move towards the details and we’ll get an agreement together that identifies all of these things and move forward towards the board in September with the contract,” said Alexandra Sulecki, Conservation Collier coordinator.

Lake Trafford Ranch LLP has owned the ranch since 2005 and includes engineering firm Hole Montes President Tom Taylor and Allen Concrete owner Chris Allen. Gene Hearn, grandson of the ranch’s namesake, and Hearn’s mother, Joyce, are also part of the partnership.

Under conditions of the sale, the current owners would be responsible for cleanup of the property including clearing certain structures, handling septic tanks and mediating soil and groundwater contamination. Oil, gas and mineral rights would be included in the sale.

The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) Land & Water Trust, which coordinates acquisition, land management and public use of the watershed, plans to contribute $350,000 to the purchase of Pepper Ranch.

“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of developing these natural systems,” said CREW Trust executive director Brenda Brooks. Sulecki said CREW Trust would empty out its bank account by making the contribution.

The purchase of Pepper Ranch would give the county the opportunity to preserve an area that is a natural habitat for panthers, black bears and other threatened species.

Sulecki and board members stressed the importance of protecting the panthers that call Pepper Ranch home.

“It’s significant panther habitat,” Sulecki said. “If we buy it, put it in preservation and don’t develop it, that habitat can be used to offset impacts to panther habitat elsewhere.”

The land also has the potential of being used as a mitigation bank to meet environmental permitting requirements for road and utility projects.

Sulecki said that, after gaining final approval from county commissioners, those involved hope to close on the deal in late fall or winter.