[Photo: Jon M. Fletcher]

Arrayed in row after row of tall, skinny slash pines, vast tracts of timberland have dominated the triangle between Jacksonville, Lake City and Gainesville for more than a hundred years. The landowners, dating back to the Owens-Illinois and Georgia Pacific forest-product companies, kept the area rural by keeping it in trees.

Today, these tracts are owned by Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber. The publicly held real estate investment trust entered Florida in 2001, when it merged with Georgia-Pacific's Timber Co. Plum Creek — with 590,000 acres stretching into 22 of the state's 67 counties — crowns Florida Trend's list of the top 10 private landowners in Florida.

Combined, the 10 companies own more than 5,000 square miles of Florida — roughly a tenth of the state's total land area. The large privately owned swaths are vital to Florida's future — from their environmental importance for protecting the state's freshwater resources and wildlife habitats to their economic significance for preserving agriculture and developing new business sectors.

» Go to article: Florida's Biggest Private Land Owners

Below:
Click for an interactive map of Florida's Top 10 Private Landowners

Paving the Way for Growth

Click for an Interactive 2011 Economic Yearbook Map which includes data on population, age, income and more

Counties throughout the state are reporting renewed hiring after years of layoffs, but with unemployment at or above 11% in many counties, more jobs are still needed. Tired of watching their employment bases shrink, local leaders are changing the rules in an effort to spur development: Indian River County passed a tax abatement measure late last year; Martin County enacted a zoning change to ease the way for life science companies; Osceola County voted for a moratorium on transportation impact fees; and Nassau County has suspended impact fees.

At this website, you'll find the companies — both established and emerging — and people who are making an impact around Florida, along with statistical information on housing, unemployment, population and income.

Economic Yearbook - Regions

• Miami-Dade • Southeast • Treasure Coast • Southwest

• Central • Tampa Bay • Space Coast • North Central

• Northeast • Big Bend • Northwest