Conservation Easement is Part of Airport Relocation Process

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The St. Joe Company today announced it has recorded a conservation easement for 9,609 acres, for implementation of a mitigation plan by the Panama City – Bay County International Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) for environmental impacts of the relocation and construction of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport. The easement becomes permanent upon commencement of construction of the new airport. It fulfills a major commitment JOE made in a land donation agreement with the Airport Authority.

The airport conservation area is located north of West Bay, a part of the St. Andrew Bay system, and will provide important watershed protection for one of Florida’s most pristine bays. The land covered by the conservation easement is part of the West Bay Preservation Area established by the West Bay Sector Plan. The sector plan, passed by the Bay County Commission in 2003, establishes a long-term vision and land-use plan for approximately 78,000 acres in northwest Bay County.

The conservation easement is but one step in the realization of the West Bay Preservation Area that is planned to include tens of thousands of acres of conservation land with open space that could be used for wildlife greenways, hunting, fishing, hiking, bird-watching, parks, recreational areas, nature centers and educational areas. The preservation area contains some of Northwest Florida’s most important environmental jewels. Under the sector plan, the vast majority of the West Bay’s shoreline would be preserved forever.

Dozens of public meetings and many hours of hard work by local citizens, local and national environmentalists, the Bay County Commission and the State of Florida produced the West Bay Sector Plan, one of the largest land plans of its kind in the United States. The ecological portion of the plan is also the result of an interagency comprehensive regional planning effort in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Northwest Florida Water Management District, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and St. Joe participated.

“When representatives of the Airport Authority first introduced the idea of a relocated airport more than eight years ago, the idea was partially driven by the concerns of committed local environmentalists about the negative impacts that a runway expansion would have on the St. Andrew Bay system,” said Peter S. Rummell, chairman and CEO of St. Joe. “When the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tentatively approved feasibility and site selection studies recommending relocation to the site in western Bay County, St. Joe, together with local environmental leaders, Bay County and the Airport Authority, agreed that the plan and policies for the new airport needed to start with a strong commitment to protecting the West Bay.”

“I was there at the beginning,” said John Robert Middlemas, a founding member of Citizens for Sensible Airport Development, the group that opposed expansion of the current airport in the mid-1990s because of the threat it presented to the St. Andrew Bay system. “One of the ideas proposed then was a way to create a 'win-win' plan for the future by protecting the bay and relocating the airport. We worked with the Airport Authority, the County and St. Joe to design a plan and policies for the sector plan that will protect the water quality, habitat and scenic beauty of West Bay forever. These protections were adopted in the sector plan, and this conservation easement is one of the critical steps to seeing those protections permanently fixed. I am thrilled that my children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy West Bay the same way my father and I have, because of the protection made possible in the sector plan created by the hard work of many of my colleagues in the local environmental community and St. Joe.”

“The idea of the West Bay Preservation Area grew out of dozens of community meetings with committed citizens focused on that objective,” said Rummell. “At these public meetings citizens actually drew the boundaries and drafted the conservation concepts and the policies to implement them. This community developed an unprecedented environmental framework that became the first element in the sector plan designed to support the airport relocation. The principles created then were based on the objective of ‘protecting West Bay forever.’ Now, years later, these principles are being played out with the recording of this conservation easement.”

“This easement begins to implement a large-scale environmental planning framework that goes well beyond customary regulatory requirements,” said Rummell. “It will provide permanent protection for some of the most environmentally sensitive areas in Northwest Florida, safeguards important water resources and protects the beauty and environmental integrity of the region for generations to come.”

Previously JOE agreed to donate an additional 4,000 acres to the Airport Authority when all permits and funding for relocation are in place. The new airport site is located north and northwest of the airport mitigation area and north of West Bay in an area of recently-harvested planted-pine plantation. On September 15, 2006, the FAA issued its Record of Decision (ROD) approving the relocation of the Panama City – Bay County International Airport to a site in West Bay. Significant regulatory steps remain before construction of the new airport can begin. The relocation of the airport is also dependent on adequate funding.

About JOE

The St. Joe Company, a publicly held company based in Jacksonville, is one of Florida's largest real estate operating companies. We are primarily engaged in real estate development and sales, with significant interests in timber. Our mission is to create places that inspire people and make JOE's Florida an even better place to live, work and play. We're no ordinary JOE.

More information about JOE can be found at our web site at http://www.joe.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty, and there can be no assurance that the results described in such statements will be realized. Such statements are based on our current expectations and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or reissue any forward-looking statements. Risk factors that may cause the actual results to differ are described in this release and in our various documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005.

Copyright 2006, The St. Joe Company. "St. Joe," "JOE" and the "Taking Flight" design are service marks of The St. Joe Company

Contacts
The St. Joe Company, Jacksonville
Media Contact:
Jerry M. Ray, 904-301-4430
jray@joe.com