In another win for Florida preservation projects, the state recorded its first conservation easement of a special grassland — and Stetson University helped give it the final push. Under the National Resources Conservation Service, the 581-acre property, located in Western Columbia County and within the Santa Fe and Suwannee River watersheds, is now considered a "Grassland of Special Environmental Significance." The finalization of the project was announced last Wednesday by Stetson University, in partnership with the Alachua Conservation Trust and the North Florida Land Trust. With sandy soil that recharges rainwater seeping through the sand and into the aquifer, the property has been kept and maintained by its owners for more than 50 years for quail hunting. Because of the careful preservation and prescribed, controlled fires, more than 243 native plant species have been recorded.