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On April 4, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law directing 96 percent of funds from a new agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to multiple land, water, and wildlife protection initiatives. The 2021 Seminole Gaming Compact<\/a> was a \u201chistoric agreement\u201d between the state and the tribe that handed executive control of all online sports betting in the state to the Seminole Tribal Gaming Commission<\/a>, a move that upset competitors in Florida\u2019s gambling industry and even spurred legal action<\/a>. In return, the tribe agreed to pay revenues back to the state to the tune of $20 billion, $2.5 billion of which would clear in the first five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senate Bill 1638<\/a>, which passed both chambers of the Florida Legislature unanimously before landing on DeSantis\u2019 desk, establishes how to use those kickbacks to benefit the state\u2019s natural resources.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe compact is in place, and we\u2019re getting revenue share, and that\u2019s good,\u201d DeSantis told members of the media<\/a> during a news conference on April 4. \u201cSo what are we going to do with that? We are going to dedicate the bulk of the revenue to these restoration programs. So we are looking at about $750 million a year to the state just from the Seminole Tribe gaming compact. That\u2019s a lot of resources.\u201d<\/p>\n The money will be divvied up across a variety of uses, almost all of which will bolster the state\u2019s habitat and wildlife conservation efforts. A press release from the Florida Senate<\/a> highlighted the following allocations:<\/p>\n The Florida Wildlife Corridor<\/a> refers to the 17.7 million acres of wildlife habitat and working lands that create a continuous web from far-west Florida on the Alabama border to the Everglades and the Keys. The Sunshine State is home to an incredible amount of biodiversity, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation points out<\/a>. Some 131 endangered and threatened species live in and rely on the corridor for migration, genetic diversity, and more space from a fast-urbanizing state.<\/p>\n\n