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FOREVER FLORIDA began as a young man's dream.
Allen Broussard loved roaming the area next to the family's Crescent J Ranch as a boy, and when he became a Wildlife Ecologist, he came to understand its ecological value. It had been divided up into lots just by drawing lines on paper and sold to unsuspecting buyers all over the U.S., sight unseen, in the 1960's and 70's, until a law finally was passed putting an end to such sales.
As a teenager, Allen contracted Hodgkin's Disease and later, while in Graduate School working on a PhD, he needed a heart transplant due to damage to his heart from the cancer treatments. While in the hospital awaiting a donor, he told his father, Dr. William Broussard, about how rare unspoiled Florida ecosystems had become and how important it is to save as much as possible of those native systems. It was Allen's dream to preserve it.
Dr. Broussard, an Ophthalmologist and 10th- generation rancher from Louisiana, and his wife, Margaret, founded the Allen Broussard Conservancy, a not-for-profit Scientific Corporation created for the purpose of purchasing the land and keeping it as a wildlife preserve. Fortunately, the property was in pristine condition and had not been developed due to its remoteness and extensive wetlands.
Today, Allen's dream has become a reality. Forever Florida, together with the Crescent J Ranch, comprise a 4,700-acre cattle ranch and nature preserve combining "Old Florida" charm with an exciting and educational opportunity to view native animals and plants in their natural environment.
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