In the early 1980s, The Nature Conservancy, a private, nonprofit conservation organization, dedicated to protecting the earth's plants, animals, and natural communities, purchased some of the larger ecologically sensitive sites on the Ridge. In the mid-1980's, The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission supported a rare plant and animal inventory of the Ridge conducted by ecologist Steve Christman. In 1988, Christman's detailed report confirmed the remarkable natural diversity and importance of the Ridge.

In 1989, Biologists, alarmed at the continued loss of native habitat, organized a meeting that shaped a protection strategy for endangered upland habitat on the Ridge. Land was selected for acquisition based on scientific information. Much of these data were provided by Christman and by Archbold Biological Station, a nonprofit research facility established to study the ecology of the Ridge and surrounding region. The resulting protection strategy included preserving sites of varying sizes, targeting adjacent sites so pollen and birds could travel among them and meeting long-term management needs. All public land acquisition programs were designed to work with willing sellers.