A precious Pinellas County resource once in a fight to protect its property is now on the verge of lifetime preservation.

Jim House spent the last year fighting for a rare piece of Pinellas County land.

House is a friend of Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in south St. Petersburg.

Over the last year, House and his group of supporters fought off a developer looking to build condos next to Boyd Hill.

“Boyd Hill has never been touched by anything, this is old Florida habitat,” House said.

Now that the town home issue is behind them, Boyd Hill is one step closer to becoming a fully protected preserve, thanks to a plan submitted this week.

“When you’re talking about people interested in preservation you have to talk about forever,” House said.

The goal is to protect this rare natural resource in the middle of an overpopulated Florida county.

Rick MacAulay of St. Petersburg’s Planning and Economic Development department presented a plan this week to change the land use and fully preserve the remaining 157 unprotected acres at Boyd Hill.

“Sends a signal in terms of land use and zoning that this is a highly protected area,” MacAulay said.

The plan sets the preserve up for the future.

“It’ll benefit the City of St. Petersburg for at least a very long time,” House said.

The plan was approved by St. Petersburg’s Community Planning and Preservation Commission.

It now goes to city council. It’s expected to be fully approved sometime in February.