Environmental Conservancy of North Port targets parcels for Florida Scrub-Jay habitat

Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
This Florida Scrub-Jay was photographed by James Rogers within North Port city limits. The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is currently raising funds to buy two lots to serve as habitat for the endangered birds and other wildlife.
This Florida Scrub-Jay was photographed by James Rogers within North Port city limits. The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is currently raising funds to buy two lots to serve as habitat for the endangered birds and other wildlife.

NORTH PORT ― The Environmental Conservancy of North Port faces an Aug. 17 deadline to raise funds to purchase a half-acre in the Meroni Paradise neighborhood of North Port as habitat for Florida Scrub-Jays and other wildlife, including Gopher Tortoises.

The current funding goal is a combined $24,000 ― or $12,000 per lot ― for adjacent parcels on Minardi Street and Jayman Road.

The nonprofit ― which buys and preserves land in both Sarasota and Charlotte counties ― has purchased and preserved 21 parcels for animal habitat.

Fourteen of the protected parcels are in North Port, six in Charlotte County's Harbour Heights neighborhood and one in Port Charlotte.

These two adjacent lots total a half-acre and are within what U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had identified as a Florida Scrub-Jay zone in North Port, noted Barbara Lockhart, president of the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Florida Scrub-Jays are considered a threatened species by both the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and listed as “vulnerable to extinction” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“These lots are in a zone where jays were sighted in October 2021,” Lockhart said.

Stepping stones

Tony Clements ― then the park manager at Oscar Scherer State Park ― told the Herald-Tribune in 2019 that Florida Scrub-Jays stay within their home range from generation to generation and will at most travel two to three miles for new habitat.

This Florida Scrub-Jay was photographed by James Rogers within North Port city limits. The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is currently raising money to buy two lots to serve as habitat for the endangered birds and other wildlife.
This Florida Scrub-Jay was photographed by James Rogers within North Port city limits. The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is currently raising money to buy two lots to serve as habitat for the endangered birds and other wildlife.

Smaller parcels ― like the half-acre the Environmental Conservancy plans to purchase ― can serve as connections to larger habitats.

“It gives them what we call stepping stones in between houses, in between buildings to build a nest, forage for food,” Lockhart said.

She noted that wildlife does thrive in the open areas between developed yards in the city.

The red slashes show the two lots off of North Biscayne Drive at Minardi Street and Jayman Road that are eyed by the Environmental Conservancy of North Port for purchase as Florida Scrub-Jay habitat.
The red slashes show the two lots off of North Biscayne Drive at Minardi Street and Jayman Road that are eyed by the Environmental Conservancy of North Port for purchase as Florida Scrub-Jay habitat.

Larger scrub-jay habitat in the area includes Oscar Scherer State Park, Shamrock Park, Deer Prairie Creek, the Lemon Bay Preserve, Lemon Bay Park, parts of Caspersen Beach and the Manasota Scrub Preserve in Englewood.

A reasonable price

At $12,000 each, Lockhart said the price for the two lots is “really low in the market right now."

The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is currently raising funds to buy two lots in an identified Florida Scrub-Jay zone to serve as habitat for the endangered birds and other wildlife.
The Environmental Conservancy of North Port is currently raising funds to buy two lots in an identified Florida Scrub-Jay zone to serve as habitat for the endangered birds and other wildlife.

After the conservancy closed on the purchase of two lots earlier this year, at least two parties had expressed interest in helping to fund the next acquisition. In addition, Lockhart said, the conservancy wanted to open up a general fundraising appeal.

Donations to the nonprofit can be made via GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/aa12c66a while checks outside that platform are also accepted.

For more information call 941-218-9775, email NPconservancy@gmail.com or visit https://www..ecnorthport.com, or find the nonprofit on Facebook at The Environmental Conservancy of North Port And Surrounding Areas or Instagram at @npconservancy.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Environmental Conservancy of North Port eyes Florida Scrub-Jay habitat