From scrub to wetlands: 5 properties recommended for Polk conservation lands program

What will be the next addition to a roster that includes Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland Highlands Scrub and Crooked Lake Prairie?

A committee submitted a report earlier this month on properties that Polk County might acquire through its Environmental Lands Program, finding that five of the six candidates were worth pursuing. The recommended parcels range in size from 148 acres to 1,313 acres, and they encompass scrub, hardwood hammocks, pasture, wetlands and citrus groves.

The Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee presented its evaluation to the Polk County Commission at its Nov. 7 meeting, signaling movement toward reviving a process that had stalled following the expiration of funding in 2015.

A year ago, Polk County voters decisively approved a referendum creating a designated property tax to fund the land-conservation program for 20 years. The measure imposed an ad valorem tax of 20 cents for each $1,000 of taxable property value.

Polk County established the program in 1994 with the passage of a similar referendum. That tax generated about $84 million before it expired in 2015, enabling the county to obtain more than 25,000 acres for conservation. The most recognized acquisition, the 1,267-acre Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, is a former cattle ranch along Lake Hancock that has become one of Florida’s most popular birdwatching sites since a large portion was restored to its natural marshy conditions.

Funding from the new property tax began flowing into the Environmental Lands Program in October, with the start of the new fiscal year. County officials have the authority to begin making acquisitions now based on anticipated revenue, said Gaye Sharpe, director of Polk County’s Parks and Natural Resources Division.

While most of the transactions in the initial phase of the program involved outright purchases, the county also has the option of buying conservation easements — “less than fee” payments that allow owners to continue agricultural use of the property while forfeiting development rights.

Following the language of the 2022 ballot measure, Polk County commissioners in April appointed the 11 members of CLASAC, the committee charged with evaluating applications for the program, which only makes deals with willing sellers. The program began accepting site nominations on Aug. 1.

The committee in turn created a Technical Assessment Group, which conducted field trips to the initial six nominated sites in September. TAG consists of volunteers with expertise in such areas as wildlife, water resources, natural communities, plant identification and forestry.

The committee scored each property on five criteria: water resources, natural communities and landscape, plants and animals, human value and management. Scores are weighted toward the first three categories, and properties receive total scores that can range from 20 to 118.

CLASAC ranked the six candidates in this order: Creek Legacy Ranch 95, Friedlander Ranch 89, Raley property 86, Astute Financial Conservation Trust 81, Fulton Scrub 75 and Davidson Pasture 54. The committee recommended pursuing acquisition for all but Davidson Pasture.

The County Commission must approve all transactions through the Environmental Lands Program.

Rating nominated properties

Creek Legacy Ranch covers 1,313 acres bordering Lake Hatcheniha, north of County Road 542, also known as Lake Hatchineha Road, in an unincorporated area east of Lake Hamilton. The committee gave it high rankings in every category, with a score of 40 (out of a possible 47) for natural communities and landscape.

In their assessments, TAG members reported the presence of such threatened or protected species as fox squirrels, sand skinks and gopher tortoises.

Marian Ryan of Winter Haven, a TAG member, helped lead the effort to pass the initial ballot measure in 1994 and worked as co-chair of Polk Forever, the political group that developed and pushed last year’s referendum. Ryan, a longtime leader of the Sierra Club Ancient Islands Group, served on CLASAC for the initial phase of the Environmental Lands Program.

Ryan described Creek Legacy Ranch as having substantial conservation value.

“It drains into Lake Hatchineha, and it's connected to several different conservation lands,” she said. “It's also included in the Florida Wildlife Corridor. It’s got a high level of species diversity. They've seen bear on it. It’s got fox squirrels. It has sand skinks. It's got a nice little scrub area on it. So, I mean, just for wildlife values and wildlife corridor values, it’s up there.”

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is a ribbon of intact natural lands running northward through the peninsula. Conservationists have identified it as crucial for protection because large mammals, such as Florida black bears and endangered Florida panthers, need to range across wide areas to maintain healthy populations.

The area faces development pressure, as new and proposed housing projects emerge, making protection of Creek Legacy Ranch a more urgent need, Ryan said.

A development 1,800 houses with a commercial strip along Lake Hatchineha Road has already been approved by the County Commission for 600 acres on the western portion of the Creek Legacy Ranch. Sharpe said the owner is seeking acquisition or an easement for the entire 1,313 acres. If they get an offer they find satisfactory, she said, it could stop development.

Finding protected species

The 649-acre Friedlander Ranch, southeast of Lake Wales, received high scores for natural communities and landscapes and plants and animals.

TAG members reported the presence of whooping cranes (federally listed as an endangered species), crested caracara, fox squirrels and gopher tortoises, along with ziziphus, a rare plant endemic to Central Florida. Their notes described the property as having high value for water recharge to the Floridan Aquifer and for a relative lack of invasive species.

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Sharpe said the property contains “beautiful oak hammocks” and other ecosystems, with wetlands mixed among the dry habitat.

“The Friedlander (property) is also a key location because it is nearby to the Tiger Creek Preserve, and it also is adjacent to a mitigation area, so it has some connectivity with natural areas around it,” Sharpe said.

The Raley property, encompassing 418 acres in the Dundee area, largely consists of citrus groves. Situated near Lake Annie, it scored highest for water resources and human values.

The Astute Financial Conservation Trust property occupies 148 acres east of Winter Haven Regional Airport. It lies west of U.S. 17 and mostly south of U.S. 92, though a section extends north of that road.

After a field trip on Sept. 22, the Technical Assessment Group rated the property highly for water resources, with a score of 32 out of 37. TAG member Shannon Carnevale described it as one of the last large remaining wetlands connected to the Winter Haven Chain of Lakes and wrote that it contained a “valuable bottomland hardwoods stand.”

The Fulton Scrub is a 238-acre, T-shaped property in the Alturas area, east of Bartow. The TAG report scored it highest in the category of plants and animals. Members described it as “very high quality” scrub containing many rare and listed species, including sand skinks.

TAG member Suzanne Lindsey documented five federally listed plants.

Ryan raised concerns that the property has 10 boundary lines, including a powerline easement, which she said could present a management challenge. She said it is also difficult to access, reached only by a dirt road in poor condition.

Easements are an option

At least two of the properties, Creek Legacy Ranch and the Raley property, are under consideration for protection through state conservation programs. A 700-acre portion of Creek Legacy Ranch is a candidate for acquisition through Florida Forever, the state’s primary land conservation program.

The owners of the Raley property have applied for a conservation easement through the state’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.

The county is communicating with landowners to determine which properties might receive state funding for conservation, Sharpe said. In the next stage of the process, the county pursues funding options and potential partnerships.

Before any offers can be made, the county will hire professionals to conduct appraisals of properties. Differing appraisals are required for state and local programs and for properties considered for outright purchase or for conservation easements, Sharpe said.

It could be at least six months before the county makes an offer to property owners, Sharpe said.

The initial referendum from 1994 established the option of conservation easements, Ryan said, but Polk County’s attorney interpreted the language as not allowing that until the late stages of the program. Any parcels protected through a conservation easement would not be open to the public.

Sharpe expressed satisfaction with the first round of potential acquisitions. She said there is no cutoff point for nominations, and other land owners are now showing interest.

“We're just excited that there are property owners that are interested in having us look at the property for this program,” she said. “It also has created interest by others because some people want to see how it works a little bit to have a better understanding.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Five properties nominated for Polk County conservation program