Conservation 20/20 News

Nomination 360, a 2.5-acre site formerly owned by Keith Johns has been acquired with Conservation 20/20 funding. The property owner originally required $250,000 ($100,000 per acre) for the property. However, through negotiations, agreed to accept $200,000 ($80,000 per acre). The site is a mix of pine and cypress forest that will help buffer and protect the eastern arm of the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.

LEE COUNTY ADDS TRACT TO THE WILD TURKEY STRAND PRESERVE

Lee County added 508 acres to the Wild Turkey Strand Preserve, a Conservation 20/20 corridor for bear and panther that stretches over five miles between S.R. 82 and Alico Road. This addition brings the total acreage of this preserve up to 3,137 acres. The tract is located on S.R. 82 and runs south 2 ½ miles along Rod and Gun Club Road and the western boundary of the preserve. An additional 34 acres was acquired by Lee County DOT for future road improvements.

This acquisition is the second Conservation 20/20 property to be honored in the Legacy Program. The Legacy Program was created as an initiative to attract quality nominations. A Seller of exceptional conservation land may petition the County for naming rights of the new preserve. The petition must be approved by the Conservation Lands Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee and the Board of County Commissioners. Through the Legacy Program, this addition has been officially named the Elizabeth and Thomas Morrison Tract of the Wild Turkey Strand Preserve. The Daniels Preserve at Spanish Creek was the first preserve to be recognized in the Legacy Program.

At least five distinct native plant communities are found on the property: pine flatwoods, mesic (wet) pine flatwoods, wet prairie, cypress domes, and depressional marshes. The large diversity of native plant communities can sustain a wide diversity of plant and animal species including many listed species. Very little of the natural landscape has been cleared and is mostly free of invasive, exotic pest plants. The wetlands filter impurities from surface waters. The land provides floodplain protection. The property has good access for public use, which may include hiking, bird watching, horseback riding, and nature study.

The owners wanted $14,898,125 for the property, but the Division of County Lands, the County Office which negotiates land purchases for the County, was able to acquire the property for $9,208,350 ($8,632,730 from Conservation 2020 and $575,620 from LeeDOT).

The Conservation 20/20 program buys environmentally important lands for preservation. Its funded by a property tax, which was approved by referendum in 1996. It is 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Since the first purchase in 1997, the Countys Conservation 20/20 program has made 89 land purchases and the land inventory now stands at 19,737 acres.

This parcel is located in the southeast quadrant of Interstate-75 and Bayshore Road (SR 78) on an undeveloped easement. It is Lot 11 Swan Way, East Lake Colony, an unrecorded Plat. The STRAP # is 22-43-25-00-00017.0140.

NAME OF SELLER: Stanley K. Ink, Trustee

The value of this nomination is that it allows the adjacent road right-of-way to be vacated and eliminates a building lot that, if developed, would contribute to management conflicts that are occurring in this urban interface area of the Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve.