Lettuce Creek Ranch seeks preservation protection
From Highlands News-Sun's John Guerra: Lettuce Creek Ranch seeks preservation protection
A Sebring-area ranch is on the path to preservation under the state’s Forever Florida conservation and recreation lands program.
The Lettuce Creek Cattle Company property, which is south of U.S. 98 and two miles west of Lake Istokpoga’s northwest cove, consists of two parcels totaling 377 acres. The property’s southern boundary adjoins the Lake Wales Ridge ecosystem, which is number two in the Critical Natural Lands Category and ranks high in the state’s priority for preservation.
The property is considered a Priority 2 Florida Wildlife Corridor – a network of connected wildlife habitats critical for the long-term survival of regional wildlife populations – and will add acreage within the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem so wildlife can live and travel unmolested on the western side of Lake Istokpoga, according to the Lettuce Creek Cattle Co.’s Forever Florida application.
James M. Wohl, the owner of Terraventures Real Estate in Sebring, represents Lettuce Creek Cattle Co. landowner Kathleen A. Tauchen, who hopes to preserve her land.
Wohl, whose bio on showcase.com says he has won recognition for his environmental stewardship of his own cattle ranch by Audubon Florida in 2013, also developed Golf Hammock Country Club and Community, the 600-acre, 18-hole golf community with nearly 800 living units near Highlands Hammock State Park.
The land is not slated for development under the program. Under “potential public recreation opportunities or other public uses” the application states: “Not applicable.”
Tauchen’s application indicates that 183 acres, of 49% of the property, is strategic habitat for the Florida mouse, Florida scrub jay, sand skink, black bear, Crested caracara, Florida long-tailed weasel, sandhill crane, Florida scrub lizard, gopher tortoise, eastern indigo snake, Florida panther, sand skiing, bald eagle, osprey, and southern fox squirrel.
Tauchen is offering the land at a less-than-fee acquisition, which allows the state to purchase limited property rights instead of the entire property, or fee simple. This method can be used to protect natural resources by reducing the cost to taxpayers while protecting natural resources, according to the Florida Natural Areas Inventory.
Other environmental groups, including Archbold Biological Station, support Lettuce Creek’s Forever Florida application. Joshua Daskin, the station’s director of conservation and Zack Franco, the station’s conservation partnerships coordinator, signed a letter supporting Tachen’s petition. The biologists underscored the importance of the property’s water, especially Yellow Bluff Creek, which enters the property from Red Beach Lake to the north. The creek runs under U.S. 98 just east of Spray and Pray Guns & Ammo before entering the Lettuce Creek property.
“Wetlands and waterways like Yellow Bluff Creek on this property offer a series of services … Lettuce Creek Cattle Co. protects a significant acreage of water resources and the conservation of it would support Lake Istokpoga watershed and greater Kissimmee-Okeechobee watershed as a whole.”
According to the DEP, the Forever Florida program is highly competitive. After a project is added to the Florida Forever Priority List, acquisition is dependent on funding availability, and therefore, could take six months or many years, depending on the project’s priority ranking. Additional steps in the acquisition process will include a preliminary survey, appraisals, price negotiations and closing products.
Since the inception of the Florida Forever program in July 2001, the state has purchased more than 907,412 acres of land with approximately $3.3 billion.
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