Connection, conversation, conservation – Land preservation groups talk wildlife corridor

The rural land preservation group of Marion County called Horse Farms Forever (HFF) joined the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation (FWCF) to host a full day of conversations on the present and future of Florida land conservation. The May 20 event held at Ocala's Circle Square Cultural Center was titled Corridor Connect+ LIVE: Working Lands, Working Solutions.

Jason Lauritsen, Chief Conservation Officer of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation (FWCF), was a featured guest speaker who presented the good news and the bad news of conserving rural lands here in Florida that make up the statewide patchwork of landscapes available to wildlife for food procurement and reproductive success. Reproductive success means offspring survive into adulthood healthy enough to successfully reproduce more offspring.

Many species of Florida wildlife, such as bobcats, panthers, deer, bears and even the big raptor birds of prey, stay on the move in order to survive. Wildlife corridor connectivity is imperative to their livelihood.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is made up of 18 million acres of lands, wetlands, water bodies forests, farms and ranches that are presently protected by Florida State management agencies such as State Forestry, Water Management Districts, the National Park Service and perpetual conservation easements on privately owned timber lands, farms and ranches.

Jason Lauritsen of FWCF noted that there are 8 million more acres of potential conservation acres available and waiting for conservation easement protection against development that are connected to already protected lands. With more than a thousand people a day moving into Florida, the need for preservation of wildlands is now, he said. Every day, a few more thousand acres of rural land will be purchased and bulldozed for development opportunities. Last year here in Marion County, two large tracts of rural land totaling 3,109 acres was sold for a total of $36 million. Will the buyers develop these lands?

One tract of land in Marion County that will not be developed is the 5,000-acre Drake Ranch located within the vast wildlife corridor of thousands of acres of land and water protected by the state of Florida through Forestry, State Parks, the Cross Florida Greenways, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the 6,000-acre Halpata Tastanaki Preserve and the Withlacoochee State Forest. The Drake Ranch was represented at the Corridor Connect conference panel on conservation easements by Holland Drake. A few months ago, the nonprofit Horse Farms Forever presented their Acorn Award for land conservation to Ann Louise Drake. The Drake Ranch Family has contributed a large wildlife environment land tract conservation easement to the Withlacoochee River Wildlife Corridor Connection.

The Drake family members are urging other large property owners in Marion County to follow their lead to give all wildlife a chance of continuing reproductive success.

Lauritsen was quick to point out that there are troublesome areas within Marion County called "pinch points" where the continuous wildlife corridor runs into a bottleneck of development that inhibits the movement of wildlife.

One of those places, Jason noted, is the narrow Rainbow River Corridor. This pinch point could be relieved by the Florida Legislature if it funds the Florida Florida Forever Land Trust that could possibly purchase the 150 acres of undeveloped woodlands along the Rainbow River's west bank. This property is currently offered for sale. So far, though, the Florida Forever budget is noted as "unfunded" for the upcoming state budget.