CAMP BLANDING – The North Florida Land Trust recently made a 2,300-acre stride in their continued conservation efforts of the Ocala to Osceola wildlife corridor.
In September, the NFLT …
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CAMP BLANDING – The North Florida Land Trust recently made a 2,300-acre stride in their continued conservation efforts of the Ocala to Osceola wildlife corridor.
In September, the NFLT completed a 2,500-acre acquisition, their largest easement acquisition ever and on Oct. 29, they made one of their largest in-fee acquisitions to date. Coming in at 2,300 acres, this acquisition near Lawtey will further the NFLT’s conservation efforts in the Ocala to Osceola, or O2O, wildlife corridor. In this corridor, there are an estimated 15 to 40 different types of endangered species that, because of the NFLT’s efforts, will have a better chance at bouncing back.
“I’ve heard anywhere between 15 to 40 different types of listed endangered or threatened species in that area with possibly more that migrate north and south through the O2O,” NFLT President Jim McCarthy said. “So, to know that an acquisition like this will be helping out those animals, well that’s great news to hear. It’s another step in our process completed.”
Some of these animals include the gopher tortoise, quail, and the Florida Black Bear.
This piece of land connects Camp Blanding with Jennings State Forest and is comprised of pine trees, hardwood forests and a lot of ground cover, which according to McCarthy, serves as an excellent home to the many types of wildlife within the area.
“That’s why it’s so important that we protect and conserve such a critical piece of the wildlife corridor,” McCarthy said.
Not only does this 2,300-acre piece of land house different species of animals, it also contains Boggy Branch, which is one of the headwater tributaries of Black Creek. McCarthy said that right now, the NFLT has not officially determined how this new piece of land will be managed, but he said he does think the NFLT will do some restoration work along the creeks.
“There is a headwater of Black Creek and that’s particularly significant for us to restore,” McCarthy said. “With proper restoration of the creeks in the area, less water will flow downstream into Black Creek, which could perhaps reduce flooding.”
This in-fee acquisition, with in-fee serving as a way to designate that the purchase comes with all ownership rights to the land, is part of the NFLT’s ongoing effort to not only continue to preserve and maintain parts of the O2O, but also provide Camp Blanding with larger safety barriers. Because of its proximity to Camp Blanding, it also provides the Army National Guard training camp with more land for active, reserve and emergency responder training.
Because of how important these lands surrounding Camp Blanding are, with these 2,300 acres attached directly to the Northwest corner of the training center, the Army National Guard provided $5.15 million in funds for the purchase of the land. The remaining balance of $385,000 was covered by the Florida Defense Support Task Force Grant via the Clay County Development Authority. NFLT will be managing the land though, which is where they will incur costs.
According to McCarthy, this acquisition was a two-for-one in that not only does the land purchased help the O2O, but Camp Blanding as well.
The last acquisition by NFLT, which was an easement acquisition of 2,500 acres, created a 14-mile corridor within the O2O. While this acquisition doesn't connect directly to this stretch of land, it serves as yet another puzzle piece in the NFLT’s greater picture.
“When you look at the map, you can see this grand picture of conservation that we’re going for,” McCarthy said.