Lake Wimico Preserve Purchased by State of Florida
The Nature Conservancy negotiates acquisition, provides grant money to project

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — More than 2,800 acres of habitat important to a variety of species, including birds migrating across the Gulf of Mexico, were purchased today by the State of Florida with the assistance of The Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy negotiated the acquisition of the Lake Wimico site and provided $948,000 toward the purchase through a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) grant. The donation, about one-fifth of the price, was made in recognition of the state’s conservation leadership, according to the DDCF.

The Franklin and Gulf county land is adjacent to the Box-R Wildlife Management Area and is part of the “A” ranked St. Joe Timberland Florida Forever Project. The land was purchased from longtime owner The St. Joe Company and will be managed as an addition to Box-R by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

“We recognize the severe limitations on funding for many Florida Forever projects and see this as a perfect opportunity to spend money on a place essential to the future of some of Florida’s rarest animals, plants and natural communities,” said Callie DeHaven, a Conservancy senior field representative. “We thank St. Joe for its decades of good stewardship of the property and for selling it to the state for future generations to enjoy.”

The site’s value is not only its proximity to public land and significant resources but its direct connection to Lake Wimico. Lake Wimico is an integral part of one of Florida’s highest priority freshwater systems, the Apalachicola River, and provides a vital aquatic link to Apalachicola Bay, one of Florida’s highest priority bays and estuary systems along the Gulf of Mexico.

The tract’s estuarine tidal marshes, floodplain swamps, flatwoods and maritime hammocks are habitat for listed and rare species of wildlife such as the Florida black bear, bald eagle, osprey, wood stork, little blue heron, Barbour’s map turtle and alligator snapping turtle as well as many more common species of wildlife. It is part of a highly ranked Strategic Habitat Conservation Area designated by FWC, a requirement of the DDCF grant.

"Long before every state in the nation had a wildlife action plan, Florida was taking the lead in identifying, mapping, and protecting high-priority wildlife habitat," said Dr. Mark Shaffer, program director for the environment at the DDCF. "Our support for this project is intended not only to help save an important piece of Florida's natural heritage, but also to recognize the state's leadership in wildlife conservation."

The mission of the DDCF is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, wildlife conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.

“Acquisition of this land is an important and integral component of the Commission’s goals of conserving the vital resources of this critical region,” said Gary Cochran, conservation acquisition and planning administrator for the FWC, “and will further aid in conserving Florida’s unique biodiversity of fish and wildlife species and providing natural resource-based public outdoor recreation.”

“St. Joe, as a place-maker, believes that Mother Nature is the best place-maker of all time,” said Mike Joyner, St. Joe’s vice president of environmental affairs. “St. Joe’s team of foresters, ecologists and wildlife biologists are working to protect Northwest Florida’s environmental jewels and are proud to join with the state of Florida and The Nature Conservancy in the protection of this special place.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. With funding from the voter approved Florida Forever program and our generous donors the Conservancy has helped protect more than 1.1 million acres in Florida since 1961. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/florida.