Alachua County Forever Program Closes the Gap at Lochloosa Slough

In July, the Alachua County Forever Program announced the acquisition of the 348.5-acre Colasante Property, filling in a critical gap between nearby conservation lands. The property, which is sandwiched between existing conservation land owned by Alachua County as well as the St. Johns River Water Management District, features three-quarters of the Lochloosa Slough waterway and connects Lochloosa Lake to Orange Creek, the Oklawaha River, and the St. John’s River. Connecting these waterways and the land that surrounds them will help protect water quality and restore habitat within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Through its role as an acquisition specialist to Alachua County, ACT assisted County staff with multiple phases of this acquisition. Funding from the Wild Spaces & Public Places initiative, which is administered through the Alachua County Forever Program, was utilized for this $1.8 million land purchase. With this new acquisition, the impact of the Wild Spaces & Public Places half-cent sales tax has grown to over 33,386 acres of conservation land protected in Alachua County. Last year, a majority of voters chose to extend the initiative through the end of 2032.

Click on image for larger map. Photo and map courtesy of Alachua County Forever.

Photo by Alison Blakeslee.

Shrinking Landscapes: The Story of the Rural Community of San Antonio, FL Is All Too Familiar

by Jeffrey Forbes

In the little town of San Antonio, Florida big changes are happening all around and all at once. 

San Ann sits in far eastern Pasco county atop the high sand ridges between the western Gulf Coast and the great Green Swamp. Nearby, the Withlacoochee River winds its way slowly from the swamp to the Gulf. Sandhill cranes walk along-side ranging cattle and nesting pairs of kestrels alight from old pine snags. Atop the ridges, a soft breeze continually blows.    

St. Leo University is here along with its abbey and beautiful cathedral. In the past, cattle and citrus drove the economy and farm families passed on their legacies and their land to the next generation. On a Friday evening, neighbor calls “hello” to neighbor waiting for a table at the famous Pancho’s Villa Mexican Restaurant under the water tower and soft street lights in the middle of town. Surrounded by pasture land dotted with ancient live oaks, islands of palmetto and remnant longleaf pines, San Ann oozes “Old Florida.” This WAS small town Florida.  

But San Ann has always had a looming problem: all of that open pasture land coupled with being the second exit off of I-75 heading north out of Tampa is highly attractive to more than just ranchers and orange growers. Commercial and residential developers salivate over this kind of property. Cleared pasture land and a close proximity to the ever-expanding Tampa Bay metropolitan area spells easy pickings and big dollars to large scale real estate investors. So, in 2003 when my in-laws moved onto a five-acre parcel along lime-rocked McCabe Road to escape the intense population crunch of Pinellas County, we shouldn’t have been surprised at the rumors of imminent change.

Sandhill crane photo by Kim Davidson.

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6th Annual Young Leaders for Wild Florida Summer Camp Wraps Up

Each year, ACT hosts the Young Leaders for Wild Florida (YLWF) Summer Program, a two-week environmental immersive camp that provides opportunities for high school and early college-aged students to explore Florida, learn about conservation, and volunteer in the community. From July 10th-21st, ACT hosted its 6th annual Young Leaders for Wild Florida Summer Camp with 16 future conservation leaders participating. The camp is made possible each year thanks to support from Waterlust as well as several amazing ACT partners, who meet with our campers throughout the program.

During the first week, our campers hiked several of ACT's nature preserves including Prairie Creek Preserve and Fox Pen Preserve. They explored deep in the Santa Fe Bat Caves, visited the Florida Museum of Natural History, took a trip to the Seahorse Key Marine Lab to learn about our coasts, and volunteered with Current Problems and The Repurpose Project. During the second week of camp, participants learned all about gopher tortoises at Ashton Biological Preserve, attended a Climate Summit hosted by the Environmental Ambassadors, met advocate Mermaid Michi at Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park, and paddled the Silver River with Lars Andersen where they observed manatees!

ACT thanks our wonderful group of students this year for all of their amazing ideas, questions, and help with community volunteer projects! We also thank our amazing sponsors, partners, and locations for this year's camp:

YLWF is a donation-based program where campers pay what they can to attend. To help this program continue as a low or no cost opportunity for students, please consider making a donation to ACT today. 

Stay tuned for more info about our Young Leaders for Wild Florida Fall Festival on Saturday, September 30th at 4th Ave Food Park in Gainesville. Our campers will be educating the whole family on environmental issues with games and activities! 

Donations Needed for a Field Vehicle

As ACT continues to expand its work across Florida, we find ourselves in need of a reliable field vehicle for our interns to be able to travel to work sites as well as our field staff to conduct site visits at potential conservation lands. With your support, we are hoping to purchase or accept the donation of a gently used truck or all wheel drive SUV to help support our staff as they work to conserve as much land as possible!

Visit the ACT Booth at the North Central Florida Outdoor Expo

Saturday, August 12th from 9 am - 5 pm

Visit ACT's booth at the World Equestrian Center during the 5th Annual North Central Florida Outdoor Expo featuring educational displays, children's activities, market style shopping, prizes, giveaways and more.

Give4Marion

September 19th-20th

Join us for this 33-hour online giving day supporting non-profits working on community projects in Marion County. Your donation to ACT during Give4Marion will support restoration of the former Orange Shop at Marjorie A. Hoy Memorial Park at Orange Lake Overlook. Learn more here.

UF Campaign for Charities (UFCC) Begins

Monday, September 25th

University of Florida employees can donate to ACT by designating us as their selected agency through the payroll deduction program starting on September 25th. Learn more here.

You make conservation possible! 

Thank you for donating your time, money, and energy to making ACT's work a success.

Please donate today - or consider including ACT in your estate planning - to save wild spaces, train the next generation of land stewards, and open up new public preserves to your community.

THANK YOU!

Banner image: Levy County lands by Kim Davidson.