FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 24, 2002
Governor, Cabinet's Vote
Protects Wetlands, Wildlife
--
Prime panther habitat conserved --
TALLAHASSEE
– Today’s approval by
Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Cabinet members added 2,255
acres to the existing Twelvemile Slough Florida Forever
project. The
26-mile
corridor
in Hendry County connects preserved lands that span three
counties - the Okaloacoochee Slough in Collier County and
the Caloosahatchee Ecoscape in Glades County - creating an
enormous area for the endangered Florida panther and other
wildlife that require extensive roaming space to maintain
viable populations.
The
Twelvemile Slough is on the Florida Forever “A” group
list, which contains the most significant environmental
projects. The
project contains areas important to groundwater recharge
around the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and Big
Cypress National Preserve.
Another prominent feature is its “river of
grass” or swale which forms a broad bank of emergent
sedges, grasses and herbs.
Pasture areas have created wetlands that are home
to a variety of wading birds including the Crested
Caracara and Little Blue Heron.
The
project now totals 7,486 acquired acres in public
ownership, with 6,093 acres remaining to be acquired.
The Board of Trustees purchased the property for
$6,000,000 (about 8 percent less than its approved value
of $6,500,000).
“I
am very pleased with today’s acquisition,” said
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David B.
Struhs. “As
agricultural uses for land in this area increase, it
becomes more difficult to supply long stretches of
connected lands for wildlife.
This purchase does just that.”
Agriculture
is the base of
Hendry
County
’s economy.
Sugar cane and citrus, followed by cattle and
tomato farming are the county’s most important
commodities. Since
1985, the number of acres planted in citrus has doubled to
about 100,000 acres. Much
of the land to the south and west of Twelvemile Slough
consists of cattle ranches and vegetable farms, while much
of the land to the east is in public ownership, including
the Okaloacoochee Slough and Preservation Area.
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Press Office
