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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http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/comm/2002/02_924vote.htm