Collier expands 2 preserves with land acquisition

Collier County commissioners approved spending up to $282,970 to expand two Conservation Collier preserves with seven properties.

The Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 22 agreed to three sales contracts to acquire 11.38 acres within the Conservation Collier Red Maple Swamp multi-parcel project and the James E. Williams Jr. Preserve using Conservation Collier funds.

The program helps protect water quality and wildlife habitat and provides recreation areas, including Freedom Park, Pepper Ranch and Gordon River Greenway. Since the tax-funded land-acquisition program began in 2003, more than 6,672 acres have been acquired, including lands for recreation and hiking.

The 305.8-acre Red Maple Swamp Preserve project, located west of 9th Street Northwest, south of Shady Hollow Boulevard and north of TwinEagles Club, began in 2005, and 246.2 acres have been acquired. The purchase involves two 1.14-acre Golden Gate Estates parcels owned by two property owners, who will receive $34,200 and $32,490.

The swamp contributes to a large wildlife corridor of public and private conservation easements, including Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Bird Rookery Swamp and private conservation lands at Bonita Bay, Esplanade Golf & Country Club, Riverstone, the Quarry and Heritage Bay, according to a memo to commissioners.

“There has been a large restoration project undergoing for the past little over a year that is continuing and this summer, as a result of that restoration project, a significant number of white-tailed deer and juvenile panthers were observed on the preserve itself,” county Development Review Director Jaime Cook told commissioners before the vote.

One parcel north of the preserve abuts Conservation Collier parcels on three sides and Bird Rookery Swamp to the north, Cook said, while the other, to the south and farther west, abuts Conservation Collier parcels to the north and south — supporting Florida panthers, Florida black bears and wading birds.

Although not adjacent to conservation land, five parcels totaling 9.10 acres at 5106 Taylor Road North in Immokalee are 400 feet west of the county’s recently acquired Williams Farms property and one-third of a mile east of Lake Trafford. In the memo to commissioners, Matthew Denison, Conservation Collier’s manager, said the land also could be culturally significant because of a possible archaeological mound.

Cook said the parcels, which contain wetland vegetation and non-hydric soils, support wading birds, black bears and bobcats, and telemetry data show panthers in the surrounding area. She noted they provide an eastern connection around Lake Trafford to Pepper Ranch, other private conservation lands and Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed habitat.

Denison’s memo said the properties are all wetlands and contain mature cypress and mixed wetland hardwoods that provide an important stormwater function for surrounding homes, holding relatively deep water during rain events.

Commissioners approved paying the property owner $209,000. The total cost of all seven acquisitions is not to exceed $282,970, including closing costs.