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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>Alachua County and the Alachua Conservation Trust purchased 578 acres within the Lochloosa Forest Project area on Jan. 15 for $1.3 million for conservation.</p>

Alachua County and the Alachua Conservation Trust purchased 578 acres within the Lochloosa Forest Project area on Jan. 15 for $1.3 million for conservation.

Alachua County purchased 578 acres of forest for $1.3 million to conserve a large population of native Florida plants.

The acres are collectively known as Fox Pen tract in the Lochloosa Forest Project Area. The county and the Alachua Conservation Trust purchased it after a year-long negotiation with a Weyerhaeuser NR Company, a timber company, closed on Jan. 15, said Tom Kay, the trust executive director.

“Getting this acquisition was a huge success. It’s been on our radar for a while,” Kay said.

Fox Pen is located on the southeastern border of Alachua and Putnam County, said Charlie Houder, county parks and conservation lands director.

The county purchased 383.5 acres for $876,492 through the Alachua County Forever program with funding from the Wild Spaces and Public Places half-cent sales tax, Houder said. The trust purchased 194.5 acres for $444,685 through private funds.

The property will potentially be a part of an ecological corridor that links Fox Pen with the Ocala National Forest and Osceola National Forest, he said. This would establish a collection of large ecosystems on the east side of the county.

One of the reasons for saving the property was because of its native Florida vegetation such as blueberries and deerberries, Kay said.

“Being able to conserve this place ended up a real victory,” Kay said.

The trust will manage the property, and in the next months, assessments will be made to plan for restorations and find what species need to be treated, Kay said. The trust will also be putting in hiking and biking trails, kiosks, bike racks and picnic benches in the area.

Houder said conserving the area will include prescribed burning, replacing sand pine trees with longleaf pine trees and managing the water quality, Houder said.

“It’s just a matter of keeping things in their good state,” he said.

Contact Katherine Wallace-Fernandez at kwallace-fernandez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @katwf98.

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Alachua County and the Alachua Conservation Trust purchased 578 acres within the Lochloosa Forest Project area on Jan. 15 for $1.3 million for conservation.

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