Arbuckle Creek is a blackwater creek that meanders for 24.7 miles from the south end of Lake Arbuckle in Polk County to Lake Istokpoga in Highlands County.
It is surrounded primarily by ranchlands that are home to a variety of native Florida wildlife.
Thousands of acres of this land along the creek are protected by a variety of federal, state and private conservation acquisitons.
The most recent announced conservation easement acquisition involves a deal finalized earlier this year for the 1,250-acre Arbuckle Creek Ranch though the efforts of Conservation Florida. This organization is among a variety public agencies and private organizations that have been active in securing conservation easements and similar protections for property along the Lake Wales Ridge and the Everglades Headwaters, two key areas in local land-protection efforts.
The deal also furthers efforts by the U,S, Air Force to prevent development encroachment that could affect operations at the Avon Park Air Force Range, a major training base in Polk and Highlands counties.
This and several other acquisitions, either through outright purchases or the purchase of conservation easements, contributes to the preservation of regional wildlife corridors as well as preserving habitat for rare and endangered species of plants and animals.
The portion of this landscape in Polk County will be one of the focuses of the renewed conservation land-protection effort expected to get under way in coming years, thanks to voter approval of additional funds for conservation land purchases in a November 2022 referendum organized by local conservation activists.