State Buys FFA Foundation Property And Hilochee WMA Green Swamp Buffer

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted this week to approve two more important conservation purchases in Polk County.
The 113-acre Future Farmers of America Foundation property, which went on the market earlier this year, was purchased for $7,450,000.
The property includes a conference center and cabins and frontage on Lake Pierce and Catfish Creek adjacent to Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park.
That park is overseen by Lake Kissimmee State Park.
There have been discussions for several years about providing cabins for park visitors in addition to the recreational vehicle and primitive camping that already exists.
How this will work out will be decided in the park’s management plan.
The other purchase approved this week was a conservation easement on the764-acre Kuder Ranch property between Interstate 4 and the Holiday Manor subdivision.
This purchase will. provide a development buffer for Hilochee Wildlife Management Area’s Osprey Unit against urban encroachment from Haines City.
The purchase price for the easement. was $5,950,000.