A 215-acre parcel that can be used to treat stormwater runoff in a canal flowing into Lake Rosalie in eastern Polk County will be purchased under an agreement approved Tuesday by the County Commission.
The property located south of Camp Mack Road is being sold to the county by La Cala LLC of Destin.
It was proposed for purchase in 2024 under Polk County’s Environmental Lands Program, but the purchase will be funded by the Polk County stormwater tax and a federal program intended to reduce encroachment on the Avon Park Air Force Base rather than through the property tax approved by voters for environmental lands purchases. This is the latest example of using partnerships with other funding sources to expand environmental protection in Polk County.
The original proposal involved 306 acres, but the owner decided to retain the westernmost 80 acres, County Manager Bill Beasley said.
That area includes the access road and some agricultural buildings and some scrubby flatwoods that contain listed plant species.
That means a new access road will have to be developed, said Tabitha Biehl, director of parks and natural resources.
She described the property as a “critical piece” in a regional wildlife corridor involving existing and potential conservation lands.
She said the wetlands treatment project planned for the area will aid in reducing declining water quality in Lake Rosalie, which is one of the Everglades headwater lakes in Polk County.
She said wetland treatment will be the priority for the site. Whether there is public access will be determined in the site’s management plan.
Commissioner Bill Braswell said he thought the site was too small to have public access though other county environmental lands sites smaller than this do have public access.
Biehl said it is possible the property could be the site of a future bioblitz, which involves having volunteers spend a day documenting the plant and animal life on the site and posting the data on iNaturalist.