complete agenda - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Unit Name: Weedon Island
Acres: 43.60
Description:
Managing
Agency:
Pinellas
County
Current Management Plan
Approved:
347
4/25/2002
These 43.6 acres are being managed as part of the 3,700 acre Weedon Island Preserve which is
part of a region on Tampa Bay in north St. Petersburg comprised mostly of marine ecosystems with
some uplands. Indigenous peoples, including those during the “Weeden” (alternate spelling) Island
Cultural Period, occupied this site for thousands of years. A varied modern history also is part of
the Preserve’s legacy. Today, the Preserve protects this wide diversity of natural and cultural
resources for current and future generations.
The Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center, which opened in 2002, provides
an overview of the rich marine resources of the Preserve and the interrelationship of the
environment with the prehistoric, historic, and modern cultures that once inhabited the Preserve.
(The quantitative data in preceding tables of this report cover only the 43.6 acres leased to the
Office of Greenways and Trails during the reporting period. The approved management plan covers
the surrounding State-owned tracts administered under Leases #3985 and #3376.)
Accomplishments:
Other:
As of July 2010, this property is no longer subleased to Pinellas County via a parent lease to
OGT. It is now directly leased to the County from the Board of Trustees of the IITF, which
is consistent with the administration of the larger tracts of State-owned conservation lands
surrounding this 43.6-acre parcel.