The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 127CENTRAL PASCOAl-Bar Ranch (4092 acres; 1636 ha), Cross Bar Ranch Wellfield (7931 acres; 3172 ha), CypressCreek Flood Detention Area (7387 acres; 2954 ha), and the Pasco One SOR project (29,383 acres[11,753 ha], none acquired)Pasco County52,885 acres (21,154 ha), with 19,410 acres (7764 ha) acquiredLOCATION: in central Pasco County, bordered roughly by the Hernando County line to the north, CountyRoad 581 to the east, State Road 52, State Road 54, or County Road 583 variously to the south, andU.S. Highway 41 to the west.DESCRIPTION: existing conservation areas separated by ranches sought for public acquisition. The CrossBar and Cypress Creek sites are wellfields that supply more than 35 million gallons (132 millionliters) of water per day to the residents of the Tampa Bay area. The private ranches support cattlegrazing and silviculture. Cypress Creek Flood Detention Area receives ____ recreationists annually;public access to Al-Bar Ranch and Cross Bar Ranch Wellfield is planned for the near-future. Exceptfor land use, all data for this IBA refer solely to Al-Bar Ranch and Cross Bar Ranch Wellfield.OWNERSHIP: Pinellas County Utilities (Al-Bar Ranch and Cross Bar Ranch Wellfield), SouthwestFlorida Water Management District (Cypress Creek Flood Detention Area), and private owners(acreage of the Pasco One SOR Project; to be owned by the Southwest Florida Water ManagementDistrict if acquired publicly)HABITATS: *pine plantation, *sandhills, *temperate hammock, *pasture, *cypress swamp, *grassydepressions (former wetlands), lacustrine, longleaf pine flatwoods, xeric oak scrub, fields, hardwoodswamp, bayhead, freshwater marsh, artificialLAND USE: *conservation, *timber production, *grazing, *water supply, *private (planneddevelopments), recreation, hunting, sludge disposalIBA CATEGORIES: significant populations of Threatened, and FCREPA species; and significant naturalhabitatsAVIAN DATA: Significant populations of “Florida” Sandhill Cranes and Florida Scrub-Jays occurs withinthis IBA, but the scrub-jay population is threatened severely by development and habitat succession.This IBA may also support significant numbers of Burrowing Owls. Bird diversity of all sites is atleast 153 native species. [Is a bird list available for Cypress Creek?].Al-Bar Ranch and Cross Bar Ranch Wellfield:SPECIES DATES NUMBERS COMMENTS“Florida” Sandhill Crane 1999 >13 pairs private ranches contain others; 1% (R)Burrowing Owl 1999 14 pairs