The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 172LAKE WALES RIDGEPublicly owned sites are Lake Arbuckle State Park (2813 acres; 1125 ha), Lake June-In-WinterScrub State Park (845 acres; 338 ha), Lake Placid Wildlife and Environmental Area (3150 acres;1260 ha), Lake Wales Ridge State Forest (16,675 acres; 6670 ha), and Platt Branch MitigationPark Wildlife and Environmental Area (1972 acres; 788 ha). Archbold Biological Station (5200acres; 2080 ha), Saddle Blanket Lakes Preserve (642 acres; 256 ha), and Tiger Creek Preserve(4778 acres; 1911 ha) are privately-owned conservation areas. Part of the Catfish Creek CARL–FFProject (11,280 acres; 4512 ha) has been acquired as Allan David Brossard Catfish CreekPreserve State Park (4339 acres; 1735 ha). Sites targeted for public acquisition (most are partiallyacquired) through the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem CARL–FF Project (43,089 acres [17,235 ha],with 20,378 acres [8295 ha] acquired) are: Avon Park Lakes (225 acres; 90 ha, unacquired) CarterCreek (4630 acres; 1852 ha, mostly acquired), Castle Hill (75 acres; 30 ha, unacquired), FlamingoVillas (1420 acres; 568 ha, about 50% acquired), Flat Lake (120 acres; 48 ha, acquired), Gould Road(419 acres; 167 ha, nearly all acquired), Henscratch Road (2869 acres; 1147 ha, nearly all acquired),Hesperides (2696 acres; 1078 ha, some acquired), Highlands Ridge (6318 acres; 2527 ha, about halfacquired), Holmes Avenue (1269 acres; 507 ha, nearly all acquired), Horse Creek Scrub (1325 acres;530 ha, mostly acquired), Lake Apthorpe (2503 acres; 1001 ha, nearly all acquired), Lake Blue (65acres; 26 ha, mostly acquired), Lake Davenport (500 acres; 200 ha, unacquired), Lake McLeod (55acres; 22 ha, nearly all acquired), Lake Walk-In-The-Water (8615 acres; 3446 ha, mostly acquired),McJunkin Ranch (750 acres; 300 ha, acquired), Mountain Lake Cutoff (217 acres; 86 ha, nearly allunacquired), Ridge Scrub (80 acres; 32 ha, unacquired), Schofield Sandhill (120 acres; 48 ha,unacquired), Silver Lake (2020 acres; 808 ha, mostly acquired), Sugarloaf Mountain (52 acres; 20 ha,some acquired), Sun ‘N Lakes South (570 acres; 228 ha, some acquired), Sunray–Hickory Lake South(1970 acres; 788 ha, some acquired), and Trout Lake (65 acres; 26 ha, unacquired).Highlands, Lake, Osceola, and Polk counties69,011 acres (27,604 ha), with 44,117 acres (17,646 ha) acquiredLOCATION: in southeastern Lake County, extreme northwestern Osceola County, eastern Polk County,and western Highlands County, generally along U.S. Highway 27 from north of Clermont south toVenus. Parcels are contiguous with the Avon Park Air Force Range–Bombing Range Ridge and LakeIstokpoga IBAs to the east, and the Fisheating Creek Watershed IBA to the south. Other parcels arenear the Highlands Hammock–Charlie Creek IBA to the west.DESCRIPTION: approximately 30 separate parcels of uplands along the Lake Wales Ridge, an ancientdune system in the center of the Florida Peninsula. The Lake Wales Ridge is the oldest biologicalcommunity in Florida, and during periods of higher sea levels, it at times represented a series ofislands, as most of the Peninsula was submerged. This isolation from the rest of the continent hasallowed several species of plants and animals to evolve on the Ridge, creating one of the greatestconcentrations of endemism in North America. The dominant vegetation community historically wasxeric oak scrub, which grows only on excessively drained sandy soils. Destruction of scrub along theRidge, predominantly by the citrus industry, began in the late 19 th century. By the early 1990s, over85% of xeric oak scrub on the Lake Wales Ridge had been destroyed, and efforts were undertaken topurchase the remaining significant parcels. This land acquisition effort became the Lake Wales RidgeEcosystem CARL–FF Project, a cooperative effort of several Federal, State, and private agencies; ithas been the top-ranked acquisition project in Florida for several years. Also part of the U.S. NationalWildlife Refuge system, it is the first refuge established specifically for the protection of Endangeredand Threatened plants. Several of the sites are “vacant” subdivision with many miles (km) of roads,but with few or no houses. [Is the number of visitors known for any site? Archbold?]OWNERSHIP: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (part of Carter Creek Tract and all of Flamingo Villas Tract;Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge), Florida Division of Forestry (Lake Wales RidgeState Forest), Florida Division of Recreation and Parks (Lake Arbuckle State Park, Lake June-In-