Here we have an opportunity to help preserve the Santa Fe River from development and industry. Alachua Conservation Trust has done monumental work in helping keep the Santa Fe River alive and flowing, in spite of the neglect and abandonment by the State of Florida.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Remember the excitement of opening a brand-new jigsaw puzzle? You’d flip it over and let all the pieces tumble onto the coffee table and then start sorting them out, mostly by color. Blues in this pile and greens over there. The finished picture on the lid was your only guide. If you persevered, had a little help from friends and didn’t lose any of the pieces along the way, you’d likely recreate the scene on the box top.
Land conservation is a lot like a very complicated jig-saw puzzle with, unfortunately, a lot of the
pieces missing. Those missing pieces were once blue and green. Now they’re the color of concrete and asphalt, lost forever behind the living room couch. So, when you find one of the remaining pieces that fits, it’s high-fives all around.
Sitting along nearly half a mile of the beautiful Upper Santa Fe River is a 55-acre Union County parcel that is one such remaining piece awaiting your help to complete more parts of our regional conservation puzzle. To its west lies Pareners Branch Conservation Area and to its east, Chastain-Seay Park & ACT’s 1,000-acre Santa Fe River Preserve. Almost squarely between them, this parcel is largely floodplain forested wetlands with a smaller portion of uplands and boasts large live oaks, towering bald cypress, river birch and spruce pine trees. Importantly, this intact bottomland contributes greatly to a larger network of protected lands.
The Santa Fe River is the largest tributary to the Suwannee and home to several threatened and endangered species including the Florida Black Bear, gopher tortoises, alligator snapping turtles and several varieties of freshwater mussels like the Oval Pigtoe and the Moccasinshell. Protecting this property would help ensure that these creatures have a fighting chance to search for food, habitat, potential mates and a place to raise their offspring. Additionally, perpetually conserving this property preserves important surficial contribution areas, safeguarding our regional drinking water supply.
We’ve already secured $210,000 towards acquiring this unique gem. To fully protect this critical linkage along the ancient and storied Santa Fe River we need to raise another $85,000. Friends, neighbors, and people like you can help us reach this goal and make a tremendous impact in the present and for the future of North Central Florida.
Won’t you help complete this conservation puzzle?
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