INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — With a $1 million grant, Indian River County was able to purchase 350 acres of pristine habitat along the northwest edge of the Blue Cypress Lake from a longtime ranching family.
The property is blanketed in cypress trees and has a mix of both wetlands and uplands. It also has about 4,700 feet of shoreline and is surrounded by undeveloped land.
“It’s a pristine tract,” County Environmental Planner Roland DeBlois told the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday during his presentation.
With limited public access, the property is expected to stay that way, he said. The main way to access the property is by boat, through the Blue Cypress Lake.
Travel by land would be difficult even under the best conditions, given the property is bordered by the St. Johns River Water Management District to the north and west and the Pressley Ranch to the south.
Commissioner Wesley Davis told his fellow board members that hiking the property would be challenging, and best done during the springtime, when it’s dry.
“It’s natural,” Davis said, adding that it is so natural it’s almost unnatural.
“It’s a swamp,” Commissioner Joe Flescher agreed.
The county leveraged a bond it received several years ago to secure the $1 million grant through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The grant is meant to be used to protect and secure wetlands that are in the headwaters of the St. Johns River.
DeBlois told commissioners that nearly all the land west of the Blue Cypress Lake is considered part of the headwaters for the river.
When asked about the potential for the county to be held liable for any accidents that occur on the 350-acre property, County Attorney Alan Polackwich said the county’s risk is minimal.
He explained that the county would be leaving the property in its natural state, and so long as there are no unsafe conditions the county is aware of and doesn’t address, then the county would not be liable.
Polackwich said the county’s plans are to leave the property “untouched.”
If the property were not purchased for conservation, it could have otherwise been cleared for agriculture, used for harvesting timber, or developed with one residential unit per 20 acres.
The land value of the property, according to the Property Appraiser’s Office is nearly $2.13 million, though an appraisal of the site puts the value at about $1.23 million.
The Conservation Fund, which acted as the county’s consultant and negotiator, was able to secure the property from the Pressley Ranch Inc. for $1 million.
The only expense to the county will be $30,000, to be paid to The Conservation Fund for handling the negotiations. The funds will be paid through the county’s environmental land bonds.