Morgan Lake Wales Preserve |
Located in Polk County, this 487 acre site is adjacent to the Arbuckle Tract (10,717 acres) of the Lake Wales State Forest to the south and the state-owned Blue Jordan Swamp to the east. An additional 15,000 acres of conservation or state-owned lands surround the general area.
The site generally consists of rolling xeric oak habitat on fine sands that is typical of the Lake Wales Ridge and supports species that are endemic to the region, such as sand and bluetail mole skink and Florida scrub jay. The purpose of the Preserve is to conserve these on-site communities and habitats and to manage them in perpetuity for sand skinks, bluetail mole skinks, Florida scrub-jay, gopher tortoises and other commensal species, including the Florida mouse, eastern indigo snake, Florida gopher frog and other indigenous wildlife species.
The site may be used as off-site mitigation for impacts to the above listed species on individual projects permitted through Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Approval is on a project-by- project basis.
Morgan Lake Wales Preserve can provide off-site mitigation at a ratio of 2 acres per acre of impact.
Permittees wishing to utilize this off-site mitigation area will be provided a copy of the management plan, the conservation easement, trust fund documentation and a letter of reservation for the needed acreage. We can provide assistance, if necessary, to clarify any agency questions regarding the mitigation site.
Once the mitigation acreage is purchased from Morgan Lake Wales Preserve, there are no other financial or management obligations by the permittee for the mitigation site.
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