The Lake Livingston Conservation Bank consists of approximately 761 acres on the Lake Wales Ridge in Polk County, Florida. The LLCB provides critical linkage and lands with the Florida Ecological Greenways Network in an important bottleneck area near US 27.
The Lake Livingston Property is one of the Lake Wales Ridge’s largest remaining properties in private ownership that is dominated by natural habitat, including several hundred acres of scrub habitat. Preservation of this unique natural resource in its entirety, coupled with sound, adaptive, ecological management, will contribute to the overall objectives of the respective environmental agencies of the federal, state, and local governments.
The bank site is predominately comprised of xeric habitats such as xeric “islands” (either pasture, scrub, Or scrub hammock) known to or potentially support sand skinks. These xeric areas are significant from a hydrological perspective in that they are the recharge for areas for seepage slopes, swamps and lake on the property. Currently, 22 listed plant and 24 listed animal species occur on the bank.
The goal of Lake Livingston Conservation Bank is to create, enhance and sustain in perpetuity a conservation area that is optimal for the covered scrub endemics – the sand skink and blue tail mole skink. To achieve this goal will require accomplishment of the following objectives:
