Orange Lake Overlook: Open or Developed?
Rally planned to show support for protecting
OLO.
View from the hill at Orange Lake Overlook area. |
We have all seen the beautiful vista that overlooks Orange Lake
on US Hwy 441 just south of the town of McIntosh. The sweeping landscape
captures the imagination and provides a reminder of "Old Florida,"
as well as an incredible panoramic view of Orange Lake. It is the
stomping ground of artists, astronomy and space shuttle enthusiasts,
and anyone else who appreciates open, rural lands. It is some of
the best of what remains in this part of the state — and
it is in imminent danger of development.
The southern 100 or so acres of the Orange Lake Overlook — the
"OLO" — have been rezoned by Marion County for 5-acre
home sites. Development could begin as early as this summer. However,
the owner is willing to sell the land to conservation interests
and would like to see the landscape preserved. Since last year,
CTF has been working toward protecting the property by pursuing
state and local funds.
We are attempting to forge a coalition between the state and Marion
County to purchase the southernmost property as well as conservation
easements on two other parcels that complete the OLO. We have a
good chance at funding from the state through their Florida Communities
Trust (FCT) program, but approximately $800,000 in matching funds
from the county is needed. In January, CTF presented a formal proposal
to the Marion County Parks and Environmental Lands Acquisition Advisory
Committee (PELAAC) for such funding. Unfortunately, a majority of
PELAAC did not support PELAAC member Shirley Little's motion to
consider the OLO project for possible funding from the existing
$20 million Pennies for Parks fund.
We are convinced that a strong citizen support base — especially
from Marion County citizens — will bolster this project. It would
show that citizens want to protect this treasured landscape from
sprawled development.
Map of the Orange Lake Overlook area. |
Toward that end, CTF — in conjunction with several Marion County
citizen organizations — is organizing an OLO Rally
to gather support and educate the public about the threats and opportunities
for this glorious site. The OLO Rally will occur
at the Orange Lake Overlook on a yet-to-be-determined date in April
and will include refreshments, information items, and more. Please
come and support our efforts to save this gem, and bring a friend
or neighbor! With widespread support, we will help the Commission
understand the importance of protecting its rural landscapes and
heritage.
What you can do:
- Contact the Marion County Board of Commissioners at: 601 SE
25th Ave, Ocala, FL 34470
- District 1 Commissioner Andy Kesselring
- District 2 Commissioner Jim Payton
- District 3 Commissioner Parnell Townley
- District 4 Commissioner Randy Harris
)
- District 5 Commissioner Steve Henning
- County Commissioner's Office 352-620-3307 (Specify to leave
a message for all five commissioners.)
- Contact the Growth Management Bureau of Marion County.
- Growth Management Bureau Chief Mike May
or call (352)620-7422
- Contact members of PELAAC at: 8282 SE HWY 314, Ocala, FL 34470
- PELAAC Recording Secretary Gina Peebles 352-236-7111
The request or comment to PELAAC should be in writing.
- E-mail:
or Snail Mail: 8282 SE
Hwy 314, Ocala, FL 34470
- Write a letter to the editor in support of the Orange Lake Overlook.
- The Ocala Star Banner Editorial Page Editor is Brad Rodgers
352-867-4101
-
or Snail Mail: PO Box 490, Ocala
FL 34478
- Attend the OLO Rally.
New CTF Advisory Board Formed
CTF gained another level of maturity and credibility in early December
when we officially formed and installed an Advisory Board. Many
people had informally been advising us over the last year or two,
so we decided to formalize those relationships and start some new
ones. We initiated this new 9-member board with a Sunday afternoon
reception at the home of CTF Board Member Kathleen Williams. Amid
drinks and great food, the CTF Board of Directors and the Advisory
Board got to know each other better and listened to brief presentations
that covered the many exciting projects and challenges ahead. Our
new and wonderfully diverse AB consists of Margy Bielling, a Marion
County activist; Bob Buschbacher, a UF Visiting Professor of Conservation
Biology; Peggy Carr, UF Professor in Landscape Architecture; Linda
Duever, a plant ecologist and private consultant from the Shiloh
area of Marion County; Steve Kattell, a CPA with Davis Monk &
Co.; Chris Monaco, a historian, filmmaker, and author from Micanopy;
Jack Putz, Professor of Botany at UF; Freddie Wood, farmer and author
from Evinston; and Terry Zinn, environmental attorney with the Florida
Department of Transportation. We welcome these fine folks and anticipate
great input from each of them! See our web page for more information
about these folks: www.conserveflorida.org.
Erik Lewis
Busy Kislig Shires |
New CTF Employees!
With the support of a grant from the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn foundation,
CTF tripled its employee base in January by hiring two part-time
staff members! Erik Lewis was brought on as our new Projects Director.
Erik, a life-long resident of this area with a proven desire for
environmental protection, has great experience as a geographer with
the St. Johns River Water Management District. He is a Geographic
Information Systems wiz, and had helped CTF from the beginning with
his mapping expertise. He will now head up all our field projects.
And congratulations to Erik and Claire on the very recent birth
of their first child (and newest CTF Member!) Catherine Kai. She
is as cute as can be and all are well.
Busy Kislig Shires, also a native of Alachua County, was hired
as a part-time Program Assistant to take on some of the details
previously handled by our Executive Director. Busy will manage the
membership database, handle details of Board meetings and communications,
take on special projects, and generally keep us all on the right
path. Busy has experience as a news reporter and is a member of
the City of Alachua Planning and Zoning Board. These two folks should
be a real shot in the arm to our efforts and we welcome them with
great excitement!
Membership Renewal
An Ongoing and Crucial Task!
One of the most challenging and important tasks of any non-profit
organization is keeping and expanding its membership base. Members
are the heart of the organization and are what make it work. In
November, we began our renewal drive, with some very good responses.
However, not everyone has re-joined the bandwagon, so we are continuing
with follow-up mailings for those folks. If you joined CTF last
January or later, your renewal notice will come in due time. Or,
you can surprise and help us by renewing now! Not only do we need
our faithful supporters to renew, we would like them to consider
increasing their support level. So please, if you have not yet renewed,
try to do so very soon.
We also need new members! Tell your friends and colleagues about
us. Passing along a copy of this Newsletter is a great way to introduce
CTF!
Speaking of Members...
Pssssst! Hey you... yeah you... over here. We have
a secret to share. Don't tell anyone, but CTF's major challenge
for the next year is not money (though that is always important).
It is not getting more grant support (but we will work hard toward
that too!) It is not publicity, or getting easements, or finding
good projects (there are too many good projects
needing our attention!). No, our biggest challenge, our greatest
need is... volunteers! CTF must increase the critical
mass of dedicated people willing to get involved and give a few
hours here and there to our mission of protecting Florida's rural
landscapes before they are all gone. We have many tasks for many
abilities. We must staff committees, and find volunteers for various
projects. If you have any time — even an hour or two a month —
let us know. Tell us what you are willing to do. We promise not
to engulf you beyond your comfort zone, but we think that once you
"catch the CTF fever," you will be hanging around more
and more. Give us a shout and help us out! Actually,
we DO want you to tell others our secret, so pass it on!
Where's the Beef? (Or the Pork, as the Case May
Be)
CTF Fundraiser to be held in March.
So, what happened to the annual CTF barbeque fundraiser that we
so successfully launched in early December of 2001? Weren't we supposed
to have one every fall? Did we forget? Where's the beef?
Relax, we did not forget and we have one coming right up. We agonized
over this one for quite some time and for various reasons (not the
least of which was a very busy autumn) we decided to postpone it
until spring. So on Saturday, March 22 at 2 PM we will reconvene
at the Carr Farm near Micanopy with our old friends and new to celebrate
Florida's good old landscapes, eat some great BBQ, listen to some
homegrown music (and a few short speeches!), bid on some fantastic
items in the silent auction, and try to raise some dollars for our
ongoing needs. Be on the lookout for an invitation in the mail at
the end of February!
Grants, Grants, Grants
Four grants received!
CTF had a great year in the grants arena, if we must say so ourselves!
In fact, we are batting 1,000 in grantsmanship! We previously announced
to you a major grant from the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation
that arrived last May. That has enabled hiring of the two new employees
and our part-time Executive Director. We also were successful in
acquiring a $1,000 award from the highly competitive Kodak American
Greenways program as a seed grant for our very ambitious Ocala
to Osceola (O2) corridor project that we told you about last time.
This will be used by Professor Peggy Carr's class to do some basic
groundwork in that corridor, laying the basis for much more extensive
efforts later. We then were successful with a $3,900 grant from
the Southeastern Land Trust Alliance, which will support
a major CTF Board Strategic Planning Retreat this fall. With the
help of a professional land trust planner/facilitator, we will develop
our master 5-year plan that will guide all our efforts in the near
term. Finally, we garnered partial travel support for two CTF personnel
– Executive Director Gary Meffe and Board Secretary Kathleen Williams
– to attend the National Land Trust Alliance Rally in Austin,
Texas, last October. With over 1,700 land trust members nationwide,
and dozens of workshops, Gary and Kathleen brought back loads of
information and great ideas to help guide CTF to greatness. These
granting successes speak to the confidence that others are placing
in our efforts, and the respect that we have quickly gained in this
arena. We will continue to seek grants to support all aspects of
our work and stretch your membership dollars even further.
A Little Piece of Paradise
Property Donated to CTF
In late December, while most sane folks were celebrating the holidays,
some of us were out there working on a small land donation that
could bring us some big dollars. An out-of-state landowner donated
to CTF a 1-acre lot in the Rainbow Lakes Estates development, southwest
of Williston. Though not a conservation property, it does have value
to us-we hope to sell it and use the proceeds for other projects.
Anyone out there interested in a nice, wooded lot on a quiet street
in Rainbow Lakes Estates?? Your closest neighbor would be about
1/4 of a mile away!
Price's Scrub and CTF
Management Possibilities
In our last issue, we told you about the state's acquisition (thanks
to CTF and Advisory Board member Linda Conway Duever) of Price's
Scrub, a 952-acre piece of old Florida in northern Marion County
that was headed toward development. The purchasing agency-the Office
of Greenways and Trails in Tallahassee-is now pursuing management
plans for that land and will be relying upon CTF for its vision
and help in determining the future look of that landscape. The management
plan likely will include ecological restoration and limited public
access for light recreation such as hiking, birding, horseback riding,
and environmental education. Stay tuned!
If you heard that Price's Scrub had a small fire in late January,
don't be concerned--that is exactly what it needs! Although this
was not a planned burn, it is ecologically of great benefit and
in fact we will need to do some controlled burns in the future to
help restore this habitat to its former ecological splendor.
Wish List
We are in need of the following items. If you have used equipment
or know of ways to obtain these items at reduced cost, we are all
ears:
- Digital camera
- Laptop computer
- File cabinet
- Cell phone service
- GPS Unit
- Folding tables
Thanks for your continued support of CTF. Don't forget to
periodically check out our website (www.conserveflorida.org)
and tell your friends about us. Also, be on the lookout for information
about our second annual fundraiser/BBQ!
|
