Trees planted at Pine Island Preserve
Approximately 15-20 volunteers arrived at the Pine Island Preserve at 9 a.m. Thursday morning to plant 285 trees.
The 230-acre preserve is about 2 1/2 miles south of the 4-way intersection at the Center, directly across from Flamingo Bay. The project is a Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast preserve purchased in part with a $6.6 million grant from the Florida Communities Trust.
“We will be planting about 285 longleaf pine saplings today,” Conservation Foundation Land Steward Lee Amos said. “This planting is part of a larger effort to restore the land and create a community nature preserve. Longleaf pine trees once formed a forest throughout the southeast United States before the early 20th century, when logging removed 97 percent of the forest. The 1940s aerial view of this property showed that the trees were already harvested probably in the 1920s.”
Restoration of the pastureland fronting Stringfellow Road will begin this December and construction of park amenities is scheduled for 2017.
Pine Island Preserve at Matlacha Pass will open to the public in late 2017.
When phase one is completed, the main entrance will be directly off Stringfellow Road. The first thing visitors will see is a large open area and an observation deck with a view of the existing eagle’s nest. The open area will have picnic pavilions.
In phase two, a trail leading to a boardwalk is proposed. The boardwalk will provide access to a kayak launching site onto Matlacha Pass.
More information is available from the website: www.conservationfoundation.com/land-protection/pine-island-preserve-matlacha-pass/