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Lee County Expands Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
Apr 2, 2008 PRESS RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2008 LEE COUNTY EXPANDS SIX MILE CYPRESS SLOUGH PRESERVE Lee County added 67 acres on the eastern boundary of the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve (SMCSP) in Fort Myers today. The acquisition was funded by the Conservation 20/20 Program. The greatest environmental importance of this property is that it adds an upland buffer to a portion of the Preserve and retains an undisturbed sheetflow area that allows the Slough's flow way to expand and contract with the seasons without any man made constrictions like a berm. The SMCSP is a 2,200-acre preserve that is home to panthers, black bears, wide ranging wading birds, otters and many other types of wildlife. The SMCSP has the highest public use of all County preserves. This property contains a cypress dome, pine flatwoods, wet flatwoods and wet prairie. The owners wanted $14,224,750 for the property, but the Division of County Lands, the County Office which negotiates land purchases for the County, was able to acquire the property for $8,758,000. The Conservation 20/20 program buys environmentally important lands for preservation. It's funded by a property tax, which was approved by referendum in 1996. It is 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Since the first purchase in 1997, the County's Conservation 20/20 program has made 83 land purchases and the land inventory now stands at 18,859 acres.
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