MEDIA RELEASE
North Florida Land Trust
Contact: Kelly White
(904) 616-8754
[email protected]
August 30. 2018 – 10:00 a.m.
Jacksonville, Fla., August 29, 2018 – North Florida Land Trust has acquired nearly 60 acres of land in St. Johns County located within the Sixmile Creek Preservation Priority Area. The land is two parcels of cypress wetlands totaling approximately 57 acres on the western bank of Sixmile Creek along Joe Ashton Road. NFLT will add the land to its existing Sixmile Creek Preserve, which is across the street on County Road 13N. NFLT purchased Sixmile Creek Preserve in 2016. It was the first acquisition identified in NFLT’s Preservation Portfolio, a document created to target land in critical need of preservation.
“This addition is primarily a natural floodplain swamp and preserving it has ecosystem benefits including acting as a natural filter for nutrients and pollutants from the creek,” said Jim McCarthy, president of NFLT. “These parcels have a rich wetland ecosystem that provide food and shelter for numerous birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish.”
NFLT identified more than 5,500 acres of land along Sixmile Creek that they named as a preservation priority within their Preservation Portfolio. The Preservation Portfolio identified 112,346 acres in a seven-county focus area that they deemed in critical need of preservation.
About North Florida Land Trust
North Florida Land Trust is a nonprofit organization who serves as a champion of environmental protection primarily in Baker, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Union and Volusia counties. NFLT was founded in 1999 and has protected thousands of acres of environmentally significant land including property at Big Talbot Island, the River Branch Preserve, Pumpkin Hill, Moccasin Slough, along the St. Mary’s River and other valued natural areas predominantly in Northeast Florida. NFLT is funded largely by private and corporate contributions and works closely with private landowners and other public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations. For more information, visit www.northfloridalandtrust.org.