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Page 1 of 18 HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA REPORT TO THE ELAPP General Committee SITE ASSESSMENTS for the Jan K. Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) ELAPP Site Assessment Committee Conservation and Environmental Lands Management Department October 2021 Page 2 of 18 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. Summary 3 II. Location Map 4 III. Sites a. USF Property 5 b. Buckhorn Springs 11 IV. Boundary Modifications a. Violet Cury/Cypress Creek 16 Page 3 of 18 FULL SITE ASSESSMENT REPORT SUMMARY: At the March meeting of the Jan K Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) General Committee, the Committee directed the ELAPP Site Assessment Committee to conduct a Preliminary Site Assessment of the USF Forest Preserve to see if it met the criteria necessary to be included in the ELAP Program. The ELAPP Site Assessment Committee met on June 7, 2021 and determined that the property does meet the criteria necessary to be included in the ELAP Program and recommend it move on to a Full Site Assessment. Ross Dickerson contacted the property owner by certified letter, but did not receive a response. Forest Turbiville contacted the University directly, but did not receive permission to access the property. Therefore, this review is based on available GIS data, aerial photography, literature searches, and other publicly available information for the site. In addition to the USF site that requires ranking, , the Buckhorn Springs “approved” ELAPP site is being recommended for reinstatement and ranking. This site was removed from the Program in 2013 at the owner’s request; however, the owner (Mosaic, Inc.) recently asked that it be reinstated into the Program and removed from the “Suspended” category. Finally, one site boundary modification is being proposed: the Violet Cury/Cypress Creek boundary modification. Recommended rankings for qualifications 1-8 are provided in this report, however, these recommendations are not final, but subject to revision by the ELAPP General Committee, which will issue the final ranking at the annual public meeting. Page 4 of 18 Page 5 of 18 Site Name: USF Forest Preserve Site Location: The site is located on the north side of E Fletcher Ave, east N 46th ST, and west of Lettuce Lake Conservation Park. Qualifying Criteria Analysis: 1) Land containing native, relatively unaltered flora and fauna, including wetlands, uplands, and transitional zones representing a natural habitat unique to, or scarce, within the State or County. Not including the access roads and fire lanes, this site is comprised of several undisturbed habitats. The Cooperative Land Cover (CLC) layer developed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Natural Areas Inventory shows Mixed Hardwood- Coniferous, Mixed Wetland Hardwoods, Natural Rivers and Streams, and Sandhill as being the major habitat types. This data is based on “existing sources and expert review of aerial photography (https://myfwc.com/research/gis/regional-projects/cooperative-land-cover/). More in-depth surveys of the habitat types, like the one performed by Anne Candace Schmidt for her thesis “A Vascular Plant Inventory and Description of the Twelve Plant Community Types Found in the University of South Florida Ecological Research Area, Hillsborough County, FL” suggest that there are twelve plant community types on the property, including Blackwater Stream, Floodplain Forest, Floodplain Marsh, Floodplain Swamp, Hydric Hammock, Mesic Flatwoods, Sandhill, Scrubby Flatwoods, Seepage Slopes, Wet Flatwoods, Xeric Hammock, and Ruderal/Developed (page 20). Considering both sets of data, this property contains several different habitat types that are considered very rare in the State and County. The mixed hardwood- coniferous habitat is ranked as S3 (either very rare and local in Florida or found locally in a restrictive range or vulnerable to extinction from other factors) and the Sandhill habitat is ranked S2 (imperiled in Florida because of rarity or because of the vulnerability to extinction due to some natural or man-mad factor) by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (https://www.fnai.org/species- communities/natcom-accounts). Suggested Ranking: 8 2) Land that provides or could provide, with or without restoration, habitat important to the support or protection of state and/or federally listed species Anne Candace Schmidt’s thesis “A Vascular Plant Inventory and Description of the Twelve Plant Community Types Found in the University of South Florida Ecological Research Area, Hillsborough County, FL” found nine of the 404 plant taxa documented on the property to be listed as either endangered, threatened, or commercially exploited. This site also provides habitat important to gopher tortoises, which are known to be onsite. Suggested Ranking: 8 Page 6 of 18 3) Land containing intact xeric habitat or soils suitable for restoration of xeric habitat. There is a total of 82.55 acres of uplands, 53 acres is considered xeric. That equates to 64.20 percent of the upland soils being xeric. Suggested Ranking: 7 4) Land which plays a vital role in the enhancement and protection of water quality and quantity, including groundwater resources, or which provides protection for fish and wildlife habitat, but which cannot be adequately protected through local, state, and federal regulatory programs. Due to the fact that a majority of the site is made up of riparian forest associated with Cypress Creek, it is playing a vital role in the enhancement and protection of water quality and quantity. While these floodplain forested areas are protected through existing regulatory programs, a majority of the surrounding uplands are not protected. Development of these uplands will have a long-term impact on the quality, quantity, and timing of water flowing into Cypress Creek from developed areas. Cypress Creek is designated an Outstanding Florida Waterway by the State of Florida. Suggested Ranking: 8 5) Land that provides valuable access, urban/rural land links, protection zones, or additions to existing environmentally sensitive lands or which forms part of a natural greenway system which functions as a habitat corridor associated with such lands, and which is essential for protection and management of those environmentally sensitive lands. This site is a critical component of the wildlife/greenway corridor that extends from Wilderness Conservation Park to Cypress Creek Nature Preserve. Suggested Ranking: 8 6) Land that protects existing preservation lands and would provide a significant benefit to the long-term management and ecological function of those preserved lands. This site is adjacent to Lettuce Lake Conservation Park and other lands that are preserved through easements. Protecting this property would provide a significant benefit to the areas long-term management and ecological function. Suggested Ranking: 9 7) Ease of Acquisition Suggested Ranking: 8 (Currently owned by the State of Florida) Page 7 of 18 8) Cost, size and manageability of the site. Suggested Ranking: 5 If the State requires fair market value, the site will be costly. From a manageability perspective, the site is mostly surrounded by preservation/public lands and has been effectively managed by the USF Biology Department since the 1970s. Page 8 of 18 Page 9 of 18 Page 10 of 18 Page 11 of 18 Site Name: Buckhorn Springs Site Location: The 143-acre site is located on the north bank of the Alafia River south of Bloomingdale Ave, east of Providence RD, and West of S Kings Ave. 1) Land containing native, relatively unaltered flora and fauna, including wetlands, uplands and transitional systems, representing a natural habitat unique to or scarce within the State of Florida or Hillsborough County. The Cooperative Land Cover (CLC) layer developed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Natural Areas Inventory shows Mixed Hardwood- Coniferous, Mixed Wetland Hardwoods, Natural Rivers and Streams, and Sandhill as being the major habitat types. This data is based on “existing sources and expert review of aerial photography (https://myfwc.com/research/gis/regional-projects/cooperative- land-cover/). The mixed hardwood-coniferous habitat is ranked as S3 (either very rare and local in Florida or found locally in a restrictive range or vulnerable to extinction from other factors). There is also a natural spring on the property which is unique and scarce within the State of Florida and Hillsborough County. Suggested Ranking: 7 2) Land that provides or could provide, with or without restoration, habitat important to the support or protection of state or federally listed species. This site is most likely providing habitat important to the support and protection of state and federally listed species. It is assumed that gopher tortoises are utilizing the xeric uplands along with some of the commensal species. Manatees have been seen in the river near the spring and birds roost in the trees along the river. Suggested Ranking: 5 3) Land containing intact xeric habitat or soils suitable for restoration of xeric habitat. This site is a total of 122 acres of non-wetland soils on this property. Of that 46 acres (37.70 %) are xeric soils. Suggested Ranking: 5 4) Land which plays a vital role in the enhancement and protection of water quality and quantity, including ground water resources, or which provides protection for fish and wildlife habitat, but which cannot be adequately protected through local, state, and federal regulatory programs. Page 12 of 18 Portions of this site are uplands and would not be protected through regulatory programs. Xeric uplands are extremely important for water quality because they are a natural filter system. Considering this site’s southern boundary is the Alafia River, and there is a natural spring on the property, it does play a role in the enhancement and protection of water quality. Suggested Ranking: 8 5) Land that provides valuable access, urban/rural land links, protection zones, or additions to existing environmentally sensitive lands or which forms part of a natural greenway system which functions as a habitat corridor associated with such lands, and which is essential for protection and management of those environmentally sensitive lands. This property is not directly adjacent to any existing environmentally sensitive lands, but its south boundary is made up of the Alafia River. The river is a natural greenway that acts as a corridor for all preserved lands along it. Suggested Ranking: 1 6) Land that protects existing preservation lands and would provide a significant benefit to the long-term management and ecological function and ecological function of the preserved lands. This site is not adjacent to any existing preservation lands. Suggested Ranking: 0 7) Ease of Acquisition Suggested Ranking: 7 (while Mosaic is a willing seller, the terms and conditions for the Conservation Easement with access may be challenging) 8) Cost, size and manageability of the site. Suggested Ranking: 2 The site is relatively small with a high cost. From a manageability perspective, the site is surrounded by dense, urban development thus making several management activities (e.g. prescribed burning) more difficult. Page 13 of 18 Page 14 of 18 Page 15 of 18 BOUNDARY MODIFICATIONS Page 16 of 18 Page 17 of 18 Page 18 of 18
