Fateful decisions near for Yarborough Ranch, Split Oak Forest
Verdicts are coming soon for a pair of the region’s most consequential environmental dramas: a conservation purchase of the 1,361-acre Yarborough Ranch in Seminole County and a deal for a road through Split Oak Forest in exchange for a developer donation of 1,550 acres for preservation in Orange and Osceola counties.
The allure of the properties is similar. They can serve as refuges for flora and fauna and as linchpins that unify and protect neighboring conservation treasures from intrusions of residential and commercial development.
“Yarborough is essential for not just wildlife habitat but also connectivity,” said Julie Wraithmell, Audubon Florida executive director, of the ranch’s connection with other protected lands. “That’s what we have also been working toward on Split Oak.”
On Tuesday, the governor and cabinet will consider an offer to Yarborough family members who own the storied, multi-generation ranch. Acquiring it helps to “safeguard the health and diversity of the regional ecosystem, and prevents further development in an area of rapid urbanization,” says the state’s analysis that recommends the purchase.
For Split Oak Forest, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission aims to announce a decision as soon as May 1.
A consortium of Tavistock Development Co., Deseret Ranches and their related entities is offering to donate the 1,550 acres, which adjoin Split Oak’s eastern flank, to encourage the construction of 1.3 miles of expressway across the forest that will serve a vast expanse of real estate ventures in east Osceola County.
The state’s offer of $34.5 million for the Yarborough Ranch’s 1,361 acres offers perspective on the value of the 1,550 acres, which has no price tag in dollars and cents.
But by ecological measures, the price for the 1,550 acres is very high: The expressway would pave 60 acres of prime Split Oak pineland and isolate 100 more acres from the forest.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority, which would build the toll road and is essentially a consortium partner, has agreed to pay an estimated $13 million for environmental restoration of the 1,550 acres.
Many environmentalists hope the wildlife commission is negotiating for even more land and money to inflict as much price pain as possible. That outcome, they believe, would dissuade developers from pursuing roads in other protected environments.
“We’re advocating for the state to drive the hardest bargain,” said Wraithmell, whose group supports the trade as the least harmful outcome for Split Oak and neighboring park and preserve land.
Marjorie Holt, a Sierra Club leader in Central Florida and veteran of many battles, staunchly opposes the expressway and characterizes the 1,550 acres as not worth the 160 acres of forest the road would destroy or degrade.
But with the deal now in the wildlife commission’s hands, she suspects there is little stopping it and expects the agency’s staff to flesh out the best terms possible. “I have to be hopeful and have faith,” Holt said.
Very different narratives are behind the coming resolutions for the Yarborough Ranch and Split Oak Forest.
The state’s bid to buy the ranch followed a familiar script: a key environmental tract in danger of development was given a high priority for purchase.
A year ago, Audubon urged a fast-track approach, warning of pending construction of hundreds of homes on the property. The price was determined by two appraisers.
The ranchland is to be added to the Little Big Econ State Forest, one of a burgeoning archipelago of conservation parcels protecting wildlife, water and habitat where the Econlockhatchee River turns east to meet the St. Johns River.
The controversy over Split Oak may have no close comparison in Florida. The forest straddles Orange County, whose commission opposes the expressway cut-through, and Osceola County, which favors it.
Despite the rancor over the deal, little is known by the public about what the tract of 1,550 acres consists of and what its potential is for expanding and further protecting Split Oak Forest, which now spans 1,700 acres.
The 1,550-acre tract suggests an open baseball mitt facing west to catch boundaries of the adjoining Split Oak Forest, Moss Park and Isle of Pine Preserve.
The parcel contains cypress swamp pretty enough to make a nature lover swoon. There are gorgeous expanses of longleaf pine forest. Those who know the place can find patches of wildlife-rich, desert-like scrub.
Also within the parcel is an abandoned citrus grove and former cattle pasture. Florida has been perfecting restoration of agricultural lands, turning them back into forests and wetlands, for decades.
The Sentinel was able to tour the property facilitated by the expressway authority and Deseret Ranches.
Landscapes at many of the stops seemed ready to join Split Oak Forest. At the fenced border between the 1,550 acres and Orange County’s Isle of Pine Preserve, the forest on both sides appeared equally healthy.
That visit and others emphasized how some of the most spectacular areas within Split Oak butt up to a section of the 1,550-acre tract that has Osceola County’s permission for development. A Tavistock spokesperson said that commercial and industrial construction will occur there if the trade is nixed.
The expressway authority arranged four group tours of the 1,550 acres from December 2017 through last August, involving more than three-dozen participants, though no elected decision makers. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, notably, sent eight staffers, with several making repeat visits.
The wildlife commission has taken care of Split Oak since the forest was created nearly 30 years ago and would be the caretaker of the 1,550-acre tract.
It’s unlikely any organization would have a deeper understanding of the promise of the 1,550 acres, what it will take to fold them into a greater Split Oak Forest and what the timeline would be. But the commission isn’t talking yet.
“The FWC is unable to provide an ecological site summary while discussions are ongoing,” spokesperson Ryan Sheets said.
