The lake marion scrub habitat restoration project is in partnership with conservation florida and a private conservation landowner

The lake marion property is 700 acres, mostly pristine habitat dominated by scrubby uplands along 3 miles of the shore of lake marion in polk county, florida. The property was recently acquired by a conservation investor and is managed by conservation florida with the intent the property will be transferred and managed by polk county natural resources as a preserve. While described as pristine , parts of the property are overgrown due to fire suppression and may pose a wildfire risk. Trespassing by off road vehicles has disturbed areas of the property and allowed some invasive species to encroach.restoration practices for this property include mechanical treatment of overgrown midstory via roller chopping or chainsaw hand crews. Installation of fire breaks via disking or mowing to prepare for prescribed fire. Implementation of prescribed fire to further reduce midstory. Invasive plant species management via herbicide and or mechanical treatment. Installation of fencing around the property to reduce trespassing. Removal of trash from previous trespassing.reduction of overstory and RE introduction of fire into scrub and sandhill habitats are key to providing needed open sand patches and low shrub habitats that scrub jays and other scrub obligate species depend on. The goal will be for 50 to 75 percent of the area to be oaks 1 to 3M tall, open patches of bare sand to cover 10 to 30 percent of the area, and no more than 20 percent canopy cover by taller trees. The practices for this project are supported by the FWC s scrub management guidelines (2019) and the south florida multi species recovery plan (SF msrp, 1999).the lake marion scrub habitat restoration property contains an expansive rosemary bald, a rare and specialized form of scrub only found on drier ridge crests. These dry ridge crests are frequently targeted for development, a threat to recovery of scrub obligate species.focal species florida scrub JAY, florida scrub lizard, carter s mustard, pygmy fringe tree, papery whitlow wort, sandlace, eastern indigo snake, sand skink, bluetail mole skink, southeastern american kestrel, wood stork, gopher tortoise, monarch butterfly, florida mouse. All focal species are likely to occur based on florida natural areas index (fnai) data and anecdotal evidence from site visits. Existing plant site protection and the implementation of habitat management using appropriate prescribed fire are factors in the recovery of scrub obligate listed plants (2019 lake wales ridge plants recovery plan amendment, SF msrp, 2021 5 year reviews). Protection and restoration of this site is strongly supported by scrub JAY species lead TOM mecklenborg (email correspondence, 10 JAN 2022). This site is within unit b (lake wales ridge north) as a support population for scrub jays (2019 florida scrub JAY recovery plan amendment).landscape conservation the lake marion scrub habitat restoration property is considered an opportunity area under the florida wildlife corridor project and high to medium conservation priority under the southeast conservation blueprint. Lake marion scrub is a critical linkage between properties owned by the south florida water management district (sfwmd), polk county, USFWS, and the nature conservancy.