Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area is an area of wilderness conservation lands southeast of
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
. It straddles the border of
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
and
Osceola County and is managed by the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which has been granted a conservation easement over the property by the two counties. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's management plan for Split Oak Forest is "is to restore and maintain the habitats critical to the long-term benefit of state and federally listed upland species, particularly the gopher tortoise." A parkway extension project across the southern portion of the forest is proposed to provide vehicular access to an area of new development.
The wilderness area includes prairie and scrub habitat, including
sandhill terrain, and is home to
gopher tortoise
The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide ...
s,
sandhill cranes
The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on t ...
,
eastern indigo snake
The eastern indigo snake (''Drymarchon couperi'') is a species of large, non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. Native to the southeastern region of the United States, it is the longest native snake species in North America.
Taxonomy an ...
s,
fox squirrels, butterflies, woodpeckers,
kestrels, various songbirds,
and some rare plant species. There are trails throughout the Park for visitors.
A Friends of Split Oak Forest group formed to try to protect the area from the intrusion of the road. A conservation land swap is proposed to mitigate impact from the road and this plan has received support from county commissioners and Charles Lee of the Florida Audubon Society. The ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' editorial board supports the road project with planned mitigation.
A proposed
Osceola Parkway extension is planned through the southern part of the preserve.
The road project is one of many including extensive new
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
s being proposed through largely undeveloped areas engendering controversy during Governor
Ron DeSantis' tenure.
References
External links
*
Freinds of Split Oak ForestFlorida National Scenic TrailA Management Plan for Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area 2017 – 2027
Conservation areas of the United States
Protected areas of Osceola County, Florida
{{OsceolaCountyFL-geo-stub