Hernando County site recommended for Environmentally Sensitive Lands program

Armed with bug spray and repellent wipes, members of Hernando County's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Committee and a group of residents piled into trucks Friday morning and drove into the woods along the Hernando-Pasco county line, just east of Aripeka. The committee braved the mosquitoes to evaluate four parcels totaling 60-plus acres that have been nominated for acquisition through the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands program. The area ranked along with other parcels that are under consideration. The focus of Friday's trip was land owned by Fleamasters Food Service of Fort Myers and the Norfleet family of Aripeka. "We'd like (the Southwest Florida Water Management District) to manage it in conjunction with the parcels they own adjacent to it," said Julie Wert of Gulf Coast Conservancy. The undeveloped parcels lie between protected Weekiwachee Preserve property to the north and south. "This is a strategic parcel because it makes that connection," said Forrest Bennett, a Hernando Beach resident who serves on the ESL committee. "It provides a wildlife corridor, so connecting properties from the north to the south is important."