Lands Protected
The TBC has worked on land protection throughout Tampa Bay, north to Citrus County and east to Polk County. Along with the magnificent Gibbons Nature Preserve along the Alafia River, 116 acres of pristine bottomland hardwood hammock near the Homosassa River have been saved through direct land donations, called ‘fee simple donations’. The TBC also serves as Trustee for the Doyle Campbell Park.
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If you know of any land that is worth protecting and want to talk with us about your options, Contact Us.
Conservation is on the map
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.
– Native American Proverb
Myron and Helen Gibbons Nature Preserve
Myron and Helen Gibbons Nature Preserve is a 60-acre site with about a 1/2-mile of Alafia River shoreline. Bell Creek meanders through oak and pinewoods and mixed hardwood and cypress wetlands before it's confluence with the Alafia River.
Members of the Suncoast Native Plant Society identified over 120 plant species on the Gibbon's preserve in 2005. As one of the few remaining natural tracts of land on the lower Alafia River, it a refuge for wildlife and contributes to the protection of water quality in the Alafia River. For the residents of Riverview, it provides a wilderness oasis tucked into a highly developed suburban community.
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Recently the Bell Creek Bridge was restored by the Conservancy with grants provided by the Mosaic Company and Tampa Electric Company.
Yulee Nature Preserve
Yulee Nature Preserve is a 110-acre preserve comprised of bottomland hardwood hammock. It provides habitat for native wildlife including fox, deer and numerous bird species. Yulee Nature Preserve is named for the historic Yulee Sugar Mill which is nearby.
Together with the adjacent Troy Samuel Cumming Nature Preserve, it creates a contiguous 116-acre area that is protected into the future. You can encounter large hickory, southern magnolia, red bay, oaks, and cabbage palms. You may hear Carolina wrens, pileated woodpeckers, Northern cardinals and barred owls. Limestone outcroppings dotted throughout the woods are a visual reminder of Florida’s unique karst geology. The property is located near the Withlacoochee State Forest.
Troy Samuel Cumming Nature Preserve
The Troy Samuel Cumming Nature Preserve is 6.09 acres of healthy bottomland hardwood hammock forest, providing habitat for native wildlife including fox, deer and numerous bird species. Adjacent to this preserve is another 110 acres, the Yulee Nature Preserve. Together, these nature preserves create a contiguous 116 area that is protected into the future.
Walking through the forest, you will encounter large hickory, southern magnolia, red bay, oaks, and cabbage palms. You may hear Carolina wrens, pileated woodpeckers, Northern cardinals and barred owls. Limestone rocky outcroppings dotted throughout the woods are a visual reminder of Florida’s unique geology. The property is located near the Withlacoochee State Forest, not far from a project on the Florida Forever State wish list.
Bullfrog Creek
One of the ways TBC helps conserve and protect land is through collaborative projects, such as the 2014 restoration project at Bullfrog Creek. This partnership of five agencies, under TBC’s leadership, involved two parcels on a 1,620-acre area along Bullfrog Creek in southern Hillsborough County. Its goal was to protect and improve water quality and habitats along this critical streambed area.
Management techniques included design and construction of two low-flow water crossings, prescribed burning to control invasive exotics and maintain fire-adapted native plant communities, treatment of cogon grass and other invasive plants, planting 1800 Florida-friendly trees and native plants in the riparian buffer, and involving the local agricultural community in a workshop on Best Management Practices.