A joint effort between The Nature Conservancy and Hatchineha Ranch LLC, Hatchineha Ranch Conservation Bank is 161 acres on the Lake Wales Ridge in Polk County, Florida. The site is adjacent to the Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park (7,156 acres) to the south and southwest and Hatchineha Ranch Mitigation Bank (4,783 acres) to the north and northeast.
The bank site consists of a mosaic of sandhill, oak scrub, scrubby flatwoods, and depression marshes. These vegetative communities will be managed primarily with fire to restore and maintain optimal habitat conditions. Currently, sixteen listed plant and animal species occur on the bank.
The goal of Hatchineha Ranch Conservation Bank is to preserve and enhance habitat for the Lake Wales Ridge populations of sand skink and blue-tail mole skinks, Florida scrub-jays, and other xeric upland scrub endemic species. To achieve this goal, the following specific objectives have been set forth:
The xeric uplands present within the Bank consist of habitat types that are documented to support numerous protected species of wildlife and vegetation that are endemic to and dependent upon these community types and their natural fire regimes. Preservation of these unique scrub and sandhill communities and implementation of land management activities to restore a natural fire regime are imperative to the long-term protection and survival of contiguous populations of sand and bluetail mole skinks and scrub-jays as well as other protected wildlife.
Click HERE for the Hatchineha Ranch Conservation Bank Certification Letter.
