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Meeting to discuss Prairie Pines Oct. 21

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Residents will soon have an opportunity to speak their minds on the 10-year revision to the management plan for Prairie Pines Preserve, located on the east side of Tamiami Trail north of Del Prado Extension/Mellow Drive.

The plan will be the topic of discussion at a 4 p.m. meeting Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center.

The 10-year revision provides a synopsis of the work done at the preserve and describes future land management plans.

“We’re going to go over the revision to the plan. We have to have a public meeting with all our plans,” said Laura Greeno, Conservation 20/20 Land Stewardship coordinator.

Greeno said the meeting will give an overview on the progress made over the last 10 years and what they plan to do over the next 10.

After public review the plan will be presented to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners for approval.

Among the achievements over the last decade have been the installation of amenities and trails for hiking and horses.

Greeno said there will be two important components to the revision plan; improving the hydration to the wetlands and riding the areas of invasive plant species.

“We’re getting ready to prescribe a planned burning this year and doing some water projects that will rehydrate some of the wetlands,” Greeno said, who said that changes to the construction of the road, development and the vegetative use of the land have altered the sheet flow.

“Changes in elevation of even a few inches can alter the direction across the site. A lot of small impacts, including the invasives, have altered the flow,” Greeno said.

There will be no changes to the horse trails, the hours of operation or amenities in the plan, Greeno said.

The area has been the subject of a controversial proposed Del Prado / I-75 interchange that neighbors have been fighting for years. The proposed interchange is part of the county’s 2030 transportation vision plan.

The roadway would go through a piece of the preserve.

Greeno said the roadway will not be a topic, but rather what it plans to do with the preserve.

“It’s not in any of the plans until 2024 at least and the land has been purchased through the BOCC and the DOT for the alignment along the edge of the preserve,” Greeno said. “It has no funding or a definitive plan.”

Prairie Pines Preserve was purchased through Lee County’s Conservation 20/20 Program. The area is about 2,684 acres and was purchased between 2001 and 2003.

The preserve’s native plant communities consist of pine flatwoods intermixed with isolated herbaceous wetlands.

Nearly 56 percent of PPP is classified as wetlands, which serves as important habitat for a variety of wildlife.

The management plan is available for review until Oct. 20 at the Cape Coral Public Library, 921 S.W. 39th Terrace, Cape Coral, and also at the North Fort Myers Public Library, 2001 N. Tamiami Trail.

The plan is also online at www.conservation2020.org/Documents/lsp/PPP.pdf.

Written comments are encouraged and can be given at the meeting, online or through the mail. For more, visit www.conservation2020.org.