Our next big project: 20 mile rail-trail and Santa Fe River Preserve

Posted on Jul 17, 2008 - 02:31 PM

The next major rail-trail in North Central Florida and nearly a mile of river frontage on the Santa Fe River is being sought for acquisition by Alachua Conservation Trust. To accomplish the purchases, two grant proposals have been submitted by ACT, one to the Florida Office of Greenways and Trails and the other to Florida Communities Trust.

The rail corridor property was originally acquired by Gainesville Regional Utilities two decades ago. The intent was to link Lake Butler to the Deerhaven power plant in northern Gainesville to provide a route for transporting coal. After GRU bought the line, the coal supplier agreed to lower freight costs over existing tracks, and the new rail line was never built. GRU would now like to sell the corridor, while keeping the rights to use the land for future transportation or utility purposes.

Following ACT’s acquisition of the corridor and project completion, a multi-use trail will stretch more than twenty miles from Alachua to Lake Butler. It will pass by small-town Florida, open meadows, large live oaks, and over the Santa Fe River. In downtown Lake Butler, it will intersect with the existing Lake Butler-to-Palatka State Trail, and the abandoned Lake Butler-to-Lake City rail corridor is also being sought by the state. Ultimately, the goal is to have a loop starting from Gainesville, running through Alachua, Lake Butler, Palatka, Hawthorne and back to Gainesville. If successful, this will be a significant bike trail network, and could greatly enhance the ecotourism economy of North Central Florida. The State’s trail planning maps, available at www.FloridaTrailsNetwork.com, show how important this project is for trail connectivity in our state and in our community.

ACT is also seeking 555 acres where the future rail-trail crosses the Santa Fe River at Worthington Springs. Some of the property is owned by Gainesville Regional Utilities and some by a private developer. The purchase will establish a nature preserve along 5,000 ft of the Santa Fe River, and create a mid-point trailhead and significant destination along the rail-trail. This Preserve will protect a scenic section of the River where the water glows red with tannins against a white, sandy bottom. The land includes mixed forests on high bluffs and floodplain swamps with spectacular diversity including water elm, fringe trees, and river birch, and a profusion of flowering shrubs such as wild azalea. Florida Black Bear and gopher tortoises call this area home.

Decisions on the two state grants are expected in September, with acquisition expected in early to mid 2009. Alachua Conservation Trust may need assistance in lobbying state agencies and the Gainesville City Commission. We will definitely need volunteers to assist with trail development in the future. But more than anything else, to succeed in the short term, ACT will need to raise $900,000 for substantial transaction costs, an endowment to manage the land (required by the state), and for initial development of the trail and preserve. We intend to do this in donations of all sizes, from $5 to $500,000 – please contact us on how you can help (352) 373-1078, or you can give through ACT’s secure donation page.