In July 2011, Citrus County Audubon Conservation Chair Nancy Kost submitted her chapter's nomination of Potts Preserve as one of Florida's Special Places, citing the areas incredible natural splendor, including a population of the threatened Florida Scrub-jay. As this special place was nominated, leaders from Citrus County Audubon began planning to complete a bird survey of this area. What these Audubon leaders did not know was that upon completion of this survey that Potts Preserve would be up for review for it's conservation value to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), which is looking to sell lands deemed unnecessary.

Please take a moment to read the following report from Citrus County Conservation Chair Nancy Kost as she describes their recently completed bird survey of Potts Preserve, one of Florida's Special Places. Enjoy:

Earlier this year Audubon of Florida suggested that the various chapters "adopt" a special place.  We at Citrus County Audubon adopted Potts Preserve, a 9,000 acre tract of land in eastern Citrus County bordered on the east by the Withlacoochie River. The  Southwest Florida Water Management District originally acquired the property in the late 1980s in order to:

"Protect of the area’s groundwater recharge, important surface water features, and wetland habitats. The preserve’s wetlands are important to the Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes and the Withlacoochee River systems, part of the Floridan aquifer’s recharge/discharge system."

In addition to helping protect our water, the preserve is a haven for wildlife and native plant species, some rare and some endangered.  Since it's purchase, Potts has also become very important for recreational activities, such as hiking, camping, horseback riding, fishing, hunting, birding, boating, etc.

Almost immediately after Citrus County Audubon adopted Potts, we started planning for CCAS's first-ever bird survey of the property. For better advocacy, we needed to see it in its entirety and know what it contained.  It didn't take long for us to see what a jewel we have in Potts and learn why we must do everything we can to protect it.  We found Potts to be a beautiful area containing a number of different habitats, from marsh and swamp to big oak uplands to pastures (as stated in a recent article by the Citrus County Chronicle). We also found many birds - please download our complete survey list by clicking here.

At the time of our surveying, we had no idea that the governor was preparing to cut SWFWMD's budget to the core and ask them to initiate a review of their public lands in order determine which ones, or parts of them, might be suitable for sale. Potts, along with the other two large SWFWMD preserves in Citrus County (Flying Eagle and Chassahowitzka Coastal Preserve) are included in this review.

Citrus County Audubon Society could not have completed this task without the help of our partners from Audubon of Florida, St. Petersburg Audubon, Clearwater Audubon, Florida Ornithological Society, SWFWMD and Florida Trail Association.  We were indeed fortunate and thankful for their assistance.

To download the complete bird survey document, please click here.