Lee County buys land to expand Alva Scrub Preserve

BUYER: Lee County, Fort Myers

SELLER: Virginia Little Gorff Woodward

PROPERTY: 3431 Goggin Road, Alva

PRICE: $1.75 million

TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Florida Land Title Services, Cape Coral

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Lee County government purchased 309.69 acres south of State Road 80 for $1.75 million.

The price equated to $5,650 per acre.

The property will be added to the adjacent Alva Scrub Preserve, which is owned by the county. The land features freshwater and forested wetlands, pine flatwood and hardwood hammock trees. The Hickey's Creek Canal that runs along the property should offer the county an opportunity for flow-way restoration to provide floodplain protection on both sides of the canal. The wetlands would be replenished after the restoration of the Hickey's Creek Extension to improve water quality.

The Conservation 20/20 program, which buys environmentally important lands for preservation, funded the acquisition. Created in 1996, the program receives 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value in the county. Since it made its first purchase in 1997, the county's Conservation 20/20 program has made 115 land purchases and holds 24,781 acres.