58 acres protected in Manatee County

A 58-acre parcel in Manatee County will be conserved thanks to a new conservation easement, which officials say will help safeguard water quality in the Braden River.

The newly conserved land is located near Gap Creek, according to the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, which acquired the conservation easement from Manatee County landowner Bunny Garst. 

It marks the second time Garst worked with the organization in a conservation effort; in 2021, she donated a 14-acre conservation easement on an adjacent parcel in honor of her late husband, Judge Claflin Garst Jr., which was sold following the protection to adjoining landowners James and Mary Parks for limited agricultural use, including grazing, for a working farm.

The 58 acres covered by the new conservation easement will link the 14 acres of previously Garst-owned land with two other conservation areas that buffer Gap Creek, officials say: Manatee County's 83-acre Braden River Park and the Girl Scouts’ 123-acre Camp Honi Hanta.

Growing the network of conserved lands along Gap Creek protects water quality in the nearby Braden River, which flows into the Manatee River, then Tampa Bay and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico, the Conservation Foundation says in the statement. Keeping the land in its natural state will protect local residents from flooding by ensuring it can clean and hold stormwater as well, the statement says.

The 58 acres will remain privately owned, and natural areas will be protected through the conservation easement, which also contains designated building envelopes permitting future construction for residential and agricultural uses, the statement says.

“We thank Bunny Garst for selling us the conservation easement at a deep discount and for her continued commitment to protecting Southwest Florida’s land and water,” President of the Conservation Foundation Christine Johnson says in a statement. The price of the conservation easement was not disclosed. 

Gift from these organizations made purchase of the conservation easement possible, according to the statement: Bishop-Parker Foundation, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, Partnership for Gulf Coast Land Conservation and Bill and Mary Muirhead Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.