This preserve and park would not be here if not for the dedication of people from Hernando County. It’s a part of the Lake Townsend history that James King knows well.
King is Hernando County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Specialist and explained why this is the people’s park.
This was part of Colonel Robbins property at one time, and when the US Government bought it they declared it surplus, that way the county was able to purchase the property. The preserve is a conservation bordered by Lake Lindsey Road, Lingle Road, Osage Street and Daly Road.
In 1974, the property was given to Hernando County by the United States Department of Interior to be used for public recreation. However, some members of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) wanted to give the property to the another organization, Kiwanis International, for them to build a private conference center, a home for the disadvantaged/blind children as well as a shooting range for one dollar per year on a 99 year lease.
The residents were more interested in setting up an organization to raise money to build a park.
“They had barn dances, yard sales, fish fries and everything they could think of to raise money. The perimeter fencing about 5 miles, they built that. The ball park, they built that. The community in this area did that,” King said.
“If it wasn’t for those people and their determination for a park, it would probably be a conference center,” King said.
Lake Townsend is the largest preserve in Hernando County which is also the only equestrian facility.
“I value the equestrian user,” They contribute to our workdays. They are not a least bit bashful about coming and helping clean up the trails that they use. I really appreciate that,” King said.
Whether you are horseback riding or walking, these trails guide you around Townsend Lake. Sandhill cranes make their home around the lake and wild blackberries grow in abundance.
Currently, 293 of the 375 acre Townsend Lake preserve is transitioning into a gopher tortoise habitat through the Gopher Tortoise Recipient Project.
“They are protected because they are endangered of becoming extinct, because of loss of habitat. What is theirs’ (territory) is not being managed adequately to provide forage for healthy gopher tortoise population,” King explained.
The FWC states,
“An amazing trait of the gopher tortoise is that it shares its burrow with more than 350 other species, including burrowing owls, Florida mice, indigo snakes, opossums, rabbits, gopher frog, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and gopher crickets. For this reason it is called a keystone species, so named because the upper stone in an arch, the keystone, supports the other stones to hold them in place. Animals which utilize the gopher tortoise burrows are known as commensal species. Since many commensal species depend on the burrows for survival, decreases in gopher tortoise populations result in a decline of other species.
(FWC: http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles-and-amphibians/reptiles/gopher-tortoise/)
A recent survey found less than 60 gopher tortoises occupying over 293 acres, which is a low population for that amount of acreage.
“In restoring the sandhill community, increasing the gophers tortoise burrows in that habitat is extremely important. The burrows are the escape habitat for so many critters,” King said. “You manage for gopher tortoise and pretty much everything else that lives there is going to be happy and going to have the resources they need to survive.”
Re-homing is not just picking them up and placing them in the preserve. Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission have strict guidelines in the relocation of gopher tortoises, even on your own property. (http://myfwc.com/license/wildlife/gopher-tortoise-permits/)
Getting the habitat ready for these tortoises is very important. In December of 2015 an assigned amount of acreage was conducted in a prescribed burn. However, Jim King explained that it still isn’t enough to support herbaceous vegetation (plants that have no persistent woody stem above ground). Herbaceous plants may be annuals, biennials or perennials. Annual herbaceous plants die completely at the end of the growing season or when they have flowered and fruited, and they then grow again from seed to support gopher tortoises.
“If you manage well for them, everything else in the community is going to be in good shape,” King said.
One of the most important functions of this preserve is that it is a trailhead (the starting point of a trail). They provide access to vastly larger pieces of public property, which otherwise people are unable to get to.
“I bet you can access ten thousand miles of trails from this place, because it’s all connected to everything. There is 60 miles of equestrian trail alone in the Withlacoochee Trail and another 10 miles here,” King said.
A short walk across the trail the Withlacoochee River awaits you. You are taken away by just the beauty of nature, the huge cypress trees gathered along the bank and the amazing wildlife that lives in this prominent scene.
Amenities include a wooden pier for fishing enthusiasts as well as a boat ramp for those that wish to kayak or canoe.
There is so much to discover hiking within these preserves. There is a wide variety of different species of mushrooms, wildflowers, plants, birds and wildlife. The adventure begins as soon as you take that first step.
Explore, learn, teach, and protect. For more information visit their website: http://www.co.hernando.fl.us/plan/ESL/
Environmentally Sensitive Lands 20 North Main Street, Room 262, Brooksville, Florida 34601 Phone (352)754-4057 Fax (352)754-4420
Editor’s Note: The area is known as Lake Townsend, Townsen Lake and Lake Townsen. The Lake was named after Istachatta’s founder and postmaster Francis M. Townsend. He built a ferry across the Withlacoochee River in hopes of becoming a stop on the stagecoach route. The alternate spelling Townsen is the result of a transcription error.