Drew Dixon
The North Florida Land Trust (NFLT) has overseen the removal of a massive string of fencing that posed serious obstacles to wildlife, boaters and swimmers in the Smith Lake Preserve.
The fencing ran through 1.5 miles of wetlands the organization oversees in Clay County within the Ocala to Osceola (O2O) Wildlife Corridor. The Smith Lake Preserve covers 463 acres of conservation property.
The fencing on Smith Lake was originally installed in the early 2000s before the NFLT acquired the land. The fencing helped to control livestock grazing when the lakebed was actually above water following severe drought conditions.
Since then, water levels have returned to their natural levels and the fencing became submerged. It has been an impediment to not only boaters and swimmers, but to aquatic species such as fish, turtles and alligators, disrupting population growth and damaging the ecological balance.
The fence removal project was paid for by donors, including Faith and Rick Hoffman and the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Funds, a First Coast nonprofit organization founded by the spouse of founding Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver.
“We greatly appreciate the support from the Hoffmans and Delores Barr Weaver, both of whom have been a tremendous help to us and our mission,” said Allison DeFoor, President and CEO of NFLT. “This project was on our to-do list for a while, and thanks to our generous donors, our stewardship team was able to remove the fence that had become submerged in Smith Lake. Now the lake is safer for all.”
The project was rather involved. NFLT officials hired North Florida Dock Service to remove most of the submerged fencing and fence posts. The effort required mini-excavators, floating barges and other watercraft to extricate the fencing from the freshwater marshy habitat.
The removal of the fencing restores natural migration for marine life and environmental balance while increasing safety for those who access the body of water.
