Beauty in nature appears in so many different ways. The Babcock Ranch is one of those places that will capture your heart if your are a nature lover and cherish the beauty of old Florida the way it used to be. By that I mean at a slower pace- a cowboy's pace. The Babcock is one of the oldest ranches in Florida and one of the few working ranches left in the state.
The Babcock Ranch is close to 92,000 acres and spreads into 2 counties (Charlotte and Lee) near Ft. Myers, FL. It was originally named for Edward Vose Babcock, a lumber baron and mayor of Pittsburgh (1918-1922), who purchased the land in 1914. The land's primary use was for logging and agriculture. The land continues to generate funds through logging and agriculture; and those funds are now used to support the operation and maintenance of the Babcock Ranch Preserve.
The Governor's Camp at the Babcock is tucked away and hidden down a long dirt road. A Live Oak was left in place inside the screened in porch and the rest of the house was built around it. The simple house provides the basics, as well as an outdoor cleaning station for hunters. One of Florida's beloved Governors, 'Walking Lawton' Chiles was said to have been a regular visitor at the camp.
The Babcock Preserve was an important purchase for land preservation for many reasons, but one of the most important was that it was the final section needed to establish an environmental corridor that stretches from Lake Okeechobee in the center of Florida, all of the way to the Charlotte Harbor Estuary on Florida's Gulf Coast.
The Babcock Ranch is close to 92,000 acres and spreads into 2 counties (Charlotte and Lee) near Ft. Myers, FL. It was originally named for Edward Vose Babcock, a lumber baron and mayor of Pittsburgh (1918-1922), who purchased the land in 1914. The land's primary use was for logging and agriculture. The land continues to generate funds through logging and agriculture; and those funds are now used to support the operation and maintenance of the Babcock Ranch Preserve.
The Babcock Ranch is very unique in many ways. It provides habitat to 13 wildlife species that are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern: crested carcara, gopher tortoise, red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern indigo snake, Osceola (a subspecies) wild turkey, Florida burrowing owl, the Florida Panther and Florida Black Bear.
There are specimen trees that date back hundreds of years, but most importantly, the Babcock Ranch is one of the largest preservation purchases in the state's history. In a very unique real estate deal, the Babcock family sold the ranch to the state in 2006, provided that the state preserves the majority of the land, ranching operations were continued to support the preserve, and employment of the ranch staff remain under state ownership.
The Babcock Ranch Preserve Act enacted by the Florida legislature in 2006 made it the first Florida preserve responsible for generating its own funding under a public private management partnership that includes Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Forestry.
According to Time magazine, the purchase of the Babcock Ranch by the state was the 'largest preservation buy in Florida history'. The hope of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was that the state ownership 'would preserve the single largest tract of contiguous land in the state's history'. Approximately 80% of Babcock Ranch's total land will remain undeveloped.
The Babcock Ranch Preserve is self-funding, with all operations supported by revenue from the publicly owned working ranch, the first and only of its type in Florida.
Traveling through the Babcock Ranch Preserve is like going back in time to a place where you want to drive slow down the narrow country roads, roll your windows down, sip a sweet tea, and take it all in.
The Governor's Camp at the Babcock is tucked away and hidden down a long dirt road. A Live Oak was left in place inside the screened in porch and the rest of the house was built around it. The simple house provides the basics, as well as an outdoor cleaning station for hunters. One of Florida's beloved Governors, 'Walking Lawton' Chiles was said to have been a regular visitor at the camp.
The Babcock Preserve was an important purchase for land preservation for many reasons, but one of the most important was that it was the final section needed to establish an environmental corridor that stretches from Lake Okeechobee in the center of Florida, all of the way to the Charlotte Harbor Estuary on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Besides providing habitat for 13 protected and endangered species of animals, there are also large populations of alligator, wild pig, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and northern bobwhite living on the ranch.
The land is also used as a nature reserve with accommodations for recreation, including hunting, camping and hiking.
The Babcock Preserve is a mosaic of pinelands, including both wet and mesic pine flatwoods, and dry prairie ecosystems interspersed with cypress domes and cypress swamps.
The Preserve's wetlands contribute to aquifer and recharge for southwest Florida and help maintain the health of the western Everglades ecosystem, particularly the Caloosahatchee River and Charlotte Harbor estuary.
It is one of my favorite places to visit and I feel privileged to have worked there in 2007, assisting my husband Randy with Florida Natural Audit and Inventory (FNAI), a non-profit organization responsible for the flora and fauna studies that catalog and inventory all plants and animals on the Babcock Ranch Preserve.
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