12,500 acres of pinelands, lakes, swamps and pastures. Twenty-three threatened and/or endangered species, including the recent addition of a pair of whooping cranes that have taken up residence on the property. Portions of two former ranches protected as a whole since the mid 1970's as buffer for a wellfield for the greater St. Petersburg, FL area. Owned by one county government Pinellas) within the boundaries of the neighboring county (Pasco), causing "water wars" in Florida's Tampa Bay area for years. Over the decades, cooler heads have brought reason to bear, a desalination plant has been built (although not running to expectations yet) and the wellfields on the ranch were conveyed to the company created to solve/provide water for all of Tampa Bay and Pinellas County: Tampa Bay Water.
(Picture by Albert Roller)
The creation of and actions taken by Tampa Bay Water has freed up the need for Pinellas County water utility ratepayers to continue to own the bulk of the 12,500 acres of prime conservation and recreation land in Pasco County. In fact, the water utility department badly needs to upgarde its infrastructure within Pinellas County and in order to do so, needs to sell those 12,500 acres.
Pasco County wants the 12,500 acres, known as Cross Bar Ranch, to be preserved. It is strategically located between two existing wildlife conservation areas already owned by the SW Florida Water Management District, and by preserving the Cross Bar Ranch it will create a wildlife management area just shy of 40,000 acres in size. Located northwest of Tampa in an area with steady growth, purchase of the Cross Bar Ranch would provide the Pasco-Pinellas-Hernando County area with a wealth of recreational opportunities for the residents and visitors to the area.
I toured the property last week, and must have seen at least 100 wiild turkeys and about 50-60 white tail deer during the 3 hours we were travelling the ranch roads and getting a feel for the place (the caravan tour, so to speak!). Even with three hours we didn't begin to see it all. 12,500 acres is about 20 sections of land... or 20 square miles of property!!!
Pinellas County built a beautiful environmental education center on the property that is used daily by the children in the Pasco County School System. 
So you can see why I love about this work. It's about big open spaces. Wonderful wildlife experiences (eagles eating fish, etc...) and people getting out and enjoying the beauty of this wonderful place we call Earth. And when I get a client that want's me to help them sell their land to the state, it is a whole lot of fun, and very rewarding in the end.
The really good news is I've been hired to sell this property to the State of Florida through it's Florida Forever Program - Yah --hooo!!!! Stay tuned - this is going to be a challenging but fun adventure!
