JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida Land Trust has added 7.72 acres of land to its portfolio thanks to a generous donation from Gary and Laine Silverfield and Christie Atkerson.
The families are long-time partners in the real estate development business.
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The parcel they donated is known as The Grove and is located on the Southwest corner of Mickler’s Landing and A1A along the Guana River.
“This is the third acquisition in a month and we have two more in the works that involve developers,” said Jim McCarthy, executive director of NFLT. “We are thrilled to see the development community responding to our Preservation Portfolio and working with us to protect the natural areas in north Florida.”
The land was among the 112,346 acres in NFLT’s seven-county focus area that they deemed in critical need of preservation. It is situated between the McGarvey-Goelz Preserve, which NFLT has owned since 2004, and Guana Tolomato Matanzas Research Reserve (GTM Research Reserve). It is quality marsh habitat that is rich with wildlife including roseate spoonbills, tricolored herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, white ibis, clapper rails, and others.
NFLT has been working closely with developers recently to preserve land in desired locations. In early December, the organization received a donation of land on Big Talbot Island from Charles Chupp, a local real estate investor and developer. The land trust also purchased a piece of property in St. Johns County from Fletcher Davis Management Group after the developer offered the land for sale after hearing it was included in the Preservation Portfolio.