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Wildlife corridor awaits a critical link
By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
LAND O'LAKES -- Although Five Mile Creek rushed with rainwater this weekend, for much of the year it scarcely rates as a trickle through a drain beneath U.S. 41 in Land O'Lakes. But in the view of some wildlife conservationists alarmed by Pasco County's rapid-fire suburbanization, Five Mile Creek might as well be the Mississippi River. The creek forms the spine of a vital stretch of wildlife corridor, a haven from the hubbub of suburbanization for animals such as deer, bobcat and fox. Proponents hope to preserve an unbroken stretch of corridor, with the creek near its heart, through northern Pinellas, Pasco, Polk and Hernando counties. So imagine the surprise when development plans -- at least 500 homes, shopping centers and a new highway -- landed on Pasco County biologist Bob Tietz's desk last year. Landowner Cone & Graham Inc. proposes selling its tapped-out sand mine west of U.S. 41 to Tampa developer Rigel LLC. Unfortunately for Tietz, Five Mile Creek traces its way across much of the mine property. Cone & Graham's 383 acres, combined with an adjacent 285 acres to the south owned by Taylor Simpson's Five-Mile Ranch, swaddle the bulk of the proposed wildlife corridor. Pasco has found itself fighting to preserve a corridor before the bulldozers obliterate it. "This is a classic definition of a critical linkage," Tietz said of Five Mile Creek's role in the multicounty animal path. "If you ever want to use the word critical, this is critical." If you scan an ecological map, the terrain watered by the creek forms a land bridge between two blobs. The blob east of U.S. 41 is a mass of green space taking in the Conner Ranch and the Cypress Creek, Cross Bar Ranch and Al Bar well fields. The properties total about 28,000 undeveloped acres, although 4,500 acres of the Conner Ranch is approved for a "new town" development of 8,700 homes. The western blob includes the 20,000 acres of the Serenova nature preserve, Jay B. Starkey Park Wilderness Park and other parcels. Without Cone's contribution to the corridor, the system of interlocking properties appeared to fall apart. It could spell the end to an unbroken greenway hospitable to large mammals. Cone's value rose even more with last week's announcement that the state is buying almost 3,000 acres of the Conner Ranch as conservation land. "You'd be cutting the corridor," Tietz said. "You're dicing and slicing." Developers first agreed to donate 31 acres for a wildlife path, but upped the figure this month to 84 acres as they negotiated with the county and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, said Ben Harrill, attorney for Rigel LLC. Tietz, following the suggestion of the wildlife consultant Pasco hired two years ago, wants a 2,200-foot-wide corridor. He won't get that much land. Immediately west of U.S. 41, the widest corridor possible around Five Mile Creek would be about 700 to 800 feet, said Len Bartos, environmental manager for the water district. Anything wider would upset property owners' development plans and bump against construction of the Ridge Road Extension, a highway planned north of the creek. Five Mile Creek isn't much to look at. Channelized long ago for ease of drainage, the creek puts in an appearance only in rainy months. Yet the thick growth of pine and cypress along the stream just west of U.S. 41 suggests a haven for critters. After leaving the Cone property, the creek flows across a ranch owned by the Bexley family, passes under the Suncoast Parkway and merges with the Pithlachascotee on the Serenova property. Some question the value of wildlife corridors, quipping that animals don't own road maps. But conservationists insist the value of greenways will grow as development invades habitat. "Once everything develops, the deer and other animals will use the corridors," Bartos said. "They won't have anywhere else to go."
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