Plan envisions linking agencies' parks, land
 
 
(Note: Can you say "Wildlands Project" implementation?)
 
 
September 21, 2005
 
 
By Hector Florin hector_florin@pbpost.com
 
Palm Beach Post staff writer
 
Palm Beach Post
 
Palm Beach, Florida
 
 
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@pbpost.com
 
 
West Palm Beach, Florida - Does Palm Beach County have the equivalent of a national park system?

It sure seems to think so, and county officials are ready to expose this secret.

Tie in 145,000 acres of public land such as the Grassy Waters Preserve and DuPuis Management Area and other county conservation lands together with Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County, and that's nearly the equivalent of Biscayne National Park.

Only better. That park, in southern Miami-Dade County, is mostly underwater.

Expanding a trail network -- for hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, biking, and hunting -- among the northern Palm Beach County and southern Martin County parks can create a gem of a system, and the numerous government agencies that own this land are ready to promote it to the public.

At a Palm Beach County workshop Tuesday, commissioners gushed over the possibilities of such a parks system. Information and a map of some proposed projects can be viewed online at http://pbcgov.com/erm/ stewardship/land.asp. Brochures, available on the Web site, may be sent to county residents.

It's the result of a two-year study involving the two counties, West Palm Beach, South Florida Water Management District, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and Florida Department of Environmental Protection, most of which have purchased thousands of acres of land for conservation for years.

The first part of this ambitious effort could come next year with a trail connecting Lake Okeechobee and the Atlantic Ocean.

The planned reopening of Riverbend Park and the purchase of about 10 acres east of the lake would create that trail, said Richard Walesky, director of the county's Department of Environmental Resources Management.

The project would require about $25 million, primarily for new signs and paved trails, but the grander scheme would require $785 million in land acquisition, mostly in Martin County, Walesky said.

Over meetings held the past two years, the agencies supported the idea, and County Commissioner Jeff Koons offered to take it one step further by linking up a similar plan with Broward County.

"They have seen the plan. They're aware of the plan," Walesky said. "They know what the vision is, of how this all will connect together.

"We'll get there at some point in time," he added. "But how many years it's going to take is unknown."

Ideas also include a drive-by tour of scenic areas from the ocean to the Beeline Highway and up through Indiantown; creating "trail heads," or stop-off points along the trails every 5 miles; and coordinating educational programs among all the agencies.

"This is truly an asset for the public," County Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti said.

The simple idea is to unite the various parks, but now the key, Koons said, is to get the plan moving.

"We just need to go implement this thing," he said. "I'm very proud of what we've done."

 
Copyright 2005, Palm Beach Post.