Oakland preserve signals hope for Lake Apopka
OAKLAND — Just as restoring a home can spark renewal of a decaying neighborhood, an emerging nature preserve is meant as a beacon of hope for an infamously ailing lake in Central Florida.
Oakland Nature Preserve is a dot on a map next to the 50-square-mile Lake Apopka in Orange and Lake counties.
Yet the sweep of the place includes a pioneer museum, forests of longleaf pine and wire grass and not quite a mile of boardwalk that winds through hidden interiors of wetlands to a vista of lake water as big as an ocean bay.
Oakland Nature Preserve has the caliber of a state or national park but with a surprising admission charge: It’s free. The private, nonprofit venture in environmental protection exists largely through donations and volunteers.
“People run from me at cocktail parties,” said Jim Thomas, president of Friends of Lake Apopka, which brought the preserve to life and remains its primary advocate. “We have no debt.”
In the mid-1990s, Friends of Lake Apopka began rallying for purchase of a lakeside tract that would host an outdoor classroom for comprehending and appreciating one of the state’s great environmental shames as well as one of its most ambitious ventures in restoration.
Lake Apopka was degraded badly through the last century by discharges from citrus and sewage plants and farming, practices that no longer occur. The state has spent nearly $200 million to reverse extensive harm to the lake’s water and ecoystems.
The group landed a state grant of $560,000 for the purchase in 1999 of 95 acres at the lake’s edge in Oakland.
The tract then was a hodgepodge of abandoned citrus grove, pine plantation and a landfill where area residents dumped yard waste.
From that landfill, countless varieties of exotic trees, shrubs and other landscape plants sprouted and contributed to an expanding jungle that otherwise should never be seen in Florida’s wild places.
As preserve volunteers cut down dead orange trees and non-native pines, they also went to war with invaders such as chinaberry, lantana and castor bean.
The exhausting work was a rescue mission for desirable native species, including cinnamon ferns, elderberries and longleaf pines.
Efforts during the past 15 years include $3 million invested, a visitor and education center that evokes pioneer life, nearly 128 acres now under rehabilitation, miles of trail, regular visits by students and more than 25,000 hours of volunteer work.
Volunteers have come from churches, Scout groups, Rotary clubs and AmeriCorps, a federal service program. Donations have been made by individuals, state programs and local businesses, the names of which are emblazoned on benches, boardwalks and placards.
As natural Florida has taken hold again at the preserve, its various ecosystems have been repopulated by a variety of wildlife, including gopher tortoises, black bears and a host of birds.
Yet during a recent walk along the boardwalk to the lake’s edge, Thomas said the enormous effort and visible results amount to a third of the progress needed to complete the preserve.
From a pavilion at the end of the boardwalk and perched over Lake Apopka, Thomas pointed to a forested island several hundred yards away that one day with great cost and effort could link to the preserve.
The lake itself remains a work in progress as a host of efforts to cleanse its green, nutrient-rich water have brought only incremental improvement.
Also ahead for the preserve is the ongoing battle to ensure that native plants aren’t smothered by exotic varieties.
To that end, the boardwalk handrails display framed explanations – including name, description and origin – of vegetation within view.
Unwanted invaders include wax begonia, wild taro, Peruvian primrosewillow, balsa pear and giant brake fern.
Welcomed species include dahoon holly, lizard’s tail, pickerelweed, swamp dogwood, royal fern, peppervine, wild Boston fern, American beautyberry and creeping bramble.
If not for photographs in framed explanations of vegetation, the greenery would be hard to tell apart for many newcomers.
For Thomas, a fourth generation Floridian with degrees in biology and an environmental consultant who specializes in native plants, a walk on the boardwalk is a step-by-step reminder of what’s ahead.
“We’ve got to get rid of these right away,” Thomas said, pausing before another invader, night-blooming jasmine.
kspear@tribpub.com