Board Member Bill McLin on Oak Island
Oak Island Road Preserve -- 40 Acres
Millions of years ago, this scrub island was part of the ancient archipelago of islands that later became Florida when the ocean waters receded. Gopher tortoises, residents on the island for thousands of years, now roam the sand hills again after nearly becoming extinct due to callous, illegal poachers.
Oak Island, isolated in the Davenport Creek Swamp, was acquired by donation and is held and managed by Green Horizon. This site, east of Davenport Lake near Splendid China and Disney World, is now protected from the development that is rampant in that area.
Wetland forest completely surrounds the scrub island. The community is in excellent shape, undisturbed by human activities that would impact the vegetation because of its inaccessibility. The one large impact, however, is an illegal marijuana growing operation that was destroyed by the Osceola County law enforcement several years before Green Horizon acquired the property.
The scrub vegetation opens up in the middle where there are large rosemary shrubs, rusty lyonia, and ground cover of lichens with dwarf huckleberry. The upland is surrounded by a natural fire barrier, the Davenport Creek Swamp.
