The Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT) has purchased a 236-acre River Styx property to be protected conservation land, with the support of the River Branch Foundation. 

The land, purchased from the Richardson and Waldorff families, is part of the shoreline and marshland along Orange Lake in the southern part of Alachua County, containing tributaries to Orange Lake. It is part of the Lochloosa Wildlife Corridor Project, a larger system of protected wetlands. 

ACT used a gift from the River Branch Foundation to immediately protect the property from future development and guard the habitat for waterfowl, wading birds and aquatic species. 

In the future, ACT expects to receive grant funds through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, which will allow ACT to shift existing funds to protect other North Central Florida conservation lands. 

“Not only will this property expand habitat within the Lochloosa Wildlife Corridor, it will also provide a future opportunity for public access to Orange Lake for passive recreation,” Tom Kay, ACT Executive Director said in a press release. “Conserving this land has been a high priority of ACT and its partners for decades.”