Project: Preparation of the Baseline Documentation Report (BDR) for a Conservation Easement on the DeLuca Preserve
Client: FD DESTINY CREDIT, LLC,
Project Team: Exum Associates, Keith Fountain Law, and DeLoach Engineering Science
Client: FD DESTINY CREDIT, LLC,
Project Team: Exum Associates, Keith Fountain Law, and DeLoach Engineering Science
Assignment:
Exum Associates’ role on the project was to define ecological attributes and long-term objectives for conservation of diverse and substantial natural resources on the 27,000-acre DeLuca Preserve.
Challenges:
- Compiling ecological information on a 27,000-acre tract with an extensive agricultural history,
- Assessing the potential for listed species of wildlife, unique ecological communities, and restoration opportunities over such a vast property in a relatively short period of time, and
- Working with personnel from the University of Florida Foundation and Ducks Unlimited and legal staff from every entity to detail the conditions of the Conservation Easement.
Accomplishments:
- Created GIS maps from public sources, conducted extensive field work and collected GPS data for hundreds of features across the Preserve,
- Provided written and photographic evidence of the current condition of representative vegetative communities,
- Documented wildlife and plants observed, including listed species with potential for occurrence, and
- Produced a Baseline Documentation Report that accompanied the complex Conservation Easement agreed to to protect this key piece of natural and working land in perpetuity.
