NewsLine staff
As Amelia Island continues to grow, the natural spaces left between neighborhoods and roads are becoming harder to find. Two pieces of that land along Egans Creek will now stay natural for good.
North Florida Land Trust and the city of Fernandina Beach have partnered to preserve nearly 10 acres on two properties that connect to the Egans Creek Greenway, according to an Oct. 5 release from the land trust. The city now owns and manages both properties, which will become conservation and recreation land.
The larger property, nearly 9 acres, was donated by Sherry Quattlebaum, a former schoolteacher and real estate professional who bought the land in the early 2000s. The property is almost entirely wetlands buffering Egans Creek. Quattlebaum decided to donate it as part of her estate planning and chose to work through the land trust so it would remain natural and be an amenity for city residents.
“The land is located within an area that is also a wildlife corridor, and my hope was it would become a continuation of the greenway,” Quattlebaum said in the release.
The second property, about 1 acre, was purchased from Pineland Holding Company LLC. The upland parcel fronts Sadler Road and connects to the greenway. Its location made it a target for development, but owner John Adler chose to sell it to the land trust and the city at a discount so it could be preserved. The purchase was paid for by the land trust’s Amelia Forever Fund, the city and a large donation from a private donor on Amelia Island.
How does a partnership like this work? The land trust and the city recently renewed an agreement to work together on conservation. Under it, the two identify properties of mutual interest, and each contributes money toward buying them. The land trust’s share comes from the Amelia Forever Fund, which was created in 2019 to buy the remaining natural spaces on Amelia Island.
“Egans Creek Greenway is an amazing community asset and adding land will increase the ecosystem benefits including providing a wildlife corridor that is uninhibited by development,” said Allison DeFoor, president and CEO of the land trust. “Now these properties will remain in their natural state forever.”
City Manager Sarah Campbell called the Quattlebaum donation “a gift that will benefit generations to come.”
The Ron Sapp Egans Creek Greenway covers more than 300 acres along Egans Creek and is open to the public as an undeveloped park. Its trails, benches and interpretive displays give visitors a chance to see alligators, snakes, marsh rabbits and many kinds of birds, from a distance.
For more information about North Florida Land Trust, visit nflt.org.
