Seminole County’s Spring Hammock Preserve is now the first forest in Central Florida to belong to the national Old-Growth Forest Network. The nonprofit’s mission is to designate at least one native, protected forest in every U.S. county that can sustain one: about 75% of all U.S. counties, according to the group.
The preserve in Longwood is home to many cypress trees, some of which are thousands of years old, according to Seminole County Natural Lands Program Manager Allegra Buyer. At a ceremony held Friday at the preserve’s Big Tree Park, those cypress trees were a key focus for local and national partners, who came together to celebrate the preserve’s membership in the national network.
“This property was timbered at one point,” Buyer said of Spring Hammock. “But because we have all these really hollow cypress trees, they weren't valuable to the timber industry, so they were left [behind].”
One of the old cypress trees still standing tall in Spring Hammock is known as “Lady Liberty,” an 89-foot tree named by Geneva Elementary School students in 2005. That was seven years before arson destroyed another, even larger and older cypress in the preserve: “The Senator.”
Also known as “Big Tree,” that former tree known as The Senator was used as a landmark by Native Americans, including the Seminoles, as far back as the 17th and 18th centuries, according to historical markers in the preserve.
“This tree saw a lot of history in Florida, that’s for sure,” Buyer said.
Now, a fence guards what’s left of The Senator’s stump, and just steps away, another fence protects Lady Liberty.
“Florida is so special in the types of forests that it can grow,” said Old-Growth Forest Network Executive Director Sarah Adloo. “We really don't have too many forests like this one in our entire Old-Growth Forest Network, especially with individual trees that reach 2,000 years old. That really is notable.”
Along with the age of many of the trees in Spring Hammock, another unique aspect to the preserve is where it’s located: in the heart of Seminole County’s urban core.
“In other counties and in other states, properties like this would likely have been gobbled up by development,” said Seminole County District 4 Commissioner Amy Lockhart. “We are right here in the heart of the most urban part of Seminole County … [There are] major roads, lots of development around this property, and yet we've been able to maintain and preserve this.”
By next year, per Buyer, several new boardwalks at Spring Hammock will be ready for guests to use: a “reimagination” of former boardwalks at the preserve that suffered storm damage over time. The new planned boardwalks will include a pathway to another large cypress tree on the other side of the preserve, as well as a boardwalk extending from Spring Hammock to nearby Lake Jesup.
Spring Hammock Preserve is Florida’s 12th forest to join the Old-Growth Forest Network, and the 278th forest in the country overall. That brings the group to just under 12% of the way to meeting its goal to include forests from about 2,370 U.S. counties, total, in the network.
Elsewhere in Central Florida, Orange County celebrated on Friday the grand opening of its newest wildlife preserve, Greeneyes, in Apopka, named after the native Florida greeneyes plant.
