More protected conservation land in Orange County is at stake, as the Central Florida Expressway Authority is poised to consider on Thursday a resolution to move forward in the acquisition of 15 parcels of land, including Eagles Roost, a Green PLACE property that’s also the home of a recently-reopened wildlife refuge. The agency is targeting the parcels for a toll road already planned to go through part of Split Oak Forest, a 1,700-acre natural area set aside for conservation about 30 years ago.
CFX’s right-of-way subcommittee already voted 6-1 last month to recommend the resolution for approval, with Orange County’s representative on the subcommittee casting the lone vote against it. On Thursday, the agency’s governing board will decide whether to grant final approval.
With design underway for the Osceola Parkway Extension/State Road 534, nature enthusiasts in Central Florida are already bracing for challenges they say the toll road will create for Split Oak Forest.
Now, some say they feel blindsided by news that the toll road could bulldoze over even more Orange County land that was set aside years ago for conservation.
“Why are we putting this together, so that we spend this money for future generations, when they're just going to put roads right through the middle of it?” asked Gabrielle Milch, an active environmental advocate and former St. Johns River Water Management District employee. “What good is that for the [Florida] Wildlife Corridor?”
RELATED: Why the Florida Wildlife Corridor couldn't save Split Oak Forest
The backstory
The protected Split Oak Forest’s position right in the path of CFX’s preferred route has long been a point of local contention and controversy. On paper, Split Oak is arguably one of the most protected environmental areas in the state, with at least six different entities invested in preserving its natural resources, as well as a charter amendment overwhelmingly approved by Orange County voters in 2020.
But in practice, those conservation protections have proven vulnerable to the development pressures resulting from Central Florida’s rapid growth.
A conservation easement deed signed in 1995 establishes Orange and Osceola counties as joint owners of Split Oak Forest, with FWC as land manager. The conservation easement is binding, to “remain in full force and effect forever,” with the land to be “retained forever in its natural state,” according to the deed.
Environmentalists bemoaned the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s vote last May to approve releasing part of the forest from its conservation protections, in exchange for a “mitigation package” offered up by CFX which includes 1,550 acres of nearby land to be set aside for state conservation.
Then, earlier this year, FWC signed a new interlocal agreement with CFX and Osceola County — leaving Orange County out of the picture. Although both counties own Split Oak Forest, the agreement indicates CFX’s planned toll road will only “directly impact” 60 acres of land within Osceola County. An additional 100 acres of the forest will take on “indirect impacts,” according to FWC materials.
Since 2019, Orange County’s official stance on the proposed toll road has shifted, from a supportive stance to one of opposition. Initially, commissioners approved in late December 2019 a resolution of support for CFX’s proposed route slicing through the southern part of Split Oak Forest.
But in November of 2023, more than three years after 86% of Orange County voters approved a charter amendment protecting the forest, the board of commissioners changed its tune: voting 6 to 1 to oppose CFX’s proposed route. Meanwhile, Osceola County lost the lawsuit it filed against Orange County for its charter amendment.
Split Oak's status
In March of this year, Orange County District 5 Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad asked the board of commissioners whether, at that point, there was anything else Orange County could do to remove Split Oak Forest from the toll road’s path. In a detailed April memorandum, the county’s Environmental Protection Division indicated CFX’s preferred route was a done deal.
“Orange County does not have jurisdictional or regulatory permitting authority over lands in Osceola County including the portion of the [Osceola Parkway Extension] proposed to impact [Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area]. The OPE project is moving forward, with substantial commitments made by CFX,” the EPD memo reads, citing the new interlocal agreement signed earlier this year by FWC, CFX and Osceola.
But more than a year later, public records reveal the transaction is far from finalized, with a long metaphorical road still ahead before any toll road will be built through the forest.
The initial grant award allowing both counties to acquire Split Oak Forest in the ‘90s came from the Florida Communities Trust, a state-funded land acquisition program that helps communities protect natural resources.
Years later, in May 2020, both Orange and Osceola counties applied to FCT for a linear facilities determination. “Linear facilities” may include public transportation corridors, as defined in Florida statute. In 2022, FCT issued a tentative approval of the application — contingent on seven conditions, which the counties must complete before any formal land transfer can occur.
“The Interagency Agreement between CFX, FWC, Osceola County confirms that they met all of FCT conditions for approval for land transfer,” reads the April memo from Orange County’s EPD.
But earlier this summer, Martinez Semrad inquired directly with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection about the status of those seven conditions, and learned they still haven’t all been met.
“[FCT] staff have conducted an extensive search of our records and as of this date have not located documentation verifying that these requirements have been met,” reads the document on FDEP letterhead, dated June 23, 2025.
The final requirement listed is for counties to obtain release of easements held by FWC and the South Florida Water Management District. But the application to SFWMD is still pending, following multiple attempts from the District to clarify various aspects of applicants’ plans, including plans to mitigate environmental impacts.
The most recent item for that application is from June 30, when the District gave detailed feedback on what applicants are missing and should try to improve. Three different times within that correspondence, environmental review staff with the District wrote: “The vague plan does not provide the reasonable assurance needed that this will be successful.”
Coming up next
Even as land transfers necessary to build CFX’s preferred toll road through Split Oak Forest remain outstanding, the agency is moving forward with its targeted acquisition of several parcels of Orange County land, including Eagles Roost.
The 232-acre Green PLACE property in Orange County was set aside for conservation in 2006. The following year, the Back to Nature wildlife refuge was granted 20 acres within Eagles Roost as part of a 40-year lease, according to the refuge’s website. The facility recently reopened to the public, complete with new building upgrades, following years of necessary repairs.
RELATED: Orange County wildlife refuge reopens after years of construction
Representatives for the recently-reopened Back to Nature wildlife refuge declined to comment for this story.
For its part, Orange County maintains that potential impacts to Eagles Roost from the proposed toll road were never a secret.
“Orange County Staff and CFX provided a presentation to the BCC on December 17, 2019, which showed that Eagles Roost was part of the preferred alignment for Osceola Parkway Extension, now known as SR 534,” county spokeswoman Amanda Dukes wrote in an email.
But several conservation advocates in Orange County — including Martinez Semrad, who previously worked with Save Orange County before taking office last year — insist they were blindsided by CFX’s intent to acquire additional conservation land, and that sufficient details of the impacts to Eagles Roost weren’t provided to commissioners.
“When I learned of it, it was brand new to me,” Martinez Semrad said. “But then to learn that Orange County knew of it … is frustrating and concerning, because it makes it feel as though it's not transparent.”
Marjorie Holt, who chairs the Sierra Club’s Central Florida Group, echoed that frustration.
“To find it after the fact — I think that's what is bothering a lot of us,” Holt said.
Last year, Orange County celebrated some 1,700 acres of environmentally sensitive land it protected in 2024 with the Green PLACE program. But the latest developments with the pending toll road have some environmentalists disenchanted.
“This is the frustration in the state of Florida. Basically, you’re looking at trading off one public good for another,” said Kimberly Buchheit, a professional land surveyor who has reviewed the land parcels targeted by CFX.
Buchheit said she also takes issue with what she views as a lack of transparency and accountability to the public.
“[It] makes you question all the other things, and wonder how our decision-makers can make good decisions, if they're not being provided with all of the information,” Buchheit said. “That's really my concern. I'm about the rules.”
Gabrielle Milch expressed frustration about “mixed messaging” from the county — but also some hope, given that CFX still has yet to finalize the proposed acquisition. The current plans available from CFX call for just under 3 acres of direct impacts to Eagles Roost.
“Nothing’s done till it’s done,” Milch said.
CFX’s governing board meets Thursday, August 14 at 9 a.m. in Downtown Orlando. The meeting will also be live streamed.
