FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Anik Smith, Lee County Parks & Recreation
                (941) 461-7455

FORT MYERS, Fla. (December 19, 2001) – Lee County is using a "Brontosaurus"-like machine to "mulch down" exotic vegetation on some of its Conservation 2020 lands.

The equipment is a vehicle on tracks that has an articulated arm with a rotating-teeth attachment on the end. As it winds its way through a site, it chews up heavy infestations of exotic vegetation – such as melaleuca and Brazilian pepper – and leaves only a layer of fine mulch and the interspersed native plants.

The county’s Parks & Recreation Department and Conservation 2020 program are using the "Brontosaurus" through an $80,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Invasive Plant Management. The county is matching the grant with $27,000 of its funds. The equipment was brought over from the East Coast of Florida by operator John Brown and Sons.

Currently, it is eating its way through an 80-acre Conservation 2020 preserve off Burnt Store Road near the Charlotte County line. The preserve is adjacent to a Florida Forever project called the Charlotte Harbor Flatwoods. Plans are to use it on other sites in the future.

Lee County voters approved Conservation 2020 in November 1996 through a referendum that increased property taxes for seven years by 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. The increase raises about $12 million a year to buy environmentally sensitive lands. More than 7,500 acres has been purchased to date.

The Conservation 2020 Program is a willing seller program, which means that only properties that are nominated by landowners are considered for acquisition. The county does not pursue acquiring properties by its legal power of Eminent Domain.

A Board-appointed, 15-member citizen advisory committee – the Lee County Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee (CLASAC) – has been meeting since February 1997 to recommend appropriate properties to be pursued for purchase.

Note to reporters/editors: To get a photo or footage of the Brontosaurus in action, please coordinate with Anik Smith at the above number.