It is one of many buffer preserves state environmental officials have established in recent years, mostly to protect water quality in nearby aquatic preserves. So far, the state has purchased about 120,000 acres for its buffer preserve program. The state and the Nature Conservancy, a private land-buying agency, are negotiating to buy another 4,400 acres adjacent to Gulf County's preserve. The preserve will remain an oasis of a more natural Florida while home building swirls around it in fast-growing Gulf County. The salt marshes that edge the land's western boundary are especially important in protecting St. Joe Bay.
Salt marshes provide safe havens for all kinds of juvenile fish.
Tidal creeks run through them, bringing nutrients from the land. The marshes also function like giant kidneys, filtering or absorbing pollutants that run off from the land. Nabers recently developed a management plan for the property, which will eventually be opened to the public for some recreational uses. Only a handful of people showed up at a recent public hearing on the plan, and none had major objections. The preserve property was mostly owned by the Maddox family before the state came along.