In September 2021, the Board of County Commissioners approved a resolution providing for the creation of a Green Place Advisory Board. This board oversees the $100 million natural lands program and recommends names for parcels purchased.
On April 12th, 2023, the Green PLACE Advisory Board approved a motion to recommend naming a site previously known as Pine Plantation as Greeneyes Wildlife Preserve. The location of the property is at 951 West Kelly Park Road. 
It is very important to save land west of Kelly Park as it is the recharge area for the springs and water supply. The area is so vulnerable that the state legislature, in the Wekiva River Protection Act, required all future development projects to follow strict state laws and guidelines.
I have learned that land development codes differ between the county and the City of Apopka. I cannot truly understand how these practices continue with the state passing such environmental legislation. Nevertheless, Orange County requires 35 percent passive, contiguous lands to be preserved in every new subdivision. In a future column, I will share with you the design of a few county projects in the Wekiva Basin.
Additionally, the county is purchasing land for the preservation of this recharge area. According to the Florida Geological Survey Report of Investigation, 104 on page 23 - the most vulnerable area impacting our local water supply, springs, and river are in the Kelly Park/Plymouth Sorrento area of northwest Orange County.
The property was purchased in 2009 and comprises 40 acres of planted pines and scrub habitat. Historically, the site contained the natural community from a sandhill habitat. Some of the other plant species known to occur in these habitats can be observed on the site. These include the Butterflyweed milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Florida Alicia (Chapmannia floridana), and Blazing star (Liatris spicata). The site also provides habitat for the threatened gopher tortoise, American black bear, and many species of birds, such as the Pileated woodpeckers and American kestrel. 
