With $420K purchase, Manatee County protects 13 acres

About 13 acres along the Myakka River adjacent to a county park will be protected, after a collaborative effort enabled Manatee County to purchase the property.

Manatee County commissioners authorized the $420,000 land purchase in June, and county records show the deed for the property transferred to the county in August.

The 13.4 acres of undeveloped property is near Crane Park, a 27-acre park in Myakka City that has playgrounds, pavilions and open space. About half of the park is wetlands, while the other half is open forest, according to sister publication East County Observer.

Conserving the additional land will expand public access and protect natural resources, according to Big Waters Land Trust, a conservation nonprofit that facilitated the acquisition. 

After the former owner of the property — Theolla B. Cannon — died in 2024, Big Waters Land Trust had the first option to buy it from her estate. The land trust assigned the option to Manatee County, which subsequently purchased the property at 37600 Bradenton Arcadia Road.

“Projects like this demonstrate what’s possible when dedicated partners come together to save the places that define our region,” Big Waters Land Trust Director of Land Protection Brooke Langston says in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to Theolla B. Cannon Revocable Trust and Manatee County Government for their shared commitment to protecting the beauty and health of our land and water.”

About 8 acres of the county's newly acquired land supports native species like gopher tortoises and “potentially other species of conservation concern, including crested caracaras and sandhill cranes,” according to the statement from Big Waters Land Trust. Conserving the property will protect upland and wetland areas, allow for the expansion of Crane Park and contribute to the long-term health of the Myakka River, the organization says.