Polk County Acquires 26 Acre Lake Wales Property for $415K for Environmental Protection
by James Coulter
More than 26 acres of land near Lake Wales will be conserved for environmental protection now that Polk County has agreed to acquire the land for $415,917.50.
At their regular meeting on Tues. Mar. 3, 2026, the Polk County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) voted unanimously to approve a land purchase agreement between the County and two private residents in conjunction with the Environmental Lands Program.
The County will acquire a tract of land located east of Lake Wales and west of Walk in Water Road. The tract consists of four individual tax parcels, consisting of approximately 26 acres.
Through this agreement, the county will purchase “approximately 21 acres in fee simple and a conservation easement over the remaining 5 acres located in the northeast corner of the overall property,” wrote R. Wade Allen, Director of Real Estate Services.
The land will be purchased for $415,917.50, with an estimated $7,000 in closing costs for a total of $422,917.50.
“Funds are available for the purchase in the amount of $162,896 in the Special Revenue Grant – Sentinel Landscape DIG Fund,” Allen wrote. “Funds are available for the remainder of the purchase price and estimated closing costs in the amount of $260,021.50 in the Environmental Lands Acquisition Fund.”
Steven Morrison and Sally Morrison nominated the property to Polk County Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee (“CLASAC”), which, as Allen explained, was created in Feb. 2023 for “the acquisition, preservation, protection, management, operation and restoration of environmental lands, water resources and important fish and wildlife habitat.”
The property exists within the Lake Wales Ridge, considered one of Florida’s most sensitive and ecologically valuable regions. The Ridge is famous for its high biodiversity and endemism, with unique native animals and plants existing nowhere else in the world.
The acquired land itself sits between Lake Wales and the Walk‑in‑Water region, adjacent to large wilderness tracts that serve as habitats for creatures such as gopher tortoises, scrub jays, indigo snakes, and black bears.
As such, the acquisition of this land fits perfectly within the goals of the County’s broader conservation strategy through its Environmental Lands Program, the purpose of which, according to the County’s website, is “to acquire, preserve, protect, manage and restore endangered and environmentally sensitive lands, water resources and important wildlife habitat as part of Polk County conservation.”
