Sarasota County purchased this land several years ago to build the Bee Ridge/Aberdeen/Berkshire roundabout. The residents of nearby communities thought the county would keep them as a green space but now the County Commission is considering selling these wooded parcels for development.
These woodlands are a valuable and increasingly rare remnants of mixed softwood and hardwood hammocks. They provide habitat for many creatures including raccoons, deer, bobcats, pileated woodpeckers, indigo buntings, swallow-tailed kites, eagles, red shouldered hawks, and other species that have seen their habitat diminished over the years.