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A Hidden Gem
The St. Sebastian River is a small coastal river that flows north from the citrus groves northwest of Vero Beach out to the Indian River Lagoon, the most diverse estuary in North America. Though it is mostly hidden from our view, many of us regularly drive over it as we make our way along our county's roads.

As the Indian River Lagoon's only natural tributary in Indian River County, the St. Sebastian River is important to everyone who lives here. It is a biologically diverse and vulnerable stream that harbors threatened wildlife. It also provides critical spawning grounds for local game fish. In addition, the river is critical to maintaining our aquifers for drinking water and for irrigation of our homes and recreation areas.

The Indian River Land Trust is working to protect land along the St. Sebastian River, which is home to centuries-old cypress forests, historic sites and fragrant citrus groves. In 2006, the Land Trust partnered with several other non-profit organizations to create the St. Sebastian River Greenway Plan. The goal of the St. Sebastian River Greenway is to protect the undeveloped lands along this critically important river and provide public access to them forever.

South Prong Preserve
IRLT staff presented the formal interpretive plan for the South Prong Preserve recently, part of the larger St. Sebastian River Greenway project located in the northern section of Indian River County. In collaboration with environmental consultant, Dr. David Cox, IRLT has outlined a vision for the historic Ryall and Stough homestead properties immediately adjacent to Route 510 along the Sebastian Creek. The interpretive plan calls for a visitor's center and security building, hiking trails, signage systems and educational opportunities for the public. When adopted, this project will provide a model for further expansion into other protected lands along the St. Sebastian River Greenway, opening up miles and miles of hiking trails through native habitat for public recreation access.

The 40-acre South Prong Preserve, owned by the county, is significant because of its unique biological resources and rich cultural heritage. The properties included in the plan incorporate a variety of habitats bisected by the South Prong of the St. Sebastian River. The area contains an important cypress swamp that is highly vulnerable to impacts from development and the effects of urban runoff - nitrate loading from fertilizers, increased sedimentation, and similar deleterious impacts.

Three primary trails have been included in the interpretive plan. The first is the Cypress Loop Trail which runs through the cypress swamp and connects to the Oak Loop Trail. Together, they provide over two miles of continuous hiking. The third trail, located to the north across Route 510, is the shorter and less vigorous Slough Loop Trail. This trail system provides entry to a variety of habitats in a beautiful and easily accessible part of Indian River County.

The Indian River Land Trust and the Environmental Learning Center are in the early stages of partnership to establish this property as a model conservation area for the education of children and adults alike about the importance of the St. Sebastian River as it relates to the Indian River Lagoon. The next step will be the removal of extensive exotic vegetation that chokes out native habitat and the design of the trail system in the hope of running a pilot educational program on the South Prong Preserve as early as 2009.

IRLT thanks the Prentice Foundation and the Educational Foundation of America for their generous support of this project.