Rafter T: Ranching for Nature
After almost a decade of efforts spearheaded by TNC, conservation easements now safeguard 5,100 acres from development.
Just a few short miles from bustling U.S. Route 27 lies a surprisingly remote and rugged landscape. Located along the ancient and biodiverse Lake Wales Ridge in Sebring, Florida, the Rafter T Ranch is a family-owned cattle ranch spanning 5,100 acres. After almost a decade of efforts spearheaded by TNC, nearly the entire acreage has been protected by conservation easements that safeguard the property from development.
The landscape here is distinctive of this stretch of Central Florida. Some of the site is made up of Florida scrub, an endangered habitat found only in the Sunshine State. Known for its dry, white sands speckled with evergreen shrubs and dwarf oaks, the scrub habitat is an often-underappreciated haven for rare plants and wildlife. Elsewhere on the property are pine flatwoods interspersed with lush grasslands, freshwater marshes and cabbage palm hammocks—stands of palms rising like green islands from the flat landscape beyond. Together, these unique Florida habitats play host to a rich assortment of species, and help defend the waters of the Everglades.
Iconic Species
The lands in and around Rafter T Ranch are home sweet home for at least 12 federally threatened and endangered animals. Among them are wood storks, the crested caracara and the iconic Florida scrub jay—a pale blue acorn-eater beloved as the only bird species found exclusively in Florida. Rafter T’s marshes are also a welcome stopover for waterfowl such as ducks, storks, egrets and Florida sandhill cranes.
Bigger creatures also roam the lands on and around Rafter T Ranch, including Florida black bears and endangered Florida panthers. Fewer than 200 Florida panthers remain in the world, almost entirely in the southwestern part of the state. Conservationists agree that for the species to survive and thrive, the big cats must grow their population beyond that pocket of southwest Florida. But to do so, these wide-ranging animals need large, connected landscapes. Protecting this stretch of Central Florida will help to ensure that panthers continue to have a safe place in which to roam.
Explore Rafter T Ranch Wildlife
Rafter T Ranch is home to a number of endangered and threatened species. Protection of the ranch will provide an opportunity for these imperiled animals to thrive and increase their populations in the future.
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American Alligator: Iconic reptile inhabits the waters of Arbuckle Creek.
Florida Scrub Jay: Florida's only endemic bird inhabits the scrub.
Roseate Spoonbill: FL threatened species found on fresh water marshes.
Swallow-tailed Kite: Aerial acrobats hunt and nest in the treetops.
Florida Black Bear: Large mammals and young roam the ranch.
Wood Stork: Federally-threatened bird forages in the wetlands.
Crested Caracara: Federally-threatened bird of prey patrols the ranch.
Bald Eagle: Iconic bird of prey nests in the tall pines.
Sandhill Crane: Nest and raise their young in grasslands and marshes.
Connected Landscapes
Rafter T Ranch is special in part for its proximity to a host of other protected lands. It’s located just east of the Lake Wales Ridge, a distinctive and ancient ecosystem of sand dunes protected by the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge. The area is also home to a number of other conservation lands, including properties owned, protected, and managed by TNC: Disney Wilderness Preserve in Kissimmee, Tiger Creek Preserve in Babson Park, Saddle Blanket Scrub Preserve in Frostproof, and Venus Flatwoods Preserve in Venus.
The Rafter T property is situated within the Avon Park Air Force Range Sentinel Landscape, an impressive stretch of almost 1,700,000 acres known for its rich biodiversity and abundance of private ranchlands. One of only seven such designations across the country, the Sentinel Landscape partnerships were created by the USDA, Department of Defense, and the Department of the Interior to engage federal, state, and local partners to work together to preserve the region’s natural habitats and strengthen military readiness by helping private landowners manage their properties sustainably.
Protecting the Everglades
The Everglades provides fresh water to nearly eight million people and provides habitat for countless other species. Yet decades of development and drainage have shrunk Florida’s most important and iconic grassland. One of the many ways TNC is protecting this critical habitat is by safeguarding lands in the Northern Everglades Watershed.
The marshes of Rafter T Ranch have a role to play in both the quality and quantity of the water in the watershed. The property is bordered to the east by Arbuckle Creek, a well-protected waterway that flows south to Lake Istokpoga before continuing on to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades to the south. Waters also pool in the marshes of this flat ranchland, collecting and then soaking ever so slowly into the ground below. In the process, the water is filtered of pollutants before seeping into the underlying aquifer, where it recharges critical groundwater stores.
A Commitment to Conservation
Rafter T Ranch is no stranger to conservation. This working cattle ranch is owned by the Wohl family, which has long been committed to managing the property sustainably. Over the years, the ranch’s owners have engaged in land management practices, water conservation projects, and habitat restoration efforts aimed at supporting the natural flow and storage of water through the ecosystem and providing connected habitat for wildlife.
TNC worked with the Wohl family to protect this special piece of land through a series of conservation easements, beginning in 2013 and wrapping up in 2019. Sustainable ranching operations continue as we work together to ensure this distinctive slice of Central Florida remains a place where freshwater flows and wildlife roams, far into the future.
More on Ranch Wildlife
Help Save the Florida Panther
The Nature Conservancy has led efforts that protect thousands of acres of prime panther habitat and corridors that link those places.
Wood Storks at Disney Wilderness Preserve
With the right nesting trees and forage, North America's only native storks are thriving at Disney Wilderness Preserve.
Protecting Florida's Black Bears
Though now confined to just eight isolated habitats, Florida black bears may fare better as TNC works to protect corridors and lands.