Manatee County finalizes purchase for Johnson Preserve at Braden River

MANATEE COUNTY – Manatee County Government and the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast today announced the permanent protection of a 44.5-acre preserve on the Braden River that will be named the Floyd C. Johnson & Flo Singer Johnson Preserve at Braden River.

Over the past six months volunteers, donors, private foundations and the Manatee County Commissioners worked together to find a way to purchase the land, the majority of which was slated for development.

Located on the Braden River east of I-75, the 44.5-acre oasis of nature is home to an amazing diversity of plants and animals not normally seen in similar suburban areas, with mature live oaks, tall long leaf pines, important wetlands that store water preventing flooding, imperiled swallowtail kites and gopher tortoises. The land’s riverfront and floodplain forests are part of a corridor linking natural habitat along the Braden River, which supplies drinking water for the City of Bradenton.