About Us

Saving Land

We save land by taking title to environmentally sensitive properties and placing them under permanent protection. We also facilitate preservation through support of community and government acquisition projects.

Lemon Bay Conservancy has helped save hundreds of acres of land from development. We work with individuals, foundations, businesses, government agencies, and other environmental groups to create conservation areas for the protection of our water supply, to deter storm surge, to provide critical habitat for wildlife, and to sustain the quality of life enjoyed by residents and visitors to our communities.

Often, the land we help protect is placed into public ownership. In other cases, private landowners choose to forever preserve the natural resources on their properties through conservation easements, or donate them to us, where we put conservation easements on them. Lemon Bay Conservancy owns more than two dozen such properties.

Improving and Protecting Our Waters

Our land-protection efforts are one way to enhance local waters. To complement that, we’ve created Lemon BayWatch to undertake initiatives that raise awareness, improve water quality, and focus attention on aquatic resour

Lemon BayWatch components now include:

• Seagrass monitoring – seasonal data collection by trained LBC volunteers in conjunction with the University of Florida’s Eyes on Seagrass program
• Water quality testing – monthly data collection by trained LBC volunteers in conjunction with the Charlotte Harbor Estuaries Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Network
• Oyster gardening – with vertical oyster gardens (shell strings) that we provide for local dock placement
• Clam research – in 2024 we began a pilot study on clam restoration feasibility in Lemon Bay

Additionally, for more than a decade we’ve helped conduct juvenile tarpon and snook research in Lemon Creek at the Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve in partnership with others.

Educating Residents and Visitors

Lemon Bay Conservancy periodically hosts programs and lectures that enhance public understanding of environmental topics pertinent to Lemon Bay and the greater region, with emphasis on the fragility of these ecosystems. We sponsor numerous educational nature walks and on-land tours, conduct educational on-water (kayak) tours, sponsor the Lemon Bay Coastal Seminar Series, and publish informative materials on a variety of subjects.

We also conduct a popular education-oriented nature festival at the Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve that includes kiosks from other area conservation groups, and participate as educational exhibitors at various local events.

Advocating for Lemon Bay

In advocating for sustainable conservation policies, Lemon Bay Conservancy serves as a voice for the people and for the health of our environment. Therefore, we champion appropriate land and water conservation policies, programs, practices, and laws. We regularly review environmental issues that may impact the Lemon Bay and Gasparilla Sound areas. We recommend appropriate actions and, when necessary, call attention to or challenge any public or private activity that threatens our marvelous ecosystems.