Joe’s Creek Management Area

Background

The Joe’s Creek Management Area is located near the city of Seminole along Boca Ciega Bay. Major changes have occurred over time in this part of the county.

Historic aerial photographs show the channelization of Joe’s Creek had begun by 1942. At that time, the natural communities were primarily flatwoods and estuarine, where the fresh waters of the creek met the saltwater of Boca Ciega Bay, and agricultural pastureland was the only visible disturbance to the uplands. In the late 1960s, portions of the management area were used as a borrow pit and disposal site for construction debris from nearby development and road projects. A portion of the marshy area east of Park Street was also dredged for mosquito ditches.

Beginning in the late 1980s, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners obtained the property in a series of acquisitions. This natural area, which is closed to the public, is managed Parks & Conservation Resources.

Characteristics

Spanning the Cross Bayou, St. Joe Creek, and Long Bayou drainage basins, this management area’s hydrology, or natural water system, is dominated by the numerous branches of Joe’s Creek and Boca Ciega Bay. The soils range from poorly drained to very poorly drained, as are characteristic of flatwoods and wetlands, respectively. This area supports a mosaic of saltwater and freshwater wetlands in addition to several small areas of pine-dominated flatwoods.

Much of the management area is less than 5 feet above sea level, and tidal changes frequently flood some low-lying portions. Saltwater mangrove swamps are dominated by red, black and white mangroves, while the marsh consists of an assemblage of saltwort, buttonwood, marsh elder, white mangrove, giant leather fern and water hyssop. The flatwoods comprise slash pine, saw palmetto and live oak.

The freshwater wetlands support maidencane, smartweed, swamp fern, cinnamon fern, royal fern, soft rush, swamp bay and wax myrtle. All these natural communities have been previously disturbed to varying degrees, and so have been invaded by numerous non-native plants, many of which are considered to be problematic invasive species.

Management

Since 1990, numerous projects have restored about 50 acres of this management area. Two projects, conducted in cooperation with Pinellas County Public Works, rehabilitated mangrove swamps by leveling mounds created during mosquito ditching. Volunteers helped replant these sites with native vegetation.

A joint effort by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Pinellas County restored an intertidal pond, removed exotic vegetation and created a natural saltern community. A saltern is also known as a salt pan or salt evaporation pond that make salt. Intertidal ponds, or tide pools, are submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide.

Pinellas County also partnered with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to restore a highly impacted area previously used as a dump site. Other projects involved the thinning of overgrown flatwoods and the creation of a wetland and border from what was previously a linear ditch. Future plans include clearing additional non-native vegetation.

Value

While The Joe’s Creek Management Area has special significance to local residents and provides economic and environmental benefits to its neighbors, this natural space provides valuable services to all residents and visitors to the region.

By protecting native biodiversity, it provides a habitat for countless organisms ranging from microbes to mammals. Among the wildlife found in the area are coyotes, diverse birds, raccoons, armadillos, marsh rabbits, snakes and gopher tortoises. This management area also makes important contributions to the region’s water flow by improving the quality of surface water before it enters Boca Ciega Bay.

For additional information:

Parks & Conservation Resources
12520 Ulmerton Road
Largo, FL 33774
Phone: (727) 582-2100
Fax: (727) 582-2550