OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A new department in Osceola County will focus on conservation.

One of its first initiatives involves removing unwanted vegetation at Lake Toho that could lower flood risk by improving water flow.

When Osceola County adopted its budget last year, it prioritized environmental initiatives by creating the Department of Environment and Public Lands.

“I always say that I have all of the fun departments at the county,” said Linette Matheny, executive director of the department of environment and public land. “We have conservation, we have parks, we have the lakes, we have boat ramps, we have the tree farm. We have the save program. We also are doing the forward planning stormwater projects in Osceola County.”

The department has a team that is focused on the environment, including Director of Parks and Public Lands Jason Hickson.

“I’ve been here almost my entire life, and I grew up visiting a lot of these conservation areas,” Hickson said.

“So, when you think of the parks, think of your active areas where your ballfields, your playgrounds, things like that. Then we also have our conservation areas where we’re trying to conserve portions of the community inside our urban growth boundary. Then we also have the tree farm, where when we’re taking these properties that we’re calling conservation areas, typically they’re agricultural fields,” he said.

When it comes to lakes, the department will lobby for resources from the state.

“We have created new positions in our department including a water resource and lakes policy advocate position. So, her position is really to go and lobby on the county’s benefit to the various entities that that provide funding and treatment to our lake systems that would be like FWC or the water management district,” Matheny explained. “So, we really are putting effort and focus on bringing the resources to us.”

Resources like the $640,000 Matheny said the county successfully lobbied from the state.

“That came to us through Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. We’re going to use that for removing nuisance vegetation from Lake Tohopekaliga,” she said.

The vegetation they’ll be taking out of Lake Toho isn’t native to the state, it’s all invasive, which will not only help lower the spread of these species but improve the water for residents.

“It affects the water quality of the lake. It affects people being able to use the lake. You know, boaters have difficulty getting through the lake and navigating with all the vegetation. It will also help when we have storms and hurricane events to help the water flow efficiently through the lake and through the structures,” Hickson explained.

They also want to increase the tree canopy by ramping up planting efforts.

“And really, the saying is, ‘It’s always best to have planted a tree yesterday,’” Hickson said. “So we’re hoping to be able to put 20,000 to 30,000 out a year at this effort.”

The county is just waiting for the water level at Lake Toho to increase to begin removing that vegetation.

“We already have the funding and the contracting done through FWC and we’re just waiting for the water to come up just a little bit in the lakes so that we can get boats out there to be able to float and be able to harvest the vegetation,” Matheny said.