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Comprehensive Plan Recreation and Open Space Element <br />includes most of the county's environmentally sensitive areas, its resource based parks, and various <br />conservation areas. <br />The largest single area of pastoral open space in the county is the St. Johns River upper basin. <br />Purchased by the St. Johns River Water Management District for conservation and water <br />management purposes, the upper basin consists of 174,121 acres in Brevard and Indian River <br />Counties. Of that, approximately 81,000 acres are located in Indian River County. While the upper <br />basin area provides some recreation functions such as boating, airboating, fishing and others, it <br />serves primarily as pastoral open space. <br />Other conservation lands also provide pastoral open space. Through its Environmental Lands <br />Program, the county has purchased over ±11,000 acres of environmentally important lands. <br />Although those lands were purchased primarily for conservation, a limited amount of passive <br />recreation is available at those sites. <br />In addition to purchasing land, the county uses development exactions to preserve open space. <br />Currently, county Land Development Regulations require developers of land containing native <br />upland plant communities to preserve 15% of these communities or pay a fee -in -lieu. The <br />preservation of that land is accomplished through a conservation easement. Through 2008, ± 8,937 <br />acres had been preserved through such easements in Indian River County. <br />Many recreation sites in the county can also be classified as pastoral open space. The largest among <br />those is the Sebastian Inlet state park. Located in both Brevard and Indian River Counties, the park <br />provides beachfront areas, camping facilities, picnic areas, fishing and swimming opportunities, and <br />other recreation amenities. As primarily a passive park, the Sebastian Inlet state park can be <br />classified as pastoral open space. Besides the state park, the unincorporated county has over 350 <br />acres of river and beach park, resource based recreation facilities which can also be categorized as <br />pastoral open space. <br />Other pastoral open space areas in the county are privately owned areas. Included among these areas <br />are the lands designated as environmentally sensitive by the county. Much of this land consists of <br />the estuarine wetlands in the county. While some of this land has been impounded for mosquito <br />control, other estuarine wetlands are unimpounded. There are also freshwater wetlands adjacent to <br />the St. Sebastian River. All of these areas are considered pastoral open space. <br />Another large area of pastoral open space is the Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge. Established by the <br />federal government as the first wildlife refuge in the country, Pelican Island constitutes several <br />islands and upland areas within the Indian River Lagoon in the northern part of the county. While <br />inaccessible to the public, the refuge functions as a bird sanctuary and pastoral open space. Besides <br />the refuge, there are 43 spoil islands within the Indian River that can be classified as pastoral open <br />space. <br />Community Development Department Indian River County 32 <br />