Land to be combined with Pocono Trail Preserve
Sarasota County has acquired about an acre of property on Pocono Trail in Nokomis as part of the county’s ongoing commitment to environmental preservation through its Land Acquisition and Management Program (LAMP), county staff announced this week.
The closing date was Dec. 18, 2025; the purchase price was $1,475,000, a news release noted.
The seller was Carol Hall, who had purchased the land for $1.4 million on Sept. 30, 2016, as shown in the records maintained by Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst and his staff. The parcel is identified on Furst’s website as a vacant residential site zoned Residential Single Family.
Located east of U.S. 41 at Pocono Trail in Nokomis, the 1.07-acre property comprises approximately 1,200 feet of the eastern shoreline of Shakett Creek “and contains native habitats such as mesic hammock, scrubby flatwoods and mangrove forest,” the release points out. “Protecting these habitats helps provide safe spaces for many threatened and native species, including West Indian manatees, gopher tortoises, gopher frogs and ospreys,” the release adds.
The property is located between 8 acres of land bought and protected in 2002 through the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP), the release explains. The earlier acquisition is known as Pocono Trail Preserve. Formally, the address for the preserve is 189 Pocono Trail E., the county website notes.
“Together,” the release says, “the combined properties will better protect the adjacent Dona Bay and the mangrove shoreline and oyster reef. It will also preserve and improve the native upland habitat and species.”
The county webpage for Pocono Trail Preserve notes that it is known for its birding opportunities, though it is dog-friendly, and it has both paved and unpaved trails. The preserve also has an “observation platform that hosts bayside views of Shakett Creek/Dona Bay,” the webpage points out.
“Securing this property allows Sarasota County an exciting opportunity to protect more sensitive habitats today while leaving a lasting conservation legacy for future generations,” said Nicole Rissler, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department, in the release.
Funding for the acquisition was provided through the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP), the release notes. Both the ESLPP and the county’s Neighborhood Parkland Acquisition Program (NPP) “are voter-approved, taxpayer-funded programs established under the Sarasota County Land Acquisition and Management Program,” the release explains.
Through a public records request, The Sarasota News Leader obtained a copy of the nomination form submitted to county staff, regarding the acquisition of the land. The form says that the owner, Hall, had suggested the purchase because of the property’s access to water and its adjacency “to existing public lands/trails,” as noted in the section of the document asking for information on the parcel’s features.
Under the heading calling for a description of the property, the document adds, “There is 152 ft of bay frontage, natural local vegetation, an array of palms & live oak trees.”
Further, a written note on the form points out, “By purchasing this acre lot, [Sarasota County’s Pocono Trail Preserve] would be continuous/uninterrupted and border a Dona Bay cove. A wide path has been cleared to the water’s edge, which would make it ideal access for a boat dock or kayak launch. … Two housing units could be built on this lot if not acquired,” that statement concluded.
For more information about the Sarasota County Land Acquisition and Management Program, visit SarasotaCountyParks.com/landacquisitions.