Access to River Lakes Conservation Area

By David Simpson of BirdingWithDavidSimpson.com

I visited River Lakes Conservation Area (the St. John's River Water Management District property west of Viera Wetlands and the Click Ponds) today.  I had a conversation with a couple Brevard County Sherriffs about some recent issues in this area.  They asked me to pass on some wisdom to the birding community.  So here it is in a nutshell:

1. The road is private, not public
2. There is an easement for public access to River Lakes Conservation Area
3. The easement does not allow for vehicles to stop along the way.
4. Duda Ranch can revoke this easement.
5. The gate at the east end (by the Click Ponds) closes at 7PM.
6. It doesn't matter if you don't understand or agree with the above, because you don't own the property and don't get to make decisions as to how it is used (my words, not theirs.)

There have been problems lately with people stopping and trespassing (and poaching) from the road.  A common practice of poachers is to drop someone off on the road then pick them up later after they have done their thing.  The ranch workers don't have time to track down people who are stopping along the road to see if they are up to no good.  Also, people have been out at the end of the road at 7PM when the east gate closes.  The ranch owners or St. Johns staff then end up fielding calls from people wanting to be let out.  It's not their job to handle people being locked in, it is your responsibility to be all the way out by 7PM.

The Sherriffs don't want to have to write up trespass tickets and Duda Ranch does not necessary want to revoke the easement, but it may come to that if people continue to abuse the privilege of driving this road.