NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

April 24, 1998

CONTACT: Michael Hill (850) 510-7898

RESTORATION OF PINEY-Z LAKE CONTINUES

The restoration of Piney-Z Lake near Tallahassee is nearing completion and the city-owned lake and surrounding land will eventually provide a beautiful recreation site.

The Piney-Z site, which gets its name from an abundance of pine trees and z-shaped land configuration, is closed for now to the public but reached by traversing almost a mile of bumpy, ungraded road off Apalachee Parkway east of Tallahassee. The property was purchased by the city in 1995 and includes the 193-acre Piney-Z Lake and 407-acres of surrounding property.

"When the city purchased the property they asked us to come in and evaluate the lake and see what needed to be done," said Fisheries Biologist Michael Hill of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. We did the survey and there were few fish due to problems with dense stands of aquatic plants, poor water quality and a layer of muck on the bottom that was up to four feet deep in places. "The fish couldn’t reproduce and there was little oxygen in the water."

Hill, who works in the FWC’s lake restoration section, said his recommendation was to completely drain the lake, dry out the lake bottom as much as possible during an extended drawdown, and re-stock the lake with game fish. The city agreed and the project, which involves $50,000 in city money and $100,000 from the FWC’s lake restoration program, began in earnest in October 1996.

Most of the money has been expended in scraping away muck from roughly 25% of the lake bottom. The muck has been used to create earthen fishing dikes, or ‘fingers’, for better bank access and ‘wildlife islands’ out in the lake.

"When all the work is completed, there’ll be approximately three miles of bank fishing access around the lake," Hill said.

While an estimated 99% of the lake was drained, some water is back in the lake. It has been recently stocked with largemouth bass, bluegill, shellcracker and golden shiners. Hill said channel catfish will be released this fall.

When the lake is opened to fishing in the year 2000, Hill said it will be known as Piney-Z Fish Management Area and most likely operate under reduced bag limit rules. He said it’s also likely that the use of boats on the lake will be limited through a concession to canoes and non-powered rowboats.

On completion Hill said the area around the lake will be open to biking, picnicking, hiking and wildlife viewing.