Congratulations Rebecca and Manny Mendoza: 2025 Florida Land Stewards of the Year

By Jason Ballard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Rebecca Mendoza
All photos are by Rebecca Mendoza unless otherwise noted.

Manny and Rebecca Mendoza continue to carry on a long history of land stewardship on the 120-acre Jolly Palms at Mohawk property located in Lake County, on the north end of what is known geologically as the Lake Wales Ridge. The family history began in 1888 when Rebecca’s great uncle, Charles A. Stokes, purchased the land and planted the first grove of citrus trees. The commercial citrus industry was on the rise in this area until the freezes over the 1894-1895 winter damaged a large percentage of groves and drove many producers out of business. Excellent fishing and hunting resources were found in the area and that led Charles to open the Jolly Palms Hunting and Fishing Lodge in 1897. The lodge consisted of a main house and three cabins. The Orange Belt and Tavares & Gulf Railroads ran through the lodge’s front yard to pick up mail and to drop off guests throughout the seasons. Business was steady and the following year in 1898, Harry K. Stokes (Rebecca’s grandfather), arrived at the lodge to work as a hunting guide for his brother Charles.

Jolly Palms Lodge and Cabins

One of the remaining Jolly Palms cabins at Mohawk, by Chris Demers

The lodge was featured in the November 1900 Field and Stream Magazine article, “A Winter Flight to Florida”. Not long after, W.T. and Laura Heddon of Heddon Fishing Lures arrived at the lodge to test their lures on the prized Florida largemouth bass that existed in the many surrounding lakes. A second outdoor magazine publisher, Forest and Stream, ran an article in 1906, also highlighting the great outdoor opportunities that existed here. The hunting lodge closed in the 1920’s as Harry focused on his duties as a local bank president and Lake County Commissioner for 5 terms that ended in 1956. Harry’s youngest son, Dick Stokes (Rebecca’s father), graduated from the University of Florida in 1949 with a Forestry degree and joined the National Park Service (NPS) in 1950. Following a 30-year career with the NPS, Dick returned to the Jolly Palms full time and following the freezes of the 1980s, developed a Forest Management Plan, in conjunction with the Florida Forest Service, to replace some of the old citrus groves with slash pine plantings. The property was also designated as a Century Pioneer Farm in 1990. Dick continually encouraged his brothers to hold the land instead of selling and around the early 2000’s, the Stokes family (his widow Lillian, and daughters Rebecca and Laura) was able to acquire the remaining family land that exists today.

Conservation and Stewardship Planning with Partners

Beginning around 2012, under pressure from surrounding development, it became evident to the family that they become more active stewards of the land. They contacted the Florida Forest Service and had a consulting forester update their Forest Management Plan. This action led to developing working relationships with numerous government agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations, and private agricultural businesses. The many partners involved in this journey include the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida Forest Service, Alachua Conservation Trust, Wildlands Conservation Inc., Quail Forever, Florida Native Plant Society, as well as McLean Family Farms (the family behind Uncle Matt’s Organic juice) as their citrus consultant, and Miksa Honey Farms, as their beekeepers.

Manny working on a removing a patch of downy rose myrtle.

Working the Land

Over the last 13 years, Manny and Rebecca have been involved in many conservation management practices on their working landscape that include harvesting the slash pine plantation that was previously planted by her father and reforesting that acreage with longleaf pine; brush management amongst oak encroached areas to allow room for natural regeneration from existing longleaf pines; chemically treating and hand removing invasive plants such as downy rose myrtle, coral ardisia, Caesarweed, cogongrass, and natal grass; maintaining and improving the organic citrus groves; propagating native plants, especially native wildflowers; providing habitat for honey and pollinator production; reducing the hardwood encroachment and returning remnant sandhill and scrub areas back to groundcover rich environments; providing habitat for a host of plant and animal species that include state and federal imperiled species such as sand skinks, gopher tortoises, Brittons beargrass, scrub plum, and Lewton’s milkwort; and improving habitat for other species such as eastern diamondback rattlesnake, northern bobwhite quail, barred owl, sandhill crane, wading birds, songbirds, and river cooters.

Gopher tortoise and burrow.

Manny and Rebecca have also been honored by FWC’s Wildlife Habitat Recognition Program for their efforts in promoting wildlife habitat. Outside of the many natural resources focused efforts, they have also maintained the historic lodge house, a cabin, and a camelia garden with two named varieties. One variety was named after Rebecca’s grandmother, Laura Stokes, and one named for her mother, Lillian Hannah Stokes. The family continues to love this landscape as they work diligently to maintain and improve a sampling of what the habitat and working landscape was at one time in this portion of central Florida.

This article was written by Jason Ballard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Rebecca Mendoza

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Posted: January 15, 2025


Category: Conservation, Forests, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Recreation, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Award, Family Forest, Florida Land Steward Program, Forest Management, Natural Resources, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, Tree Farm, Wildlife


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