Mattamy Homes Approved for Martin County’s First-Ever Gopher Tortoise Recipient Site and Preserve at Newfield’s KC Trails

Mattamy Homes, the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America, has received approval from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to open Martin County’s first-ever gopher tortoise recipient site and preserve at the Newfield master-planned community in Palm City.

The gopher tortoise recipient site and preserve is located within KC Trails at Kiplinger Conservancy in Newfield. Mattamy will commemorate the debut with a National Gopher Tortoise Day event at KC Trails (100 SW Newfield Pkwy) on Thursday, April 10 beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Students from Citrus Grove Elementary, an ongoing Mattamy Homes partner, will participate in hands-on, educational activities that promote Gopher Tortoise conservation efforts. The event will highlight the importance of protecting Gopher Tortoises and the unique ecosystems they support. Guided tours of KC Trails will also take place.

“It’s an honor for Newfield to become home to Martin County’s first gopher tortoise recipient site and preserve,” said Dan Grosswald, Mattamy’s Southeast Florida Division President. “This has been a labor of love that will help further protect this incredible species, which serves such a crucial role in Florida’s ecosystems.”

Gopher tortoises, which are a threatened species, must be relocated by developers to a safe environment when construction impacts their habitat. When Mattamy Homes realized there were no suitable options nearby – the closest location was more than 50 miles outside of Martin County – it saw an opportunity within Newfield and created a 30-acre gopher tortoise recipient site with a maximum capacity of approximately 50 tortoises. Mattamy Homes receipt of approval by the FWC signifies that activities involving wildlife are conducted safely and that animals are treated humanely.

KC Trails is an integral part of the larger Kiplinger Conservancy—named after nationally known economic journalist Knight Kiplinger, who first conceived Newfield and whose family owned the vast expanse of land for more than four decades.

The Kiplinger Conservancy totals more than 1,800 acres, which includes hundreds of acres of upland preserve with dense forests of slash pines, cabbage palms and saw palmettos in their natural state, farmland, cattle pastures, as well as picturesque wetlands, which are home to various wading birds and other wildlife.

KC Trails offers a vast network of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, and at any time, visitors can catch views of deer and other wildlife roaming the land. The trails also include scenic overlooks, benches, and boardwalks.

Conservation and sustainability are pillars of Newfield. The community has earned widespread public acclaim for its open space preservation of 70% of the total 3,400-acre property, which has been set aside as open space for public uses such as parks, community farm and gardens, sports fields and untouched wilderness, which includes pasture, farmland, wetlands, forests, and lakes.

Last month, Mattamy Homes celebrated the groundbreaking of the second trailhead at KC Trails and the grand opening of The Harvest House Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Building. Additionally, the first closings/move-ins are slated to begin this month at Rosette Park, Newfield’s first village.

In addition to KC Trails and Rosette Park, Newfield includes the Farm at Newfield, which will span more than 110 acres and incorporate sustainable farming practices to produce year-round access to fresh, nutrient-dense foods. Newfield will also feature additional neighborhoods, and a town center anchored by a vibrant main street with retail, restaurants, small-scale office space, recreational amenities, and more. Once complete, Newfield will bring 4,200 new homes of varying sizes, styles and prices to Martin County.

For more information on Newfield and KC Trails, visit https://newfieldfl.com/.