The area of the battlegrounds was originally pine barrens, a habitat dominated by pines and palmettos. (It is currently known as longleaf pine mesic flatwoods.) Land use made several changes to the land. In 1828, soldiers and slaves constructed the Fort King Road by cutting the understory and pine trees, leaving a wide road. At the turn of the century, the remaining pine strands were used to produce turpentine and for logging. By 1927, oaks dominated the community. During World War II, pine stumps were removed from the park. In the 1970s, the Florida DEP prescribed controlled burns to prevent the park's pine flatwoods from succeeding into an oak hammock. In the 1950s, officials from the Department of Natural Resources proposed to let the grass and scrub habitat return to its natural state, but residents opposed the measure. In 1976, as a part of the state's Bicentennial Trail preparations, removed several nonnative Florida plants and planted longleaf pines in the park. In 2012, the Sumter County Master GardenerCommunity Beautification Committee designed and replanted several of the park's landscapes in the public areas with native and endemic plants.
