With less than 15 percent of the florida native prairie habitat remaining and an ever increasing human population, IT is crucial to provide habitat management recommendations and flexible financial…

With less than 15 percent of the florida native prairie habitat remaining and an ever increasing human population, IT is crucial to provide habitat management recommendations and flexible financial assistance that spans the landscape and benefits many partners and adjacent habitats this project is being proposed to 1 restore native vegetation within flatwoods, prairies and hammocks through invasive plant treatment, mowing, roller chopping, prescribed grazing and prescribed burning, which provides nesting habitat and cover for birds, cover for eastern indigo snakes, burrowing substrate for gopher tortoises, and foraging habitat for northern crested caracara 2 reduce habitat fragmentation, which is a key component for the florida panther in florida per the 2008 florida panther recovery plan and 2019 species status assessment 3 increase forage health and availability for cattle which provides additional economic incentive for ranchers to keep managing lands essential for all wildlife 4 increase prescribed burning on the landscape to improve wildlife habitat and reduce wildfire risk changes in hydrology, caused by decades of ditching and diverting water, as well as loss of fire, have allowed native and invasive trees and shrubs to thrive across the central florida landscape as a result, the midstory has become too dense and too tall, which has decreased the groundcover availability and diversity that many prairie, scrub, and pine flatwoods wildlife species require to survive dry prairie is dependent on a one to two year fire return interval, pine flatwoods 3 to 5 year, and scrub 5 10 years additionally, this landscape contains cogon grass, tropical soda apple, and climbing fern, fleppc florida exotic pest plant council category i invasive species, which are invading the available grasslands and wetland margins, altering the vegetation structure and fire safety funding will be used to implement the following management recommendations roller chopping to reduce the height and density of shrubs and, on prairie sites, removal of isolated native trees over 4 feet in height herbicide and or mechanical treatment of invasive plant species an effort to reduce invasive plant populations by 80 would be the initial goal prescribed fire once the vegetation structure has been managed to a level where IT is safe and feasible to burn alternatives to prescribed fire such as mowing and grazing to maintain healthy groundcover during years when fire is not implemented application and timing of specific management recommendations is outlined in the indian hammock hunt and riding club habitat management guidance towles, 2021 and will be coordinated on an annual basis with the landowner