Grant project abstracts forfl T 69 ecosystem quality extent connectivity projects grant cycle 2024ALACHUA conservation trust north central florida fire strike teamthe proposed project will extend…

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a $654,627 formula grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the State Wildlife Grants Program (CFDA 15.634), effective October 1, 2025, through December 31, 2028. The award funds two primary conservation initiatives: (1) the North Central Florida Fire Strike Team, which provides prescribed fire assistance and habitat restoration services to public and private land managers across 2,700 acres in north-central Florida, with particular focus on the Brooksville Ridge and Trail Ridge in Levy, Alachua, and Putnam Counties; and (2) an aquatic assessment project documenting vegetation and salinity conditions in coastal wetlands across ten Gulf Coast rivers to establish baseline habitat reference data for long-term monitoring and evaluation purposes.

The Fire Strike Team initiative targets restoration of sandhill, pine flatwoods, prairie, upland mixed woodlands, and depression marsh habitats across 23 counties to support the recovery of imperiled species including gopher tortoises, gopher frogs, Florida pine snakes, striped newts, and southeastern American kestrels. Both project components advance implementation of Florida's State Wildlife Action Plan objectives for terrestrial and aquatic habitat restoration and enhancement benefiting species of greatest conservation need. The aquatic vegetation and salinity assessment will establish a database serving as reference conditions for evaluating habitat stability and change over the three-year award period.

Grant project abstracts forfl T 69 ecosystem quality extent connectivity projects grant cycle 2024ALACHUA conservation trust north central florida fire strike teamthe proposed project will extend funding for the north central florida fire strike team nfst of the alachua conservation trust act to provide public and private land managers with prescribed fire assistance and boost progress on sandhill and wetland restoration projects on 2700 acres in north florida. Significant work will be completed on the brooksville ridge and trail ridge in levy alachua and putnam counties in north florida a high priority strategic habitat conservation area for gopher tortoise gopher frog florida pine snake striped newt southeastern american kestrel and other imperiled species. Additional nfst assistance will also include bradford marion clay gilchrist union volusia flagler nassau duval ST johns dixie lafayette suwannee columbia baker lake seminole citrus sumter taylor madison and hamilton counties. Nfst and partner restoration site land managers will focus resources on targeted restoration projects in sandhill pine flatwoods prairie upland mixed woodlands upland pine forest old field scrub and depression marshes. This project supports both aquatic habitat and upland habitat resiliency goals for floridas sgcn by supporting floridas state wildlife action plan swap statewide implementation goals for terrestrial and aquatic habitat restoration and enhancement.assessment of aquatic vegetation and salinity in coastal wetlands of florida riversthis project will create a database documenting present conditions of aquatic vegetation and salinity in 10 rivers and their associated coastal wetlands along floridas gulf coast. Resulting habitat data will serve as reference or baseline conditions that may be used in the future to evaluate stability or change of target habitats over time. The transition point or gradient of freshwater to saltwater vegetation will be compared within and among river systems to examine influences of environmental factors such as sea level rise on these habitats. Present conditions will be compared to available historical records to assess changes that have occurred within these systems to date and recommended future monitoring options will be described. Understanding current trends within rivers and estuaries is important for developing sound management to maintain these valuable natural resources.floridas integrated mapping and monitoring programs chimmp and oimmp continuationthe coastal habitat integrated mapping and monitoring program chimmp and the oyster integrated mapping and monitoring program oimmp have each built a statewide network of partners and compiled data on the mapping and monitoring of salt marshes mangroves and oyster reefs in florida. Along with providing critical habitat for many economically important and protected species these coastal habitats also provide vital ecosystem services and have high intrinsic economic value. These immps improve communication and data sharing through the publication of statewide reports and in person workshops. This three year continuation of chimmp and oimmp will finish updating version 2 of the statewide reports to broadly disseminate information on oyster reefs and coastal habitat mapping monitoring threats and recommendations to relevant statewide managers. The continuation of these programs will also fund oyster reef mapping in an area with outdated maps long term coastal wetland monitoring and enable two in person workshops focused on oyster and coastal wetland mapping monitoring status and trends within florida.