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Collaborative habitat improvement project benefits sensitive species on Apalachicola National Forest and City of Tallahassee Author: Susan Blake, National Forests in Florida, USDA Forest Service
R ecently, a collaborative effort was undertaken
to improve habitat surrounding two ephemeral
wetlands along U.S. Highway 319 south of Capital Circle on
the Apalachicola National Forest. This was the first in a series
of habitat improvement projects involving the USDA Forest
Service, the City of Tallahassee and The Nature Conservancy.
Ephemeral wetlands are temporary or seasonal ponds. On
the Apalachicola they usually fill up during the rainy, wet
winter months and dry out by late spring and early summer.
Many amphibians and invertebrates lay their eggs in these
ponds during the dry months.
“It really was a group effort, the City of Tallahassee was great
to work with along with The Nature Conservancy,” said
Deputy District Ranger Harold Shenk of the Apalachicola
National Forest.
According to Shenk, The City of Tallahassee approached the
Forest Service because they needed to install new
transmission lines through the Apalachicola National Forest
south of Tallahassee to improve the electrical reliability of
the city’s power grid.
“We had just issued a special-use permit to Florida Gas
Transmission (FGT) and created a temporary 60-foot work
corridor so they could install a gas pipeline. This was a great
opportunity for the City of Tallahassee to install transmission
lines in the same location without disturbing additional
habitat in the area,” said Shenk.
The collaboration involved strategic land offsets between the
Forest Service and the City of Tallahassee and agreements in
which the city funded amphibian studies and habitat
improvement projects.
These ephemeral wetlands are an extremely important part
of the surrounding ecosystem. The invertebrates and
amphibians that live and breed there, both rare and
common, provide the base of the food chain for the entire
system. Fish, which normally would be a natural predator for
these species, cannot survive in these wetlands due to the
fluctuating conditions.
Although many
amphibians and other
wildlife utilize
ephemeral wetlands,
one particular species of
great interest in this
area is the striped newt.
At one time, the
Apalachicola National
Forest held one of the
most reliable and robust
populations of striped
newts.
During the 1990s the
population of striped
newts on the
Apalachicola National Forest began to decline. Although no
one can completely explain this decline, most believe it is due
to a combination of drought, disease, habitat alteration and
other unknown factors.
Despite the regular burns along U.S. Highway 319,
hardwoods have developed over time impacting amphibians
and other wildlife species that depend on these ephemeral
wetlands. Many years of hardwood expansion can create a
fire barrier that prevents natural fires from burning out these
wetlands.
When hardwoods get established around an ephemeral
wetland a cycle begins that is difficult to break. Hardwood
litter does not burn as readily as pine straw and grasses that
would naturally surround the wetland.
“Many of the oaks had reached a size so that only a
catastrophic wildfire would turn this system back to where it
needs to be. By mechanically removing most of the
hardwoods, we hope to turn back the clock and give fire a
chance to start maintaining this ecosystem again,” said Jana
Mott, wildlife restoration specialist for The Nature
Conservancy. To learn more contact Susan at (850) 523-8590.
www.sfrc.ufl.edu/CFEOR
09.10.13
Wildlife Ecologist Ryan Means captures a newly-metamorphosed striped newt eft moving out of its ephemeral wetland or pond. At one time the Apalachicola National Forest held one of the most reliable and robust populations of striped newts. (Photo/Wildlife Ecologist Ryan Means)
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Exploring the onset of high-impact mega-fires through a forest land management prism Jerry Williams (2013) Forest Ecology and Management 294 4-10.
In the modern era, high-impact mega-fires are unprecedented for the suppression costs, property losses, natural resource
damages, and loss of life often involved. For a number of years, these extraordinary wildfires have been increasing in number
and in severity. They affect countries around the world, including those with enormous firefighting capabilities. High-impact
mega-fires are frustrating efforts to provide for public safety, slow rates of deforestation, sequester carbon and reduce black
carbon emissions. Despite more determined bidding, attempts to match increasing wildfire threats with greater suppression
force have not stemmed climbing mega-fire trends. Yet, the majority of after-action reviews, reports, and commissions
continue to weight recommendations to correcting emergency response deficiencies, generally through a fire operations lens.
This paper explores the mega-fire phenomenon through a forest land management prism. It is an early attempt to focus on the
contributory factors that may set the stage for high-impact mega-fires. The paper draws on the results from two coarse-filter
overviews of high-impact mega-fires from around the world and the authors’ firsthand experiences dealing with others in the
United States. Drought and fire exclusion policies have been implicated in the large fire problem. However, several high-impact
mega-fires can be further traced to land management decisions that resulted in dense forest conditions with high biomass and
fuel build-ups over extensive areas. As droughts have intensified, more of these accumulated fuels have become available to
burn at intensities that exceed suppression capabilities. In contrast, some places have managed to largely avoid high-impact
mega-fires. State and federal lands in Florida and Crown lands in Western Australia have better aligned policies and practices
with the disturbance regimes that define the forested landscapes that they protect. They use prescribed fire at appropriate
intensities, intervals, and scales to reduce fuels as the means to protect people, maintain forest resilience, ensure biodiversity,
and increase margins of suppression effectiveness. Forest land management policies and practices that, by design or by default,
result in greater volumes of fuel and rely on suppression capabilities to maintain these conditions may no longer be sustainable
as droughts deepen and become more widespread. This paper suggests that adapting wildland fire management programs,
forest land management policies, and the current regulatory framework to the reality of warmer, drier climate patterns will be
essential in reducing mega-fire risks. Protecting fire-prone landscapes can no longer rely on suppression alone; protection will
become more dependent on the management of forests where high-impact mega-fires incubate. © 2013 Elsevier. To read the full article CFEOR members click here.
Field Tour: Prescribed Fire and Ecosystem Restoration
at Blackjack Crossing Tract in Talbot County, Georgia
on September 12, 2013 from 8:30AM to 12:00PM ET.
Hosted by the Nature Conservancy and the Southern
Fire Exchange. To learn more and to register (free) go
to www.eventbrite.com/event/7851539165
Webinar: New Trends in the Voluntary Offset Market
on September 12, 2013 from 10:00AM to 11:00PM
PDT. To learn more and to register go to
events.climateactionreserve.org/event/new-trends-
voluntary-offset-market
Natural Areas Training Academy– Managing Visitors
and Volunteers in Natural Areas. Online training
anytime between August 19 to October 11, 2013 and
a one day in-person training on October 16, 2013 at
Gold Head Branch State Park, Keystone Heights, FL. To
learn more go to natamvv2013.eventbrite.com/#
40th Annual Natural Areas Conference, Conservation
Coming Home. October 1-4, 2013 in Chicago, IL. Early
Bird registration available until August 30th. For more
information go to 2013.naturalareasconference.org
3
CFEOR Mission:
To develop and disseminate knowledge needed to conserve and
manage Florida’s forest as a healthy, working ecosystem that
provides social, ecological and economic benefits on a
sustainable basis.
CFEOR Administration
Bill Cleckley, Northwest Florida Water Management District, Steering Committee Chair
Newsletter Contacts
Melissa Kreye, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, CFEOR Coordinator,
[email protected] Nancy Peterson, School of Forest Resources and
Conservation, CFEOR Executive Director, [email protected]
Phone 352.846.0848 ∙Fax 352.846.1277∙ PO Box 110410∙ Gainesville, FL
Society of American Foresters National Convention–
Silviculture Matters, October 23-27, 2013 at North
Charleston, SC. To learn more and to register go to
www.safnet.org/
natcon13/2013ConventionPromoBook.pdf
9th Southern Forestry And Natural Resource
Management GIS Conference, December 8-10, 2013
in Athens, GA. For more information go to
www.soforgis.net/2013