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Management
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Jerry Cutlip, Lee County Parks and
Recreation
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Hickey's Creek original acreage was acquired
using funds paid by developers through the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission’s
Mitigation Park Program. The program is
designed to compensate for tortoise habitat lost to development
elsewhere in southwest Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission is responsible for the resource management of
the area; activities are directed toward the restoration and maintenance
of critical habitats to the long-term benefit of state and federally
listed upland species, particularly the gopher tortoise and Florida
scrub-jay and to preserve the hydrology and water quality of Hickey’s
Creek. Roller chopping of dense palmetto stands and prescribed burning
maintain the herbaceous groundcover favored by the gopher tortoise.
Burning regimes help to maintain the scrub character of the flatwoods
for the Florida scrub-jay. Open sand areas, used by scrub jays for
caching acorns, have been created by rotor tilling. Lee County provides
funding and staffing for the operation of recreational facilities,
boundary protection, environmental education and the control of exotic
vegetation such as melaleuca and Brazilian pepper.
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