“More than 2,500 longleaf pine and South Florida slash pine seedlings need planting. With that in mind, we are providing volunteers with special shovels that make the planting process quick and easy. We are hoping you will join us,” said Bill Parken, FWC Ridge Rangers coordinator.

The Ridge Rangers is an organization of volunteers who work with conservation agencies on and near the Lake Wales Ridge, helping to restore wildlife habitat.

For more information or to sign up, contact the Ridge Rangers at ridgerangers@myfwc.com or call Bill Parken at 863-699-3742 x102.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will conduct regional workshops to present information on the management plan and permitting guidelines for gopher tortoises.

The goal of these workshops is to identify ways local governments can participate in protecting one of Florida’s threatened species. In addition, the FWC will discuss financial incentives available for local governments to help conserve gopher tortoises.

Scheduled for June 4, 5, 7 and 11 are workshops in Gilchrist, Orange, Hernando and St. Lucie counties. Representatives from neighboring counties are encouraged to attend. The workshops are free, but registration is required, as space is limited.

To register, please send your name and the name of your organization to Alexandra.Perryman@MyFWC.com.

Workshops will be held in additional counties in upcoming weeks. For more information, including the proposed draft revisions and public comment on the Gopher Tortoise Management Plan, visit MyFWC.com/GopherTortoise and click on “Management Plan.” Written comments on this draft plan will be accepted until June 25.

Sarasota, along with Stuart/Martin County, Monroe County (Marathon and Key West), St. Augustine and St. Petersburg, was chosen as a site for a legislatively directed anchoring and mooring pilot program.

The goal of the program is to explore potential options for regulating the anchoring or mooring of non-live-aboard vessels outside the boundaries of public mooring fields. Among other things, this should help promote public access to Florida’s waters, enhance navigational safety and protect the marine environment.

The local government for each participant site is responsible for soliciting public input for its ordinance development process. The city of Sarasota held public input meetings to gather suggestions and information on local problems related to anchoring and mooring in the area.

The FWC’s role is to provide consultation and technical assistance. The Sarasota ordinance has been posted at MyFWC.com/Boating (click on “Anchoring & Mooring”). Members of the public are asked to provide comments through May 16. For more information on the pilot program, visit MyFWC.com/Boating (click on “Anchoring & Mooring”) or call 850-488-5600.

The Babcock-Webb shooting facility is the most popular of the FWC’s seven public ranges in the state, hosting more than 60,000 shooters last year. With its growing popularity, having a sufficient number of range safety officers on duty at peak-use times is central to the safety of shooters using the range, and it is the main reason for having to adjust its hours of operation.

As part of its process, the FWC is soliciting public comments on an adjustment proposal made by the Babcock-Webb Shooting Range Working Group. This group is composed of agency staff and local shooters who use the Babcock-Webb range. The FWC established the group several years ago to provide input on a variety of issues concerning management of the shooting range, one of which is public safety.

Presently, the range is open from sunup to sunset except for Mondays and Thursdays, when it opens at 10 a.m., after cleaning. It is also closed on Christmas, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday after Thanksgiving until noon.

The working group submitted for public comment and suggestions the following proposal for changes to the hours of operation.

• During Daylight Saving Time the range would be open on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. On Mondays and Thursdays the range would be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• During Eastern Standard Time, the proposal is to operate the range on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. On Mondays and Thursdays the range would be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Closed days would include New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving until noon and Christmas.

“We don’t anticipate the new proposed operating hours will significantly affect those who use the range, but we’d like to have as much information about the public’s preferences before a final decision is made,” said John Weatherholt, FWC Hunter Safety Administrator for the Southwest Region.  

Please go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/webbrange to register your comments.

Miller, 75, of 4035 Ashton Club Drive, Winter Haven, was transported to Winter Haven Hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries to his left knee.

The incident happened at about 4 p.m. April 25. FWC trappers quickly located and caught the alligator.

Reptiles like alligators tend to be more active during warmer parts of the year. For more information, consult the “Living with Alligators” brochure at MyFWC.com/Alligator or call the nearest FWC regional office.

Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area (CWA), at the very southern tip of Fort Myers Beach, is one of the few state-owned wildlife areas in Lee County that provide nesting habitat for endangered shorebirds and sea turtles.

Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), staff from Lee County and the town of Fort Myers Beach, and volunteers have identified, flagged and posted vulnerable shorebird nesting areas, typically located in the dry dune areas above the high-tide mark.

Posted areas are off-limits to beachgoers and their pets between the time of posting and Aug. 31. The water’s edge is accessible to beachgoers by walking around posted areas or using marked thoroughfares between posted areas. Dogs are prohibited within the CWA, even in areas open to pedestrians.

“We’re not asking people to stop enjoying the beach; we’re just asking beachgoers to avoid a handful of closed areas where birds are nesting,” said Nancy Douglass, wildlife biologist for the FWC.

Nesting areas are closed off by “symbolic fencing,” which consists of signs connected by twine and marked with flagging tape. Closed beach areas may shift during the nesting season, depending on where the birds have chosen to lay eggs at any given time. Shorebirds, marine turtles and their nests and eggs enjoy protection under state and federal law.

Human activity causes the greatest number of problems for beach-nesting birds that often get nervous around recreational activities like beach volleyball, kite-surfing or the family pet romping after a windblown Frisbee.

Posting is a necessity to prevent adult birds from being frightened off the nest. Without parent birds providing shade, it takes only a few minutes for temperatures in the nest to rise above 100 degrees, resulting in death of the chicks. Young chicks and eggs also are a favorite target of crows, raccoons and gulls when parents are not immediately available to challenge hungry predators.

“Without any doubt, it is the public’s sense of stewardship for the birds that’s the real key to protecting future generations of beach-nesting wildlife,” said Douglass.

To learn more, download the “Share the Beach with Beach-Nesting Birds” brochure from the “Living with Wildlife” then “Shorebirds” options at MyFWC.com/Wildlife. Or check out the Florida Shorebird Alliance at www.flshorebirdalliance.org.

The measures prohibit the deployment of more than three fishing lines from a vessel at any time and prohibit the use of breakaway gear to harvest any fish in the pass during April, May and June. Breakaway gear is defined as “any bob, float, weight, lure or spoon that is affixed to a fishing line or hook with wire, line, rubber bands, plastic ties or other fasteners designed to break off when a fish is caught.”

The FWC encourages anglers to use and develop rigging techniques that reduce the likelihood of debris collecting on the bottom of the pass. Anglers are also asked to respect others fishing in the pass and to operate their boats safely.

For more information  regarding tarpon fishing regulations, use of appropriate tackle, and proper fishing and boating behavior in Boca Grande Pass, go to MyFWC.com/Fishing and select “Saltwater Fishing” then “Recreational Regulations” and “Tarpon in Boca Grande.”

“In this continuing series of public meetings, we want to keep abreast of what business owners, property owners, anglers, hunters, bird watchers, airboaters and others who have a vested interest in the chain of lakes are thinking,” said Danielle Schobl, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invasive plant management biologist.

Public input from the wide variety of user groups on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, which includes lakes Kissimmee, Hatchineha, Cypress, Jackson, Tohopekaliga and East Lake Tohopekaliga, is critical to maintaining a well-balanced approach to managing hydrilla and other invasive aquatic plants.

FWC staff will give overviews of the current status of hydrilla management, the status of emergent habitat management and a snail kite nesting update. After staff presentations, the public may ask questions about key areas of interest and provide comments about the conditions they desire. The FWC will continue to incorporate public input in developing future aquatic plant management plans for the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.

“This ongoing process is part of a regular dialogue with stakeholders about aquatic plant management on the Kissimmee Chain. We hope everyone interested in aquatic plant management efforts will attend this meeting and provide input,” Schobl said.

For more details about the meeting, contact Danielle Schobl at 863-534-7074.

Students must complete the Internet course before coming to class and bring a copy of the final report from the online portion of the course. The final report form does not have to be notarized.

Students will learn about hunting laws, safe gun handling and hunter ethics/responsibility, among other topics, before taking the final exam. The course also includes live-firing instruction on the shooting range. Firearms and ammunition are provided. Participants may not bring their own firearms or ammunition. Parents or legal guardians must accompany children under 16 years of age to all classes.

Successful completion of an approved hunter safety course is required for people born on or after June 1, 1975, before they can purchase a Florida hunting license. The FWC course satisfies hunter-safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.

To sign up and take the online portion of the course, go to MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or call the FWC’s Southwest Region Office at 863-648-3815.

Sen. Paula Dockery will kick off the free Kids Fishing Derby festivities.

A number of other activities for the entire family are planned, including a demonstration by FWC Officer Joe Wolff and K-9 Mojo. The team will show how they detect illegally taken fish and wildlife that poachers try to hide.

There will also be an egg hunt, crafts, kids’ games and a casting contest. In addition, a hayride through Tenoroc will provide an up-close look at how the FWC and Florida Department of Environmental Protection have restored wetlands and how wetlands function throughout much of the old phosphate mine and Upper Saddle Creek basin.

Sweetbay will provide lunch to all participants.

Facilities at Derby Lake, where the event is being held, are accessible to persons with disabilities.

These outdoor activities are presented by the FWC through the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network (FYCCN) and its partners. FYCCN is an initiative to create the next generation that cares by reconnecting Florida's children with traditional outdoor activities.

Tenoroc Youth Conservation Center and Fish Management Area is just five minutes off Interstate 4 in northeast Lakeland. From exit 38 on I-4, go south on State Road 33 about 1 mile to County Road 659, then 1 mile to Tenoroc Mine Road on the left. Take Tenoroc Mine Road 2.5 miles to the stop sign and area office by Derby Lake.

Register in advance by calling 863-648-3200. For more information, email Barbara.Gugliotti@MyFWC.com.

Adults throughout the state can also enjoy a fishing freebie that day, because Saturday, April 7 is a statewide license-free freshwater fishing day. It is the first of four license-free days this year to introduce people of all ages to the pleasures of fishing or rekindle their interest in it.