Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area

Aerial photo of the Apalachicola River
"It is not a salt marsh over here or a flood plain forest over there. It is a whole large functioning ecosystem." 
-Jon Blanchard,
The Nature Conservancy

The Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area is part of a vast ecosystem that begins hundreds of miles away in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. The 86,140-acre Apalachicola River WEA contains the largest expanse of floodplain forest in Florida. The floodplain forest of the lower Apalachicola River protects, feeds, and nurtures Apalachicola Bay.

One of the best ways to explore this land and water immortalized in the film Ulee's Gold is by canoe or kayak. Here you can fish for largemouth bass, catfish, striped bass, and bream, and hunt dove, quail, squirrel, white-tailed deer, turkey, and waterfowl. Enjoy the spring and fall wildflowers, some rare, some common, and the abundant resident and migratory birds.

 

 

 



FWC Facts:
The painted bunting is one of the most rapidly declining songbirds in the eastern U.S. Surveys show an astounding 4-6 percent annual decrease in its numbers from 1966 to 2007.

Learn More at AskFWC