The state of Florida includes an incredible variety of habitats,
including the tropical coral reefs of the Florida Keys, the unique
Everglades, temperate hardwood forests, majestic rivers that
meander for hundreds of miles, awe-inspiring springs, and nearly
8,000 lakes. These highly productive ecosystems support fishing and
hunting, nature viewing, and other recreational and commercial
activities.
Landowner
Assistance and Incentive Programs
Over half of Florida is privately owned. The land-use planning
efforts and habitat management decisions made by private landowners
today will determine the future for fish and wildlife tomorrow.
Habitats
Artificial Reefs
An artificial reef may be described as one or more objects of
natural or human origin deployed purposefully on the seafloor to
influence physical, biological, or socioeconomic processes related
to living marine organisms. The more than 2,400 carefully planned
artificial reefs constructed in state and adjacent federal waters
off both Florida coasts have been built to provide recreational
fishing and diving enhancement, a socio-economic benefit to
adjacent coastal communities, and to increase structural habitat
for reef associated or reef dependent fishes and invertebrates.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs can be described as the rain forests of the sea. One
census found 3,467 species of algae, plants, and animals associated
with coral reefs. Protection and wise use of Florida's coral reef
habitat is our primary concern. The long-term Coral Monitoring
Project (CRMP) is the most comprehensive coral assessment program
ever established in the Florida Keys.
Seagrasses
Conservation and restoration of seagrass is the primary focus of
program staff in aquatic vegetation. Seagrass research helps supply
resource managers with the data necessary to make effective
decisions about the preservation, management, and restoration of
these communities.
Wetlands
Managing wetland habitat is critical to providing the greatest
quantity and highest quality of habitat possible to support
Florida's waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife.
Habitat Management Programs
Invasive Plant Management
The Invasive Plant Management Section within the Division of
Habitat and Species Conservation of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission is the lead agency in Florida responsible
for coordinating and funding two statewide programs controlling
invasive aquatic and upland plants on public conservation lands and
waterways throughout the state. Florida's aquatic plant management
program is one of the oldest invasive species removal programs with
its beginnings dating back to the late 1800s. With the addition of
the upland program, the section oversees the largest invasive plant
management program of its kind in the United States. The section
also insures that beneficial native aquatic plants in Florida's
ponds, lakes, and rivers are protected through its permitting
programs.
Management Plans & Planning
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has
a management interest in approximately 5 million acres of natural
resource land in Florida. Lands within the FWC managed-areas
system are comprised of both private lands (especially timber
companies) and those under the jurisdiction of various government
agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Defense,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Water Management Districts,
the Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Military Affairs,
and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Division
of Recreation and Parks.
Fish Management Areas
A fish management area (FMA) is a pond, lake or other body of
water established for the management of freshwater fish as a
cooperative effort with the local county. The FWC's Division of
Freshwater Fisheries Management manages more than 100 water bodies
throughout the state that are designated as Fish Management
Areas.
Objective-based Vegetation Management (OBVM)
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), has lead
management responsibility for approximately 1.5 million acres on 42
Wildlife Management and Wildlife Environmental Areas (WMA/WEAs) in
Florida. FWC land managers, in cooperation with the Florida Natural
Areas Inventory (FNAI), have developed and are implementing an
objective-based vegetation management (OBVM) approach to resource
management on these Trustee-owned lands.
Freshwater Pond Management
Florida has more than 7,700 named lakes over 20 acres and
countless ponds from 1-20 acres. Many of those smaller ponds
are on private property. Such ponds, if properly managed can
provide wonderful, fishing, birding and wildlife viewing
opportunities. However, the management of the ponds should
take into account important conservation principles to prevent
doing more harm than good.
Persons with Disabilities