1

Keeping the ldquoPublicrdquo in Public Land Management Author Bob Heeke Sr Land Resources Manager Suwannee River Water Management District

T he Suwannee River Water

M a n a g e m e n t D i s t r i c t

(SRWMD) strives to find effective

ways to get feedback from the

public on its management of

District-owned lands The District

acquires and manages lands for flood control water

quality protection and natural resource conservation

District lands are available for public use for resource-

based recreational opportunities such as hunting

fishing hiking camping and horseback riding

Florida Statutes require the establishment of

land management review teams to conduct periodic

reviews The teams are composed of members of the

local community public and private land managers

soil and water conservation supervisors and

environmental community representatives

The purpose of the land management review

team is to guide District land managers in fulfilling

their statutory obligations complying with District

policy and improving land management practices

The teamsrsquo findings are reported to the Districtrsquos

Governing Board and the Board must respond in

writing if found to be in noncompliance with statutes

or the plan

The District consistently has participation from

the public Between 10 and 25 individuals usually

attend the day-long event which includes

presentations and field trips District staff maintains

records of those who express an interest in

participating and sends out invitations with the

specifics of the planned review Detailed plans and

management information are sent to those that

confirm availability The Governing Board and staff

both appreciate the different perspectives that are

shared by participants

ldquoThis experience gives us the opportunity to get

feedback from biologists foresters parks and

recreation specialists environmentalists and

landowners who are actively implementing

appropriate land management practicesrdquo said Joe

Flanagan the Districtrsquos director of land acquisition

and management

The Districts land management strategies are

designed to ensure a balance between public access

general public recreational purposes and restoration

and protection of natural resources The District uses

such tools as prescribed fire non-native plant and

invasive weed control and timber harvesting and

planting to restore lands to their natural state and

condition To learn more go to wwwsrwmdstateflus

wwwsfrcufleduCFEOR

Beau Willsey SRWMD Environmental Scientist discusses

upland pine restoration activities during a Land

Management Review Team field trip in Lafayette County

2

Managing the Southern Pine Forestndash Retained Wetland Interface for Wildlife Diversity Research Priorities

Jones PD B Hanberry and S Demarais 2010 Wetlands 30 (3) 381-391

Forest certification programs require program participants to manage for biodiversity using science-based information

Management at the interface of retained wetland features and plantations provides opportunities to enhance wildlife diversity

on commercial pine forest lands We review the scientific literature to document how wildlife in managed pine forests might

benefit from retention of isolated wetlands and riparian zones and potential effects of forest management on conservation of

wetland-associated wildlife on managed pine forests of the southern USA We suggest research goals and methodologies to

address information gaps critical to improved management Many available studies lacked inferential power and most

depended on measures of diversity richness or abundance rather than community similarity or demographic measures of

fitness Observational studies have yielded potential hypotheses that should be tested with manipulative experiments

Demographic measures of fitness should replace potentially misleading measures of abundance or density and diversity

measures supplemented with comparisons of community similarity Researchers should institute long-term studies to account

for temporal variability Multi-scale analyses would help determine appropriate management scale for isolated wetlands and

the utility of riparian areas and associated streamside management zones as dispersal corridors [hellip]

copy 2010 Springerlink To read the full abstract and article members click here

Beau Willsey is an Environmental

Scientist at the Suwannee River

Water Management District

(SRWMD) Beau earned a

Bachelorrsquos degree at NC State

majoring in Wildlife Sciences in

1998 After several seasonal

positions working in wildlife

sciences Beau landed in Texas and worked towards a

Masterrsquos degree from Texas AampM which he earned in

2003 An opening for a wildlife biologist brought Beau

to Lake City Florida in 2004 working for the Florida Fish

and Wildlife Conservation Commission Beau then

joined the SRWMD Land Acquisition and Management

Department in 2008 Beaursquos responsibilities at the

District include natural resource inventory and

monitoring specifically rare species and invasive

weeds Beau is responsible for analyzing natural

resource data and documenting vegetative response to

management with the intent of developing and

implementing an adaptive resource management

system These duties involve a combination of field

work and office work To learn more about land

acquisition and management at the SRWMD go to

wwwsrwmdstateflus

Melissa M Kreye is the

coordinator for the CFEOR

cooperative housed in the School

of Forest Resources and

Conservation at the University of

Florida Melissa earned a

Bachelorrsquos degree in Fisheries in

2004 and in 2008 a Masterrsquos

degree in the Wastewater

Utilization Program at Humboldt State University in

Arcata CA Since 2002 Melissa has also worked various

seasonal and full time positions related to fisheries and

wildlife at Humboldt State University Scotia Pacific

Lumber Company and USFS Lassen National Forest in

California Melissa was hired by CFEOR in November

2008 as the research project field coordinatorfiscal

manager and to conduct other administrative tasks

including editing the Updates newsletter developing

the CFEOR website coordinating workshops and

developing public relations materials In 2009 Melissa

enrolled part time as a PhD student at the University of

Florida through the employee education program her

research interests are in the valuation of ecosystem

services in Florida To learn more about CFEOR go to

wwwsfrcufleduCFEOR

3

CFEOR Mission

To develop and disseminate knowledge needed to conserve and

manage Floridarsquos 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

Tim Breault Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Steering Committee Vice-Chair

Newsletter Contacts

Melissa Kreye School of Forest Resources and Conservation CFEOR Coordinator

mkreyeufledu Nancy Peterson School of Forest Resources and

Conservation CFEOR Executive Director njpufledu

Phone 3528460848 ∙Fax 3528461277∙ PO Box 110410∙ Gainesville FL

Bioenergy Crop Field Day July 15 2010 830 ammdash

100 pm ET at the UF Plant Science and Education

Unit in Citra FL Field tours of ongoing bioenergy

crop research and presenting recent data from

statewide experiments Event is free register by July

8 2010 Click here to register or contact Dr Lynn

Sollenberger at lesollenufledu

Wildlife Expo July 31 2010 at UF-IFAS West Florida

REC Milton Campus Details to be posted For more

info contact Robin Vickers at (850) 983-5216 x 113

or rvickersufledu

Funding opportunity USDA to help landowners

expand habitat for migrating birds The signup for

the initiative will run from June 28 to August 1

Interested parties should contact their local USDA

Service Center for additional information More

information is available at http

w w w n r c s u s d a g o v n e w s

nrcs_migratory_birdshtml and http

wwwflnrcsusdagovnewsMBHI2010_NRhtml

Bugs amp Rot Workshop Thursday August 5 2010 10

ammdash2pm ET at the Leon County Extension Office

For more information and the agenda go to http

leonifasufleduBug20amp20Rot202010pdf

Basic Wildland Firefighter TrainingmdashNational

Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Certified

Courses August 9-13 2010 800 am-500 pm ET at

the University of Florida Campus and Ordway-

Swisher Biological Station in Melrose FL

Registration is currently open To register go to

httpnatasnreufleduregistrationhtm

GIS Workshop in Advanced Geospatial Tools and

Techniques in Natural Resources Scripting and

Model Building October 25-27 2010 at the Tall

timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy

Tallahassee Fl To learn more and to register go to

httpnbcittrsorgGISWorkshopindexhtml