Ridge Rangers January 2016 Newsletter

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 12/31/2015 11:30 AM EST

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Ridge Rangers are volunteers restoring wildlife habitat on the Lake Wales Ridge and nearby areas in Central Florida.

January 2016

January Ridge Rangers Events
General News
Happy New Year ... And a few memories from 2015!

January Ridge Rangers Events

Tuesday Mornings in the Native Plant Nursery

FWC Royce Unit (near Lake Placid)

January 5, 12, 19, 26.
Help pot and maintain scrub oak sprouts for restoration planting and learn about other native plants.
The Royce Native Plant nursery is shaded and all work is done on tables.

See the Ridge Rangers Calendar for the details and to register.

Joint Workday with Audubon Jay Watch · Sand Pine Removal & Get-Together

Highlands Hammock State Park (near Sebring)

Saturday, January 9

Ridge Rangers will be doing a joint workday with Audubon Jay Watch volunteers removing sand pines to enhance scrub jay habitat!

Reducing the density of sand pines in scrub oak habitat helps to prevent Scrub-Jay predators.

Afterwards, Audubon will be providing a lunch in a park pavilion for everyone helping, and then we’ll hear from Juliet Rynear about her work with Chrysopsis Floridana, Scrub Lupines, and other rare species.

See http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/HHSPjan2016 for the meeting location, times, and to register.

Joint Workday with Southwest Region Volunteers - Remove Old Boardwalk

Little Gator Creek Wildlife & Environmental Area (near Colt Creek State Park)

Saturday, January 16

We’ll removing a degraded boardwalk that is no longer needed, using hand and power tools to cut the boardwalk into manageable pieces and transfer them to a staging area.

This workday is being led by Brendan O’Connor, FWC Coordinator for the Southwest Region Volunteer Program.

See the times, details, and registration at http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/RemoveBoardwalkjan2016

Survey for Invasives at FWC Crooked Lake

Crooked Lake is located just to the west of US 27 near Frostproof.

Two Invasive Survey Workdays at Crooked Lake:

We’ll be working in teams to walk thru select conservation areas surveying for invasive lygodium and cogangrass, marking the locations of any found on GPS units. The GPS coordinates will be used by FWC to understand the size of the problem and to locate and herbicide the invasive plants.

You’ll be trained on plant identification, and both of these invasive plants are easy to learn & spot.

Click on the date links above for the full details and to sign up.

General News

Report Your 2015 Hours

Ridge Rangers are reminded to please report any independent hours for 2015 if they haven’t already done so. Please see http://www.myfwc.com/get-involved/volunteer/ridge-rangers/report/ for the how-to-do as needed.

Like to Mow … Sitting Down?

FWC is looking for help mowing around the office buildings at FWC Royce Unit (near Lake Placid). This effort will free biologists to work on endangered habitats and species. If interested, or for more information please contact Bill Parken at bill.parken@myfwc.com.

We’re also looking for individuals to help with chainsaw maintenance after Ridge Rangers workdays. This effort is primarily cleaning the units and sharpening the chains, and can be done at your convenience. Please contact bill.parken@myfwc.com for more.

FWC Bald Eagle Nest Locator

Want to see the locations of Bald Eagle Nests in Florida near you? Go to this FWC site & plug in your address: https://public.myfwc.com/FWRI/EagleNests/nestlocator.aspx

You'll want to be properly considerate and not disturb the eagles or their nests, of course.

Happy New Year ... And a few memories from 2015!

Ridge Rangers at Avon Park Air Force Range

February 7 at Avon Park Air Force Range: Ridge Rangers grab some social time after removing over a thousand intruding sand pines from scrub oak habitat. Predators like hawks use sand pines from which to prey, preventing scrub jays from using scrub habitat with too many of these pines.

February 27 in the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest: A Ridge Ranger and Forestry Staff work together to cut down and herbicide invasive citrus trees in a cypress stand.

Ridge Rangers Carry Ladder to do Kestrel Box inspection

March 28 at FWC Platt Branch: Ridge Rangers carry a ladder to do inspect a Kestrel Box. The Southeastern American Kestrel is a non-migratory subspecies of kestrel found in open pine savannahs, sandhills, prairies, and pastures in Florida and the southeastern United States. It is listed as threatened in Florida due to a decline in nesting and foraging habitat.

May 14 in FWC Lake Placid Scrub: A Ridge Ranger uses personal power to remove a fence post while others clip the wire. Removing old ranching fences from conservation sites helps restore the area to its natural state and adds safety for workers and wildlife.

Eating Watermelon after planting Scrub Oaks

June 30 at FWC Royce Ranch: Teens from the Camp Fire Organization kick back with some watermelon after planting hundreds of scrub oaks to restore damaged habitat. Over the 2015 summer; Ridge Rangers, Camp Fire, and other volunteers planted 2,400 scrub oaks!

September 26 at Highlands Hammock State Park: Before starting the work effort, Ridge Rangers get a special tour of the park’s original CCC buildings .

Ridge Rangers and others after sand pines reduction workday

November 11 in the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest: Ridge Rangers, and Forestry and Nature Conservancy Staff pose for a group shot after removing hundreds of intruding sand pines in a mature scrub oak habitat. The fallen pines will provide fuel for an upcoming controlled burn.

Ridge Rangers help Festival Attendees Pot Acorns

November 14 at CCC Days Festival at Highlands Hammock State Park: A festival attendee is about to get an “I Helped” sticker from a Ridge Ranger after potting scrub oak acorns tray cells. Sprouts from these acorns will be maintained over the 2016 winter and then planted next summer to help restore damaged habitat.

Editor: Bill Parken, Ridge Rangers Coordinator, bill.parken@myfwc.com

Ridge Rangers are volunteers helping to restore wildlife habitat on the Lake Wales Ridge and nearby areas in Central Florida. Learn more

Ridge Rangers website: myfwc.com/ridgerangers

Upcoming schedule at Ridge Rangers Online Calendar.

Want to participate in the Ridge Rangers program? Apply here, or just look on our calendar, sign up for a workday and come on out! There are no dues and no commitments in the Ridge Ranger program.

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