Ridge Rangers January 2017 Newsletter

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 01/07/2017 05:20 PM EST

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

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

January 2017

In this newsletter:

Ridge Rangers receive 2016 HSC Volunteer of the Year Award
January Ridge Rangers Events
Looking for Help

Ridge Rangers receive 2016 HSC Volunteer of the Year Award

Left to Right: Ridge Rangers Barbara Stimpson, Rose Plemons, Jerry Burns, Marilyn Blair, Harry Ressler, Liane Plumhoff, Connie Sweet, Gerald Fortner, Ridge Rangers Coordinator Bill Parken, and HSC Director Thomas Eason (Ridge Ranger Chan Clarkson not able to participate).

Nine Ridge Rangers worked together again and again restoring oak scrub habitat – making a huge impact for Florida Scrub-jays and Gopher Tortoises -- and for their outstanding efforts on December 2 in Tallahassee this “Scrub Habitat Restoration Team” received the 2016 FWC HSC Volunteer of the Year Award!

These nine Ridge Rangers contributed countless hours to restore many, many acres of oak scrub habitat on the Lake Wales Ridge in two ways: restoring damaged scrub by each planting hundreds of new scrub oaks, and by cutting down thousands of sand pines that were taking over prime scrub habitat. Both of these efforts were achieved under very challenging environmental conditions.

Congratulations and big note of appreciation goes to Marilyn Blair, Jerry Burns, Chandler Clarkson, Gerald Fortner, Rose Plemons, Liane Plumhoff, Harry Ressler, and Barbara Stimpson!

Ridge Rangers award winners at the State Capitol Building in Tallahassee.

January Ridge Rangers Events

Tuesday, January 10

Sow Acorns to Restore Scrub Oak Habitat

FWC Royce Unit, near Lake Placid

The scrub oak acorns gathered earlier in the fall are ready to come out of the office refrigerator and sprout! We’ll be hand-sowing the acorns as we walk through the scrub restoration area.

This event is full and no more help is needed.

Saturday, January 14

Remove Invasive Natal Grass

Warea Tract of the Seminole State Forest, near Clermont

The Warea Tract is an outparcel of the Seminole State Forest and was purchased for its incredible botanical diversity. Unfortunately, Natal Grass is invading from surrounding residential developments and needs to be removed by hand to protect the native plants. We'll be moving through the Sandhill Habitat at this tract and removing the invasive grass and placing in bags.

This workday will be led by Michael Jenkins of the Florida Forest Service.

For more details and to sign up, please see http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/WareaJan2017.

Learn more about the Florida Forest Service's Seminole State Forest at http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Seminole-State-Forest

Tall Hardwoods in Scrub Restoration Area

Thursday, January 19

Trim/Reduce Hardwood for Scrub-Jay Habitat

FWC Royce Unit, near Lake Placid.

We'll be significantly trimming/reducing the too-tall hardwoods in the scrub restoration area to enhance habitat for endangered scrub jays.

Scrub-jays won't use areas with tall trees because predators like Cooper's Hawks will use them to hide in.

This will be a joint workday with FWC Staff. Please see http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/RoyceHardwoodJan2017 for more details and to sign up.

The FWC Royce Unit is part of the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife and Environmental Area, and has one of the largest cutthroat grass (Panicum abscissum) seeps remaining on the Lake Wales Ridge, which we’ll be passing by on the way to the scrub restoration area!

Saturday, January 21

Remove Invasive Brazilian Pepper & other exotic plants

Bok Tower Gardens/Mountain Lake Estates, near Lake Wales

This work day at BTG's Sandhill restoration site at Mountain Lake Estates to remove invasive vegetation is an important step to help this area recover and transition back into ideal Sandhill habitat. This area within MLE once contained the rare Clasping Warea, Warea amplexifolia, and the clean-up efforts should help to uncover any remnant seedbank of this and other important native Sandhill species.

Please see http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/BTGJan2017 for the workday information and to register.

Bok Tower Gardens is a leader in conservation in central Florida, learn more at https://boktowergardens.org/conservation/

Saturday, January 28

Remove Sand Pines to enhance Scrub Jay Habitat

FWC Carter Creek Unit, near Sebring

Scrub-jays won't use areas with sand pines as predators like Cooper's Hawks use them to hide in. On this workday we'll be reducing the density of sand pines to help return the area to pristine oak scrub habitat.

We'll be using hand saws, loppers, and chainsaws (for those qualified) to cut down the intruding pines.

For maps, meeting time and location, and to sign up, please see http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/CarterCreekJan2017

FWC Carter Creek is part of the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife and Environmental Area. The most distinctive natural community on the Lake Wales Ridge is scrub, home to one of the rarest collections of plants and animals in the world!

Looking for Help

Kestrel Fledglings in nest box and Peeper Cam System

Left: Kestrel Fledglings and Kestrel egg in a nest box at FWC Silverlake Scrub. Right: Ridge Rangers use a peeper cam on a telescoping pole and a wireless monitor to view the interior of a nest box.

Kestrel Nest Box Surveys are coming ...

... and we're looking for Ridge Rangers who’d be interested in participating. The surveys are done at six FWC sites in the Venus, Lake Placid, and Avon Park areas; and each site typically has 4-8 poles/nest boxes.

Nest Box inspections are done using a smart phone app and a provided peeper cam system. Boxes at some sites are within walking distance, while other sites require using an FWC vehicle. The surveys need to be done at the beginning of the month at each of the six sites, starting in April and going through June. Ridge Rangers will need to work in pairs for the surveys, but can self-schedule the exact date.

The Southeastern American Kestrel (Falco sparverius paulus) 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. Nest Boxes are provided for Kestrels in certain areas because much of their natural nesting habitat has been lost due to urbanization and changes in agricultural practices. Surveys of the boxes help determine if the Kestrel population is increasing or decreasing, and the effectiveness of the boxes.

Training will be in March. Having a smart phone is helpful but isn’t required. Interested Ridge Rangers are asked to please contact the Ridge Rangers Coordinator at bill.parken@myfwc.com.

Natural Areas Maintenance at Bok Tower Gardens

Bok Tower Garden’s Land Manager (Trina Noland) is looking for one or two volunteers to help with regular hand weeding in their conservation/restoration areas. Specifically, the hand weeding is needed in fairly accessible areas along the great lawn in the natural areas near the tower that have had native grasses planted in them. The effort is needed weekly, but is otherwise self-scheduled. All equipment will be supplied.

This effort will help by keeping exotic and weedy species from overtaking areas that have been newly planted with native species, which allows the natives to become established.

If interested, please contact Trina at knoland@boktower.org .

Bok Tower Gardens is located in Lake Wales.

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.

Know of someone who would like to receive this newsletter? Send them to the Ridge Rangers Newsletter GovDelivery webpage.

Find us on Facebook

Questions?
Contact Us

STAY CONNECTED:

Localize your news. Visit the Subscriber Preferences Page, click on "Questions" and select the region(s) of interest to you.

SUBSCRIBER SERVICES:
Manage Preferences | Unsubscribe | Help

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com.

This service is provided to you at no charge by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.