Ridge Rangers November 2017 Newsletter

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 10/31/2017 04:41 PM EDT

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

November 2017

In this newsletter:

Congrats to Two Ridge Rangers Moving On!
November Events
Photos: Ridge Rangers' Workdays In October

Congrats to Two Ridge Rangers Moving On!

Former Ridge Rangers Ross Bailey and Elysia Dytrych

Ridge Rangers will remember two fellow volunteers from the last few years: Ross Bailey and Elysia Dytrych, both of whom are now working full time with state conservation agencies.

Ross Bailey recently started as a Park Ranger with the Florida Forest Service, working out of their Frostproof office. He promises he’ll try to join us on a few workdays sometime in the future, and we also look forward to working with him on a State Forest workday.

Elysia Dytrych is now a Biological Scientist II with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and is working out of the Royce Unit office. Ridge Rangers will likely be seeing Elysia frequently in the future, as one of her roles is overviewing the native plant nursery and restoration planting.

Congratulations and best of luck to Elysia and Ross!

November Events

Wednesday, November 1, from 8 AM to around 1 PM.
Lunch provided.

Sandhill Restoration at Lake Louisa State Park

Near Clermont

We will be planting 1, 3 and 7 gallons size Longleaf, Bluejack Oak and Turkey Oak to help restore Sandhill Habitat at the park. Approximately 1100 trees need to be planted -- looking for all the help we can get!

This is the first of two planting days at Lake Louisa State Park, the second is on November 22.

Meet at the park entrance gate, and please bring a shovel. See http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/LLSP1Nov2017 for the details and registration.

This restoration project is in partnership with Bok Tower Gardens.

Thursday, November 2, from 8 AM to around noon.

Weed & Plant!

Maintain and plant native plants in the Royce Nursery

Near Lake Placid

We’ll be moving the native plants in the Royce nursery back in place from their hurricane location, weeding them, and planting a few in a new Royce restoration area.

See http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/RoyceNurseryNov2017 for the directions, details, and to sign up.

Saturday, November 4

Annual Jay Watch Appreciation Event

Archbold Biological Station

Annual appreciation event for everyone who participated in the Jay Watch citizen science program this year (including Ridge Rangers). Please contact Audubon's Jacqui Sulek with any questions.

Ridge Rangers and Festival Attendees at CCC Days

Saturday, November 11, from 9 AM to around 4 PM, Two sessions.

Ridge Rangers Outreach at CCC Days

Highlands Hammock State Park, near Sebring

Ridge Rangers outreach & recruiting: we'll be engaging festival attendees to pot long leaf pine seeds -- the resulting sprouts will be used for restoration planting next summer.

Looking for Ridge Rangers help to staff the booth! Two sessions: 9 AM to noon, and noon to around 4 PM. See http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/CCCdays2017

Ridge Ranger cuts down an intruding sand pine

Wednesday, November 15, from 9 AM to around 1 PM

Join FWC Staff to Reduce Sand Pines to Help Endangered Scrub-Jays

FWC Gould Road Tract, about 12 miles south of Lake Placid

Sand Pines will take over a Scrub Habitat, eliminating homes for endangered Scrub-Jays and harboring predators. FWC Staff will be cutting down the pines at this tract to create more useable habitat for Scrub-Jays -- hoping Ridge Rangers and others can come join us!

See http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/GouldNov2017 for directions, details, and to sign up.

Wednesday, November 22, from 8 AM to around 1 PM.
Lunch provided.

Sandhill Restoration at Lake Louisa State Park

Near Clermont

This is the second of two planting days in November at Lake Louisa State Park.

Meet at the park entrance gate, and please bring a shovel. See http://outreach.myfwc.com/event/LLSP22Nov2017 for the details and registration.

This restoration project is in partnership with Bok Tower Gardens

Thursday, November 23

Thanksgiving

No Ridge Rangers workdays on the Saturdays before and after Thanksgiving (11/18 & 11/25) – have a wonderful holiday!

Photos: Ridge Rangers' Workdays In October

October 7 at The Nature Conservancy’s Tiger Creek site: Ridge Rangers carefully line up posts for a new boundary fence to help maintain pristine scrub habitat.

JROTC Cadets help dismantle a pedestrian bridge

October 10 at FWC Lake Placid Scrub: JROTC Cadets from Lake Placid High School dismantle the hiker’s bridge to make way for a bigger structure.

October 14 at FWC Carter Creek: Ridge Rangers wrangle a mess o’ barbed wire removed from an old unused ranch fence inside the property.

Ridge Ranger takes picture of rare plant

October 20 at Bok Tower Garden’s Sandhill Restoration Area: Ridge Ranger Paul Straus takes a break from removing invasive plants to capture this picture of a rare and flowering Warea Amplexifolia

October 28 at FWC Carter Creek: While cutting down sand pines to create habitat for Scrub-Jays, a Ridge Ranger found this tiny but cute squirrel treefrog hitchhiking on her chainsaw!

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.

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