FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 25, 2002
Roaming
Opportunities May Increase For Florida Black Bear
-- Acquisition and Restoration Council
recommend projects move forward --
IN NORTHERN
FLORIDA - Three of the items approved in Thursday’s
meeting of the Florida Forever Acquisition and Restoration
Council would add more than 8,000 acres to existing
Florida Forever projects across northern Florida. Two of
the projects consist of lands that are important habitat
to the Florida black bear, as well as other rare and
endangered animal species including the great egret,
gopher tortoise, and the Bald Eagle.
Three separate project
amendments, the Hosford-Chapman Rhododendron Protection
Zone, Pinhook Swamp, and South Walton County Ecosystem,
with a combined tax-assessed value of more than $4.5
million, were among several projects voted on by the
Council.
- The Hosford-Chapman’s
Rhododendron Protection Zone amendment would include
an additional 3,648 acres with a tax-assessed value of
$594,734. The addition connects the Lake Talquin State
Forest with the Apalachicola National Forest creating
a corridor for wildlife including the endangered
Florida black bear. Bald Eagles also nest in the area
and the rare Chapman’s rhododendron, an evergreen
native azalea with beautiful pink flowers, is found
there.
- The amendment to the
Pinhook Swamp project would add 4,585 acres,
tax-assessed at $630,895, to the existing project.
Black bears, gopher tortoises and great egrets reside
there, and several species of rare fishes and reptiles
inhabit the nearby Suwannee River.
- The South Walton County
Ecosystem project boundary amendment would add 90
acres with a tax-assessed value of $3,314,527, and
would provide additional beach access. The proposed
addition is adjacent to the Grayton Beach State
Recreation Area and Point Washington State Forest.
Approximately one mile of the project is lake frontage
along Redfish Lake, one of 17 coastal dune lakes
located in Florida.
The state will
begin negotiations with the owners of the newly added
properties in the near future.
-30-
Press Office
