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Collaborative habitat improvement project benefits sensitive species on Apalachicola National Forest and City of Tallahassee Author: Susan Blake, National Forests in Florida, USDA Forest Service

R ecently, a collaborative effort was undertaken

to improve habitat surrounding two ephemeral

wetlands along U.S. Highway 319 south of Capital Circle on

the Apalachicola National Forest. This was the first in a series

of habitat improvement projects involving the USDA Forest

Service, the City of Tallahassee and The Nature Conservancy.

Ephemeral wetlands are temporary or seasonal ponds. On

the Apalachicola they usually fill up during the rainy, wet

winter months and dry out by late spring and early summer.

Many amphibians and invertebrates lay their eggs in these

ponds during the dry months.

“It really was a group effort, the City of Tallahassee was great

to work with along with The Nature Conservancy,” said

Deputy District Ranger Harold Shenk of the Apalachicola

National Forest.

According to Shenk, The City of Tallahassee approached the

Forest Service because they needed to install new

transmission lines through the Apalachicola National Forest

south of Tallahassee to improve the electrical reliability of

the city’s power grid.

“We had just issued a special-use permit to Florida Gas

Transmission (FGT) and created a temporary 60-foot work

corridor so they could install a gas pipeline. This was a great

opportunity for the City of Tallahassee to install transmission

lines in the same location without disturbing additional

habitat in the area,” said Shenk.

The collaboration involved strategic land offsets between the

Forest Service and the City of Tallahassee and agreements in

which the city funded amphibian studies and habitat

improvement projects.

These ephemeral wetlands are an extremely important part

of the surrounding ecosystem. The invertebrates and

amphibians that live and breed there, both rare and

common, provide the base of the food chain for the entire

system. Fish, which normally would be a natural predator for

these species, cannot survive in these wetlands due to the

fluctuating conditions.

Although many

amphibians and other

wildlife utilize

ephemeral wetlands,

one particular species of

great interest in this

area is the striped newt.

At one time, the

Apalachicola National

Forest held one of the

most reliable and robust

populations of striped

newts.

During the 1990s the

population of striped

newts on the

Apalachicola National Forest began to decline. Although no

one can completely explain this decline, most believe it is due

to a combination of drought, disease, habitat alteration and

other unknown factors.

Despite the regular burns along U.S. Highway 319,

hardwoods have developed over time impacting amphibians

and other wildlife species that depend on these ephemeral

wetlands. Many years of hardwood expansion can create a

fire barrier that prevents natural fires from burning out these

wetlands.

When hardwoods get established around an ephemeral

wetland a cycle begins that is difficult to break. Hardwood

litter does not burn as readily as pine straw and grasses that

would naturally surround the wetland.

“Many of the oaks had reached a size so that only a

catastrophic wildfire would turn this system back to where it

needs to be. By mechanically removing most of the

hardwoods, we hope to turn back the clock and give fire a

chance to start maintaining this ecosystem again,” said Jana

Mott, wildlife restoration specialist for The Nature

Conservancy. To learn more contact Susan at (850) 523-8590.

www.sfrc.ufl.edu/CFEOR

09.10.13

Wildlife Ecologist Ryan Means captures a newly-metamorphosed striped newt eft moving out of its ephemeral wetland or pond. At one time the Apalachicola National Forest held one of the most reliable and robust populations of striped newts. (Photo/Wildlife Ecologist Ryan Means)

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Exploring the onset of high-impact mega-fires through a forest land management prism Jerry Williams (2013) Forest Ecology and Management 294 4-10.

In the modern era, high-impact mega-fires are unprecedented for the suppression costs, property losses, natural resource

damages, and loss of life often involved. For a number of years, these extraordinary wildfires have been increasing in number

and in severity. They affect countries around the world, including those with enormous firefighting capabilities. High-impact

mega-fires are frustrating efforts to provide for public safety, slow rates of deforestation, sequester carbon and reduce black

carbon emissions. Despite more determined bidding, attempts to match increasing wildfire threats with greater suppression

force have not stemmed climbing mega-fire trends. Yet, the majority of after-action reviews, reports, and commissions

continue to weight recommendations to correcting emergency response deficiencies, generally through a fire operations lens.

This paper explores the mega-fire phenomenon through a forest land management prism. It is an early attempt to focus on the

contributory factors that may set the stage for high-impact mega-fires. The paper draws on the results from two coarse-filter

overviews of high-impact mega-fires from around the world and the authors’ firsthand experiences dealing with others in the

United States. Drought and fire exclusion policies have been implicated in the large fire problem. However, several high-impact

mega-fires can be further traced to land management decisions that resulted in dense forest conditions with high biomass and

fuel build-ups over extensive areas. As droughts have intensified, more of these accumulated fuels have become available to

burn at intensities that exceed suppression capabilities. In contrast, some places have managed to largely avoid high-impact

mega-fires. State and federal lands in Florida and Crown lands in Western Australia have better aligned policies and practices

with the disturbance regimes that define the forested landscapes that they protect. They use prescribed fire at appropriate

intensities, intervals, and scales to reduce fuels as the means to protect people, maintain forest resilience, ensure biodiversity,

and increase margins of suppression effectiveness. Forest land management policies and practices that, by design or by default,

result in greater volumes of fuel and rely on suppression capabilities to maintain these conditions may no longer be sustainable

as droughts deepen and become more widespread. This paper suggests that adapting wildland fire management programs,

forest land management policies, and the current regulatory framework to the reality of warmer, drier climate patterns will be

essential in reducing mega-fire risks. Protecting fire-prone landscapes can no longer rely on suppression alone; protection will

become more dependent on the management of forests where high-impact mega-fires incubate. © 2013 Elsevier. To read the full article CFEOR members click here.

Field Tour: Prescribed Fire and Ecosystem Restoration

at Blackjack Crossing Tract in Talbot County, Georgia

on September 12, 2013 from 8:30AM to 12:00PM ET.

Hosted by the Nature Conservancy and the Southern

Fire Exchange. To learn more and to register (free) go

to www.eventbrite.com/event/7851539165

Webinar: New Trends in the Voluntary Offset Market

on September 12, 2013 from 10:00AM to 11:00PM

PDT. To learn more and to register go to

events.climateactionreserve.org/event/new-trends-

voluntary-offset-market

Natural Areas Training Academy– Managing Visitors

and Volunteers in Natural Areas. Online training

anytime between August 19 to October 11, 2013 and

a one day in-person training on October 16, 2013 at

Gold Head Branch State Park, Keystone Heights, FL. To

learn more go to natamvv2013.eventbrite.com/#

40th Annual Natural Areas Conference, Conservation

Coming Home. October 1-4, 2013 in Chicago, IL. Early

Bird registration available until August 30th. For more

information go to 2013.naturalareasconference.org

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CFEOR Mission:

To develop and disseminate knowledge needed to conserve and

manage Florida’s 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

Newsletter Contacts

Melissa Kreye, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, CFEOR Coordinator,

mkreye@ufl.edu Nancy Peterson, School of Forest Resources and

Conservation, CFEOR Executive Director, njp@ufl.edu

Phone 352.846.0848 ∙Fax 352.846.1277∙ PO Box 110410∙ Gainesville, FL

Society of American Foresters National Convention–

Silviculture Matters, October 23-27, 2013 at North

Charleston, SC. To learn more and to register go to

www.safnet.org/

natcon13/2013ConventionPromoBook.pdf

9th Southern Forestry And Natural Resource

Management GIS Conference, December 8-10, 2013

in Athens, GA. For more information go to

www.soforgis.net/2013