In 1999-00 the state of Florida and the federal government continued to invest in purchasing the last few ancient upland scrubs that remain along the Lake Wales Ridge (LWR). Florida passed a major new land acquisition program, Forever Florida, to continue the work of the Preservation 2000 program in acquiring and protecting threatened ecosystems such as the LWR.  AConservation - Maps, Archbold Biological Station, Biennial Report 1999-2000mong the critical remaining areas of scrub acquired during 1999-00, the most important were an 884-acre eastern expansion adding scrub habitat to Highlands Hammock State Park and the Lake Blue scrub site in Polk County.

New Scrub Acquired. Archbold Biological Station played a direct role in protecting additional acres of scrub - 57 acres of scrubby flatwoods, rosemary scrub, and wetlands were added in 2000 to the extreme southeastern corner of the Station (see maps, this page). The purchase was achieved using mitigation funds from a regional development (Home Depot) in Sebring. The tract is named the Sand Skink Scrub, or Neoseps Scrub in recognition of the reason for the mitigation purchase - to offset the loss of 20 acres of sand skink habitat. We warmly thank those who donated to the Station land acquisition fund and helped us buy the precious scrub resources remaining on our boundaries.

Collaboration with The Nature Conservancy. Archbold has contributed to initiatives concerning scrub management in conjunction with the multi-agency Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem Working Group (LWREWG), a unique consortium encompassing many local, state, and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and interested citizens. First, we concluded a project with The Nature Conservancy and other members of the LWREWG to complete Internet publication of Florida’s Ancient Islands <http://www.archbold-station.org/fai/index.html>. With support from the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation we greatly expanded Archbold’s Web-site with information about how to get involved in protecting this fascinating ecosystem. Second, in our GIS lab we manage data for many LWR sites including boundary information, scrub habitat, listed species locations, and fire management histories. With input from the Station six sites along the LWR completed standardized vegetation maps including: Carter Creek, Catfish Creek, Flamingo Villas, Gould Road, Henscratch, and Silver Lake. Third, in the last 2 years The Nature Conservancy, with advice from the LWREWG and Archbold, formed the Fire Strike Team (Team), a group of experienced individuals and equipment who can be quickly mobilized to conduct prescribed burns and manage wildfires in scrub habitats along the LWR. Despite formation of the Team, fire management activities along the LWR were severely curtailed during this Biennial period, especially in 2000, due to permit restrictions under the ongoing drought.

Conservation Initiatives at MAERC. At the Buck Island Ranch, like other cattle ranchers in this region, we have been exploring placing a conservation easement on pasturelands that were once seasonal wetlands. We applied for three wetland restoration sites on the Ranch under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wetland Reserve Program and were approved for two of these sites. Negotiations are continuing with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, owners of the Ranch, to decide whether to proceed with the easements. If negotiations are successfully concluded, in addition to the conservation benefits, this project would present MAERC with an interesting and relevant research opportunity to compare biodiversity and ecosystem function before and after wetland restoration.

Scientists and staff at the Station and the Ranch have worked hard on a variety of conservation projects throughout the state in this biennial period. A daunting task in a state that hurtled past the 2000 census marker with 3,044,452 new Floridians in the last 10 years, now the fourth most populous state in the nation - 15,982,378 people. Florida will look back in the future on these years, both appalled at what we lost and amazed at what we managed to protect. Archbold can take great pride in its role to conserve these last morsels of biodiversity.