Oral Session - Conservation Planning Chair(s): Theobald, David¹, ¹ Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Thursday, April 1, 2004 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Apollo Room 2

Prioritization and protection of the Florida Ecological Network. Hoctor, Thomas^*,1, Carr, Margaret², Teisinger, Jason¹, Zwick, Paul¹, Wood, Jim³, ¹ Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Gainesville, FL, USA² Department of Landscape Architecture, Gainesville, FL, USA³ Office of Greenways and Trails, Tallahassee, FL, USA

ABSTRACT- Florida began a greenways program in the 1990s that has now become an important part of the state^,s land conservation strategy. The University of Florida has worked with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for almost a decade to delineate components of a statewide greenways network and to develop an implementation strategy. The Florida Ecological Network (FEN) is the ecological component of the program and represents the opportunities to protect large, connected landscapes across the state. Over the last four years the FEN has been prioritized and incorporated into the evaluation process for the Florida Forever land acquisition program. Prioritization included identifying areas most important for protecting habitat for large, wide-ranging species such as the Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) and the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), delineating landscape linkages that provide the best opportunities to protect a connected network of conservation lands, and locating lands most threatened by development. These highest priority areas, termed Critical Linkages, are now a primary focus of landscape protection efforts in state and regional land protection programs including Florida Forever. Recent land protection projects include a 60,000 hectare landscape linkage between the Osceola National Forest and Camp Blanding military site, cooperation by the state and the U.S. Department of Defense to protect an over 100 km landscape linkage between Eglin Air Force Base and Apalachicola National Forest in northwest Florida, and various projects in southwest Florida to protect intact landscapes for the Florida panther and many other species of conservation interest.

KEY WORDS: ecological networks, regional conservation planning, biodiversity conservation, landscape linkages