Florida and NRCS Team-Up to Enhance Wildlife Habitat

Private landowners across the State of Florida are benefitting from an agreement between NRCS and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The Florida NRCS and technical service provider FWC have an agreement that will protect and enhance wildlife habitat for years to come.  Under the agreement, FWC wildlife biologists, at the direction of NRCS District Conservationists prepare Wildlife Plans of Operation for landowners according to NRCS specifications. 

NRCS Okaloosa and Walton County District Conservationist Darryl Williams considers this a win-win situation.  “From this agreement the landowner benefits through the expertise of the FWC and NRCS employees and staff benefit from the work with the management of that plan.  And then lastly the wildlife benefit,” says Williams.

Jeremy Martin, wildlife biologist with FWC details how this agreement works.  “We basically go out and do recons for the conservation plan of operations and then we will go back into the office and write a detailed management plan to provide to the district conservationist so he can do a toolkit conservation plan.  First we will sit down and map out the property and determine what all the fields are and how much acreage and we will take that and write the detailed management plan and we will do all of the tree planting job sheets, prescribed burning job sheets and we will provide that to the district conservationist,” says Martin.

The FWC wildlife biologists also complete the forms necessary for a completed NRCS conservation plan.  These ensure that conservation practices do not endanger Federally listed threatened and endangered species. 

Arlo Kane runs the FWC Regional Office in the Florida panhandle which services Okaloosa County.  “We have been working with NRCS to help administer their programs.  Today there is an emphasis on creating whole farm plans, conservation plans of operation up front to identify just exactly what a landowner needs before we get into the program, and finding money for them.  So the FWC entered into an agreement with NRCS to put together whole farm plans up front,” says Kane. 

The statewide assistance comes from FWC regional offices across the State of Florida.  District conservationists draw on the expertise of FWC wildlife biologists to assist them in making sound decisions on conservation plans for private landowners. 

The benefit to the landowners does not stop there.  In addition to possible eligibility for Farm bill Programs such as the Environment Quality Incentives Program or the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program they are also given the opportunity to sign up for wildlife enhancement programs offered by the State.

Kane says, “The State also has other cost-share programs that dovetail into NRCS Farm Bill Programs.  We have an agreement with the Florida Division of Forestry (DOF) for example, that serves as the basis for the Forest Stewardship Program.  So we can use the plan that we write for NRCS as a baseline for writing that program for DOF as well.  So one plan will dovetail into the other, and make it very easy to complete plans for both agencies at the same time.

And what do landowners say about the service that they receive? Gene Borz owns 960 acres of property in Walton County.  “They have been an invaluable asset to me, not only enhancing wildlife but the integration of a variety of different services.  Not only have they been able to help me enrich not only the wildlife, but agriculture as well.  They also have assisted me in eradicating invasive species such as cogongrass.  It's been a tremendous resource for me,” said Borz. 
Your contact is NRCS public affairs specialist Bob Stobaugh at 352-338-9565.