Nature Conservancy Helps Okefenokee NWR Grow
The Florida-Times Union reports that the Nature Conservancy is giving Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (located in southern Georgia and northern Florida) a big helping hand:
A 500-acre piece of land that burned during a 2007 wildfire is under new ownership and will get a different species of trees.
The land is part of three tracts totaling 1,046 acres in Charlton and Ware counties that the Nature Conservancy recently bought from Rayonier and donated to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Even after handing over the deed, the Nature Conservancy is going to plant longleaf pines on the burned-over land.
According to the Nature Conservancy, the longleaf pine ecosystem is one of the most diverse in the world and provides habitat for threatened or endangered species, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Eastern indigo snake. The additional land will also give the refuge more of a buffer against future wild fires.
The Nature Conservancy’s partners in acquiring the land were the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Okefenokee NWR, Nature Conservancy
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Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 8:02 pm under
