Sea Rocket Chapter Participates on State Land Management Reviews, July 13 - 16, 2015
By: Greg Hendricks, Chapter Representative and
Florida Master Naturalist, Merritt Island, FL
Every five years, the Office of Environmental Services, Division of State Lands conducts land management reviews to determine how well state lands are being managed by state agencies.
The Sea Rocket Chapter was invited to participate on state land management reviews as a representative of a conservation organization. Others participating in the reviews included the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Florida Park Service, Florida Forest Service, Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, Soil and Water Conservationists, The Nature Conservancy, and Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands staff.
The state lands reviewed included the 7,805 acre Salt Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Mims, FL managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and 21,956 acre St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park in Fellsmere, FL managed by the Florida Park Service. Both public lands were determined to be in excellent ecological condition supporting a wide diversity of native plants and their communities. The principle issues facing land managers were exotic invasive species control and maintaining appropriate prescribe burning return intervals. Despite reduced funding and staffing, these public lands represent the “real Florida” at its best thanks to their hard working and dedicated staff.
Sea Rocket held their annual summer cookout Saturday, July 25th the "Sam's House", an historical pioneer's home built in 1888 on Merritt Island. This historical property is also a Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands property where important Indian River Lagoon native plants can be found as well as evidence of per-Columbian residents once lived.