Our Projects

It is our goal to assist with the management of forested areas for forest health, wood and/or fiber, water, recreation, aesthetics, wildlife habitat and plant biodiversity by carefully  donating  the growth and  planting of Slash Pine Saplings under the care of the State Of Florida which contains over 1,054,000 acres in 35 state forestss.

Through a working knowledge of local forest land ecology and native plant communities, combined we are able to identify forest health concerns and develop specific management guidelines for perpetuating a sustainable forest ecosystem. 

Guidelines are based on a forest prescription that addresses the land objectives as well as ecological parameters such as forest types, soil types, past harvest history, natural community types and successional trends. Planners are required to identify and develop specific management guidelines for habitat protection areas, including riparian buffers, critical habitats and those with special needs, as outlined in the Florida Division of Forestry’s Silviculture Best Management Practices (BMPs).

Practices such as prescribed forestry, tree/shrub preparation, tree/shrub establishment, pest management and prescribed burning are used to obtain optimal forest communities in Florida. For vegetation management, we recommend only high quality and adapted species in the plant material establishment specifications and native trees wherever possible. When planning for wildlife, we recommend using tree species which best meet local wildlife needs and, when practical, leave snags (i.e., dead standing trees) and cavity trees. When planning for forest restoration, composition of species selected for planting or those favored for natural regeneration need to be native to the site and create a successional stage or state that can progress to the desired forest plant community. The density and distribution of species need to be similar to predominant species in reference stand or appropriate technical reference. To restore diverse communities for increased habitat value, at least four indigenous trees and four indigenous shrub species are needed.

Our Projects For the Future

Scrub Oak Restoratoin The eco-environment of the Scrub Oak Land in Florida is the backbone of most animal life in Florida and is being deprived of fulfilling its full potential due to non-ecological impaction of non-trees, non-plants and non-people. Our goal is to enhance the acregreage, the planting of the proper plants under State Management and return this ancient forest to its required participation in Florida's health.   Florida scrubs typically are dominated by one or more of four oak species. These oaks are not trees, but shrubs, rarely exceeding 8' in height. Structurally, the scrub oaks look similar, but can be identified by their leaves. Sand live oak (Quercus geminata), left, has oblong, evergreen leaves, about 2-3" long, with curled-under edges and pubescence (hairiness) beneath. Myrtle oak (Q. myrtifolia), right, has shiny, rounded evergreen leaves, about 2" long, that are glabrous (without hairs) beneath. (Use the tip of your tongue to feel for pubescence on leaves.) Chapman's oak (Q. chapmanii), left, has larger, deciduous leaves with various irregular shapes and irregular pubescence. These three oaks are found in nearly all Florida scrubs. A fourth species, inopina oak (Q. inopina), right, occurs in scrubs in central Florida only, and usually replaces myrtle oak. The leaves of inopina oak are curled and directed upward. Periodically these bushy oaks are burned to the ground only to resprout from underground root systems that may actually be more massive than the above ground parts. The longer a scrub goes without burning, the larger the scrub oaks become, and if a scrub is prevented from burning for more that 40-70 years they (especially sand live oak) will become small trees. The acorns of the scrub oaks supply food for scrub jays and many other animals. The scrub oaks are the "backbone" of the Florida scrub.