Florida's population boom now includes some 500,000 wild hogs whose piggish habits are causing problems for farmers, residents and health officials as well as native flora and fauna.
Source: University Of Florida, Date: June 7, 2005.  

Feral hogs resemble domestic hogs, but are usually leaner with different behaviors to survive in the wild, according to researchers with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Wild hogs have an excellent sense of smell and good hearing, but relatively poor vision. They use variety of vocalizations, including an alarm grunt given to sense an intruder that causes a flight response by the rest of the herd. Go to article

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"We get calls from all corners of Palm Beach County," Hitzig said. "The most common is, 'I've seen a fox. What should I do?' "

The answer is simple.

"Leave them alone, enjoy their beauty and let them do what nature intended: get rid of things you don't want anyway,"

Critical Habitat Designated for Beach Mouse 10/16/2006
About 4,800 acres of land have been set aside in Okaloosa, Walton, Gulf, and Bay counties to serve as critical habitat for the St. Andrews and Choctawhatchee beach mouse.

A complete description of the critical habitat designation has been published in the Federal Register. Copies of the final rule and maps are available by contacting:

Sandra Sneckenberger
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1601 Balboa Avenue
Panama City, FL 32405

For more information call (850) 769-0552, ext. 239. The final rule and maps can also be found on the Fish and Wildlife Service Web site at http://www.fws.gov/panamacity.

"For new transportation facilities, the responsibility to avoid environmental impacts has never been greater because of diminishing natural resources. For existing roadways, we can use our newfound knowledge to not only improve the facility, but also to improve the environment. With the right information, tools, policies and spirit, we have a chance to build a “second” nature, where the first has been adversely impacted. This will only happen if all of the interests involved in transportation planning and development work together toward this common goal." (Gary Evink, from the forward to Second Nature: Improving Transportation Without Putting Nature Second, Defenders of Wildlife)

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is working with the Florida Transportation Commission to identify statewide transportation corridors that will be significantly improved or developed over the next 50 years and has put together maps depicting "Initial Future Corridor Study Areas in addition to maps showing the variety of regional roadways already in planning (go to: http://www.dot.state.fl.us/planning/corridor/default.htm for their reports and be sure to check out the PowerPoint by Bob Romig from October 4-5 Workshop).

ECOLOGICAL DESIGN MANUAL FOR LAKE COUNTY, Prepared by the EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL, DECEMBER 2001. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN PREPARED WITH A GRANT FROM THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION, ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION (FACEE). http://www.ecfrpc.org/Files/Projects/eco_design_manual.pdf

Comment: Good manul with descriptive graphics.  The more I look for material for this project the more I find!  This manual seem to be well done with good graphics that are easy to understand.  I was surprised that I hadn't seen it until today. Worth checking out and if there are other similar documents out there please let us know.

This study helps to quell the debate.  Linkages, corridors, and decreased fragmentation of natural systems encourages more plant species, and specifically more native plant species, persist in areas connected by the corridors than in isolated areas.  This is intuitive, and a good general rule to follow when planning to limit development impacts to a system. Go to University of Florida News, Thursday, August 31, 2006.