Entries For: January 2007
Progress Update
Just a quick note from your friendly intern to update everyone on the progress we’re making. We’ve developed a rough draft of our section on Conservation Subdivisions, which will be edited and updated before it is added to the final manual; you can view a copy of the draft version here. Now I am working on the topic of the Rural Lands Stewardship Program (RLSP) which is described in Section 163.3177(11)(d), F.S. This is a new program that is being implemented on a limited basis throughout the state. Some of the most noteworthy examples of current RLSP areas are Adams Ranch in St. Lucie County, Ave Maria University and town in Collier County, and a possible up and coming program at Babcock Ranch in Charlotte and Lee Counties.
“Rural Lands Stewardship is an incentive-based system that encourages the voluntary preservation and private stewardship of natural resources, retention of rural uses and agriculture, and accommodates economic growth and diversification in a sustainable rural character.”
The RLSP sets up a limited trading program within the stewardship area that provides an owner of valuable natural ecosystems with credits for these amenities, in exchange for giving up specific uses of the land. The more natural resources present on a given parcel, the more credits it is assigned. Within the Overlay Zone, there are Stewardship Sending Areas (SSA’s) and Stewardship Receiving Areas (SRA’s) designated through the process of mapping out the natural resources in the area. Stewardship Sending Areas are those lands that are rich in natural resources to which the credits are assigned. Stewardship Receiving Areas are those areas that have been designated to be best suitable for development. In order to build, developers must purchase a specific number of credits per unit.
I invite you to visit some of the resources that we have posted on our “Tools” page. Additionally, if you have any experience or resources in the RLSP we encourage you to contact us and share your ideas. dpennington@1000fof.org
“Rural Lands Stewardship is an incentive-based system that encourages the voluntary preservation and private stewardship of natural resources, retention of rural uses and agriculture, and accommodates economic growth and diversification in a sustainable rural character.”
The RLSP sets up a limited trading program within the stewardship area that provides an owner of valuable natural ecosystems with credits for these amenities, in exchange for giving up specific uses of the land. The more natural resources present on a given parcel, the more credits it is assigned. Within the Overlay Zone, there are Stewardship Sending Areas (SSA’s) and Stewardship Receiving Areas (SRA’s) designated through the process of mapping out the natural resources in the area. Stewardship Sending Areas are those lands that are rich in natural resources to which the credits are assigned. Stewardship Receiving Areas are those areas that have been designated to be best suitable for development. In order to build, developers must purchase a specific number of credits per unit.
I invite you to visit some of the resources that we have posted on our “Tools” page. Additionally, if you have any experience or resources in the RLSP we encourage you to contact us and share your ideas. dpennington@1000fof.org
Those Mounds of Sand Along the Highway - Southeastern Pocket Gopher
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What may appear as many fire ant mounds along our highways are instead often sand mounds created by a Florida wildlife species known as the Southeastern Pocket Gopher.
While driving from Tampa to Tallahassee the other day (early January 2007) many, many fresh sand mounds were apparent in the higher and dryer areas along the highway. With all the recent rain we have had, the quiet and relatively unseen population of pocket gophers was in overdrive refurbishing their burrows and cavities. The results of their activities are all the little white and tan mounds of sand that many folks (from the distance) think are ant mounds. Don't be fooled!
This gopher is relatively ubiquitous in well-drained soils in Florida (from central Florida northward), Georgia, and Alabama. Though it is seldom seen since it generally stays below the ground, especially during daylight hours. "Their burrowing produces conspicuous aggregates of earthen mounds (Fig. 1). Since the gophers tend not to leave the confines of their burrow system during daylight hours, few people have ever seen this animal. The burrow system (Fig. 2) created by each gopher often exceeds a hundred feet in length. Each system typically has six to twelve mounds associated with it. The mounds are connected to the burrow system by diagonal tubes that are generally plugged with dirt so that no. open entrances are visible above ground (Avise and Larem 1982). Pocket gophers require open grassland or marginal habitats rich in grasses and herbaceous vegetation for their survival. They are probably the most important grazing herbivore of longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystems. Their constant burrowing enhances soil fertility by moving nutrients to the surface that would be otherwise lost via leaching or other factors (Grant & McBrayer, 1981" [The Gopher Project, Distribution Patterns of Insects Inhabiting Burrows of the Southeastern Pocket Gopher: A gateway to data and knowledge coordinated by famu.org. - famu.org is associated with the College of Engineering Sciences, Technology and Agriculture at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.]
For additional information on this rarely seen by relatively common Florida animal you can go to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences site and read the article: "Southeastern Pocket Gopher" by William H. Kern, Jr...
This gopher is relatively ubiquitous in well-drained soils in Florida (from central Florida northward), Georgia, and Alabama. Though it is seldom seen since it generally stays below the ground, especially during daylight hours. "Their burrowing produces conspicuous aggregates of earthen mounds (Fig. 1). Since the gophers tend not to leave the confines of their burrow system during daylight hours, few people have ever seen this animal. The burrow system (Fig. 2) created by each gopher often exceeds a hundred feet in length. Each system typically has six to twelve mounds associated with it. The mounds are connected to the burrow system by diagonal tubes that are generally plugged with dirt so that no. open entrances are visible above ground (Avise and Larem 1982). Pocket gophers require open grassland or marginal habitats rich in grasses and herbaceous vegetation for their survival. They are probably the most important grazing herbivore of longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystems. Their constant burrowing enhances soil fertility by moving nutrients to the surface that would be otherwise lost via leaching or other factors (Grant & McBrayer, 1981" [The Gopher Project, Distribution Patterns of Insects Inhabiting Burrows of the Southeastern Pocket Gopher: A gateway to data and knowledge coordinated by famu.org. - famu.org is associated with the College of Engineering Sciences, Technology and Agriculture at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.]
For additional information on this rarely seen by relatively common Florida animal you can go to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences site and read the article: "Southeastern Pocket Gopher" by William H. Kern, Jr...
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