1000 Friends of Florida and the Florida Wildlife Federation in cooperation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Wildlife Federation are working on a multi-year project to develop a document addressing wildlife habitat planning, developmental design and best management practices directed at Florida communities and landowners. The project builds upon the Florida’s Wildlife Legacy Initiative and Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS) as developed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It focuses on a habitat approach, looking for ways to translate concerns and identified needs under the “Legacy’s” documents into appropriate actions that can be taken at the local level to keep common species common (as well as helping to avoid reduction or loss of the identified threatened or endangered species).

The end product this effort is aimed at producing a Florida-based document (Summer 2008) targeted to community planners, landscape architects, landowners, developers and active citizens similar to our award winning document, "Protecting Florida's Springs - Land Use Planning Strategies and Best Management Practices" published in 2002.

 Our first draft chapters are found within this site at: 

April 10th, 2007 Technical Advisory Meeting Materials

The current DRAFT chapters include the Introduction and a Chapter addressing wildlife and transportation facility planning. The Florida Department of Transportation is assisting and has drafted "Wildlife and Transportation Chapter for us to consider (entitled, Wildlife Crossing Guidelines". Our (1000 Friends of Florida) draft chapter is entitled, “Transportation030707” and is a bit more expansive than the FDOT version.  Overtime (by April 2008) we plan to merge, adapt and add to make just one Transportation Chapter. 

The project recognizes and will document the opportunities that exist to further wildlife habitat conservation, restoration and habitat connectivity through use of local or inter-local planning strategies, design features and best management practices. Presently there is an unconsolidated mix of these materials available to local governments and landowners. Most existing data and materials are geared to the professional biologist and wildlife conservation professional. The information often tends to be species specific, targeted to threatened or endangered species only and difficult to understand or translate into on-the-ground actions and projects by community planners, landscape architects, landowners and developers. This project will work to help rectify this and produce a document with information useful to local land use planners, practitioners, landowners and others.

The meeting will be held in the first floor conference room (Conference Room A) of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building in Tallahassee. Meeting starts at 9:00 and will go till 3:30pm with and 12 to 1:00 for lunch on your own.  If you have time please drop by and contribute or download the Drafts and provide comment back to us via email: dpennington@1000fof.org