Land Management Review: Seminole State Forest 2019


by Jennifer Ferngren, President of Tarflower Chapter, originally published in The Tarpaper, July 2019. Edited by Valerie Anderson.
Blooming Clasping Warea, Warea amplexifolia, in the Warea Tract of the Seminole State Forest

On a wet and rainy day the group of about met under the pavilion at the Bear Pond trailhead (map) at Seminole State Forest. Patricia Burgos, of the Lake Beautyberry Chapter, was the lead for the Society and Jennifer participated as an observer/trainee. The forest encompasses 27,540 acres of disconnected tracts, including the Warea Tract, making it difficult to review the entire park in one day. The group took off in four-wheel drive vehicles, making occasional stops at areas of interest to discuss management of the habitat types. Highlights of the field review included scrub restoration sites, the threatened Giant orchid (Eulophia ecristata) discovered in an old pasture, endangered and endemic Florida Hasteola (Hasteola robertiorum) site in a hydric hammock, very good invasive species management, and lots of blooming tarflower (Bejaria racemosa)! Overall, the park managers appeared to be following their plan well and appropriately managing the land.

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