Florida Native Plant Society Blog

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has scheduled a meeting of the Southwest-Central Florida Connector Task Force for 10:00-4:00 on Wednesday, March 4, at the Bert Harris Agricultural Center Auditorium (4509 George Blvd) in Sebring. If you have an opinion about this massive project, let them hear it from you in person, during the public comment period that starts at 4:00 pm. If you aren’t familiar with the project, you can review the basics in a report we published in Sabal minor 21(6) or at the M-CORES website . We have provided some possible talking points below. The impacts of a project like the Southwest-Central Florida Connector M-CORES toll road would be so massive and broad in scope, they extend far beyond our FNPS mission to speak for native plant conservation. If you choose to comment on the project, whether in person at the Task Force meeting or by email to FDOT.Listens@dot.state.fl.us , comment on something specific you care about. Public sentiment is aga...

As a member of the No Roads to Ruin coalition and advocates for the native plants and native plant communities of Florida, we are concerned about the M-CORES toll roads. Prescribed fire is the best management tool for most of Florida's native plant communities (or ecosystems). High speed roadways and prescribed fire are largely incompatible. To assess the impacts that these new roads would have, our Policy and Legislation Chair Eugene Kelly analyzed how and where prescribed fire is used on land within these three proposed toll road corridors. A Summary of Prescribed Fire Usage and Needs Across the M-CORES Southwest-Central Florida Connector Study Area A Summary of Prescribed Fire Usage and Needs Across the M-CORES Suncoast Connector Study Area A Summary of Prescribed Fire Usage and Needs Across the M-CORES Northern Turnpike Connector Study Area