Survey for invasive plants to help conservation areas. 

We’ll be working in small teams to walk through conservation areas at the Air Force Range looking for invasive plants.

Invasive plants will quickly take over a natural area, reducing habitat for endangered species like the the Florida Scrub-Jay and Gopher Tortoises. Surveying problem areas helps land managers understand the locations and size of the invasive problem, allowing them to eliminate the unwanted plants. 

You’ll be trained in how to identify the plants and record the information.

This is a great way to see the amazing conservation areas at the Air Force Range, and to help protect them! 

Please wear long pants, long sleeves, a hat, and a hiker's water bottle or similar to carry drinking water. We'll have cold drinking water and everything else needed,

Meeting Location:

We'll be meeting at Building 600(Recreation Building) at the Air Force Range. See this link in a zoomable Google Maps, showing the route from US 27 in Avon Park to the Air Force Range Entrance and then to the meeting location: https://goo.gl/maps/9yihbjWxPh92

Driving Directions:

Take US Hwy 27 to Avon Park. At the light at US27 and Main Street turn east on Main Street (CR64) and follow CR 64 for about 10 miles until it ends at the Avon Park AFR security gate. The guard can help with directions to the Outdoor Recreation Office- bldg 600. From the gate go straight ahead past the juvenile facilities. Go left at a "Y" intersection and look for the brown sign that says "Outdoor Recreation and Fish & Wildlife Program - Bldg 600"

The Avon Park Air Force Range’s extensive natural and cultural resources are managed to maintain their unique ecological characteristics and to ensure the long term sustainability of the Range’s military training mission.  The program is one of the most extensive in the Air Force and encompasses protecting wetland and endangered species habitats as well as utilizing these resources for numerous benefits.

More than 54,000 acres of wetlands are found on the APAFR.  These areas are protected to make sure their ecological integrity is not compromised.  The Air Force is currently working with the US Army Corps of Engineers for the restoration of the Kissimmee River, which flows along the eastern boundary of the Range, and with the South Florida Water Management District to improve over 2,500 acres of floodplain of Arbuckle Creek, as a part of the Lake Okeechobee Protection Program.

Please see APAFR's official website for more at http://www.cfrpc.org/jlus-avonparkafr/conservation-and-wetlands-protection-and-restoration/