FWC - Taking Action - Cooperative Conservation Blueprint

Over the next 50 years, Florida’s human population is expected to double to 36 million residents, according to a recent study sponsored by 1000 Friends of Florida. If we continue to develop as we have in the past, the space needed to accommodate this growth will equal an area larger than the state of Vermont – about 7 million acres. The loss of so much rural, agricultural, and natural lands will have large consequences for fish and wildlife and those who enjoy them. More on the Wildlife 2060 report.

The Cooperative Conservation Blueprint (CCB) is a major multi-partner strategic planning step that Florida’s Wildlife Legacy Initiative is undertaking in light of this study. The CCB process creates an alternate vision of what we want our state to look like by incorporating wildlife habitat needs as well as social and economic priorities. Through our efforts we’ve brought private industry and landowners, government, and conservation organizations into common discussions about the future of Florida on a holistic scale.

Generally, Scrub is dominated by evergreen, or nearly evergreen, oaks and/or Florida rosemary, with or without a pine overstory. A relatively large suite of plant species is endemic to Scrub (e.g., scrub holly and inopina oak); the rarest endemic plant species are restricted to the Lake Wales area of the central ridge (e.g., pygmy fringe tree and scrub plum). Some species of wildlife also are endemic or largely restricted to Scrub habitat (e.g., Florida scrub-jay and sand skink). Several types of Scrub are recognized. Oak Scrub is a hardwood community typically consisting of clumped patches of low growing oaks interspersed with patches of bare, white sand. Pines are uncommon or absent. Oak Scrub is dominated by myrtle oak, Chapman's oak, sand-live oak, inopina oak, scrub holly, scrub plum, scrub hickory, rosemary, scrub palmetto, and saw palmetto. Sand Pine Scrub occurs on former shorelines and islands of ancient seas. This plant community is dominated by an overstory of sand pine and has an understory of myrtle oak, Chapman's oak, sand-live oak, rusty lyonia, wild olive, scrub bay, and scrub holly. Ground cover is usually sparse to absent, especially in mature stands, and rosemary and lichens occur in some open areas. Rosemary Scrub has few or no sand pines or scrub oaks but is dominated by rosemary with scattered lichen cover, scrub hypericum, and paper nailwort. Scrubby Flatwoods, differing from Scrub by having a sparse canopy of slash pine, is addressed in the Natural Pineland chapter. Additionally, many temporary wetlands are found throughout the Scrub landscape and are an integral part of this habitat type, providing breeding and foraging habitat for many wildlife species.

CCB builds on the Century Commission’s Critical Land and Waters Identification Project (CLIP). CLIP uses science and the best available statewide spatial data to show Florida's critical environmental resources in a database that can be used as a decision-support tool for collaborative statewide and regional conservation and land use planning to envision and ensure the sustainability of Florida's green infrastructure and vital ecosystem services.

Using CLIP as the foundation, the CCB effort plans to incorporate social and economic priorities, and create the incentives necessary to make our alternate vision of Florida's future a reality. We are currently working with over 50 partners to craft an integrated conservation system in Florida that increases land use options for private owners AND will ensure healthy natural resources for future generations of Floridians. CCB partners are currently working to develop incentives around land, water and carbon markets. These incentives will play a pivotal role in allowing us to build this effort using a non-regulatory approach that works with people, not against them.

The Cooperative Conservation Blueprint is about creating a bold vision for our state's future, 25-50 years from today. It will be a collaborative effort that integrates environmental, social and economic considerations to enhance the quality of life for future generations of Floridians.