The 2015 Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition is set to begin at the northern area of the headwaters of the Everglades on the banks of Lake Hatchineha in Polk County, Florida. Two returning expedition members, Carlton Ward, Jr. and Mallory Dimmitt will start on Lake Hatchineha, which served as a midway point for the expedition in 2012 residing just south of Kissimmee and I-4.
The targeted area for the expedition is a footprint of a major conservation project still awaiting funding. The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a project that will protect up to 150,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Central Florida in 2010, and the area will extend from Orlando south to Lake Okeechobee. The government is to create a new National Wildlife Refuge, as well as augment and buffer the refuge, and form a public-private partnerships with the area ranchers in the form of conservation easements. It was named Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area, and it stands to fill a gap in the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
The 2012 Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition was inspired by the creation of the new refuge and the opportunity to build grassroots support for the conservation in the often overlooked area of the Everglades System. The 2012 Expedition powered through the opportunity of the area of the proposed new refuge, crossing six properties where willing sellers representing thousands of acres were seeking to sell easements, which would prevent their land from being full developed.
To learn more about Florida Wildlife, the conservation of the Florida Everglades, and Orlando airboat rides, read through the blog on Wild Florida.
