The Wildlife Society of Florida

Welcome to the Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society

florida wildlife society

The mission of The Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society is to serve and represent wildlife professionals in promoting wildlife conservation, biodiversity, and resource stewardship.

The Reef Environmental Education Foundation and NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary will host an inaugural series of lionfish derbies starting in September. Divers who remove lionfish from sanctuary waters will be eligible for more than $10,000 in cash and prizes.
For more information and dates and locations ...for the derbies visit the following website: http://www.reef.org/node/4045

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of Dr. Larry Harris on Sunday, August 15 at the Mayo Clinic. In 1998, Dr. Harris became the first recipient of FLTWS’s “Herbert W. Kale, II Award.” He was a leader in the field of wildlife and natural resource conservation, and an inspiration to all who had the privilege of meeting and learning from him. Dr. John Hayes, Department Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at UF, nicely described Dr. Harris and his contributions as follows: [Read More]

Plant Identification Workshops
8/11/2010
The Institute for Regional Conservation is hosting two Plant ID workshops at Castellow Hammock Park, 22301 SW 162nd Ave. Miami, FL 33170. Each workshop is limited to 20 participants. Workshop cost is $350 (you may also take day 1 for $175, but preference will be given to registrants for both days if the workshop fills up, which has been the case each time I’ve offered a workshop). [Read More]

Eric Menges of Archbold Biological Station and Doria Gordon of The Nature Conservancy recently published an article on the effects of using mechanical treatments and herbicides as fire surrogates to manage Florida’s uplands. They reviewed the literature and found that mechanical treatments and herbicide often accelerated vegetation structure changes, but ecological benefits were generally greatest when these treatments were combined with fire. [Read More]

Southeast Partners in Flight is pleased to announce the launch of a new field guide to web technologies for bird conservation. The guide is targeted at manager and administrator alike and provides simple, one-page summaries of a variety of general web tools (e.g., blogs, news feeds) as well as specific web-based applications (e.g., Facebook, eBird). Each summary provides a short overview of each technology, highlights of its strengths and weaknesses, examples of how each technology is being used in bird conservation, and links to sites with more detailed information. Users can download the entire guide or individual summaries as PDFs.

FWC and the Wildlife Foundation of Florida are looking for partners for the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network. The FYCCN seeks to establish a statewide network of youth centers to increase youth participation in traditional outdoor activities. The purpose of the youth centers is to have kids engage in outdoor activities so that they develop a stewardship ethic for conserving America's wildlife. A series of statewide informational meetings will be conducted beginning the week of July 26, 2010. The meeting schedule is posted on the website: http://www.fyccn.org/rfp.aspx.

If you are a naturalist or educator with interests in the Florida environment you may want to check out the new web page devoted to Florida’s Frogs. You can find it by visiting http://ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu/ and then clicking on the Florida’s Frogs link under the Extension heading at the left side of the main page.

The well-publicized invasion of Burmese pythons in the United States is unlikely to spread farther north than south Florida according to a new study by scientists from the National Wildlife Research Center. The infamous invasion of the giant snake to the Everglades and neighboring areas likely occurred from illegally released pets and perhaps accidental escapes during Hurricane Andrew. [Read More]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is Florida's lead state agency in addressing the impacts of climate change on fish and wildlife. The FWC began its work on climate change when it hosted the summit “Florida’s Wildlife: On the front line of climate change," in October 2008.

5/13/2010
A threatened population relies on cattle ranches for survival. Produced by National Geographic videographer Keene
Haywood and LINC president Carlton Ward Jr. Featuring interviews with cattle rancher Cary Lightsey and
biologists Dave Maehr, Hilary Swain and Richard Hilsenbeck. [Click Here to view]

Allison Daniel is the recipient of the 12th annual scholarship for undergraduate students. A senior at the University of Central Florida, Allison is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies, and a Certificate in Environmental Studies. Upon graduation, Allison plans to attend law school at Florida State University, pursuing a degree in environmental law. [Read More]

Hosted by the Society for Range Management and the Florida Chapter of the Wildlife Society. May 20, 2010. Disney Wilderness Preserve, Kissimmee.

This workshop is designed to provide wildlife biologists, land managers and ranchers with basic information on how to develop a prescribed grazing plan and understand wildlife habitat management opportunities associated with prescribed grazing in Florida {Agenda}. Livestock can be managed to maintain or improve vegetation structure and composition primarily to benefit wildlife or to maintain healthy ecological communities. Prescribed grazing, if properly implemented, can be one of the easiest and least expensive tools for maintaining early successional habitats and improved species pastures in good condition. {Registration Information}