Picayune Strand State Forest

Picayune Strand State Forest
Map of Florida
Location	Collier County, Florida
Nearest city	Naples, Florida
Area	78,000 acres (320 km²)^[1]

Picayune Strand State Forest is one of 37 state forests in Florida managed by the Florida Forest Service. The 78,000-acre forest consists primarily of cypress swamps, wet pine flatwoods and wet prairies.

Picayune Strand State Forest is located in southwest Florida in western Collier County, approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of the city of Naples. The forest can be accessed via Everglades Boulevard from the north, Jane's Scenic Drive from the east, and Sabal Palm Road from the west.^[2] The Picayune Strand State Forest Field Office is located at 2121 52nd Avenue SE, west of Everglades Boulevard S. The Forest is divided into two tracts; the South Golden Gate Estates Tract to the east and the Belle Meade Tract to the west.

History

Picayune Strand was logged for cypress trees in the 1940s and 1950s. After logging was complete, the land was purchased by developers and drained for the construction of what was intended to become the largest subdivision in the world. This area became the setting for the infamous “swampland in Florida” scam. Potential buyers were shown the land from the air during the dry season, and many lots were sold to people who never saw their land from the ground. Few homes were built in the subdivision named “Golden Gate Estates” due to the lack of electricity and high summer water levels. By the 1970s, it was obvious that the extensive canal system was having an adverse effect on the natural communities of Picayune Strand and associated ecosystems, including Faka-Union Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands area. Soon after, state and federal agencies identified the need to restore the hydrology of Picayune Strand and began to develop a plan to achieve this goal. The first parcels of land in Picayune Strand were purchased in 1985 using Conservation and Recreation Lands (CARL) funds under the Save Our Everglades program. This was an incredibly complex undertaking as it involved acquiring land from 17,000 landowners. In 1998, the federal government gave $25 million in aid to the state of Florida to help bring the land acquisitions to a completion. The Picayune Strand State Forest was officially named in May 1995.

Ecological Significance and Need for Restoration

The Picayune Strand is critical to the health of the Everglades ecosystem. Historically, the wetlands that composed the Strand contributed to groundwater recharge and regulated the flow of freshwater through the landscape and into the estuaries to the south. The canal system established in the 1970s altered the hydrology of the Strand and surrounding areas by draining the wetlands and increasing freshwater point source discharges into the estuaries. Consequently, former wetlands were invaded by upland and non-native vegetation and the delicate balance of fresh and saltwater in the estuaries was disrupted. The result was an extensive loss of wildlife habitat. Restoration of Picayune Strand was planned as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

Natural features

Picayune Strand State Forest is in the heart of an ecosystem called the Big Cypress Basin. The majority of this hydric forest is under water during the wet season. The forest is composed of cypress swamps, pine flatwoods and wet prairies in the lowlands and subtropical hardwood hammock in the uplands. The northern section of the Belle Meade Tract contains many second growth South Florida Slash Pine, with some remnant trees being over 100 years old.

Picayune Strand State Forest provides habitat for many species of wildlife, including many that are threatened or endangered. The following is only a partial list of the species that can be found on the Forest: Florida panther, Red-cockaded woodpecker, American black bear, white-tailed deer, Osceola turkey, Bald eagle, Wood stork, Big Cypress fox squirrel, and swallow-tailed kite. Although Florida panthers are rarely observed, visitors often find panther tracks.

Recreation

Picayune Strand State Forest offers many recreational opportunities. A 22-mile (35 km) equestrian trail winds across the Belle Meade Tract from Miller Boulevard to Benfield Road. All horses on the Forest must have current negative Coggins Test results, proof of which is to be carried by each rider. A primitive equestrian campground equipped with paddocks is located next to the Field Office and trailhead, and an additional oak-shaded primitive campsite is located near the middle of the trail.

In addition, the four-mile Sabal Palm Trail is open to hikers and cyclists and can be easily accessed from Sabal Palm Road. The Sabal Palm Trail is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail. Visitors should note that trails are typically flooded during the wet season.

Off-highway vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), off-highway motorcycles and swamp buggies are prohibited.

All Forest visitors are required to pay a $2.00 day use fee. Fees are paid using supplied envelopes at iron ranger stations located throughout the Forest.

References

↑ "Picayune Strand State Forest". Florida Forest Service.
↑ The Florida Division of Forestry

"Picayune Strand State Forest". Florida Forest Service.

External links

Picayune Strand State Forest (Florida Forest Service)
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers project site

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Three Rivers Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Other

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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