Florida Road Restoration Project Creates More Habitat

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Florida Road Restoration Project Creates More Habitat





EDGEFIELD, S.C. -- With help from the the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), the United States Forest Service (USFS) is restoring many little-used roadways in the Ocala National Forest to their natural state. The project is designed to increase useable habitat for the forest's wildlife.

"The authorized and unauthorized use of hundreds of miles of roads in the Ocala National Forest has harmed the forest's natural wildlife habitat," said Brian Zielinski, NWTF director of conservation operations for the region. "The Forest Service determined which roads to restore to native vegetation, and our Florida volunteers wanted to help restore the habitat that will benefit many species of wildlife, including wild turkeys."

The NWTF's Florida State Chapter has contributed nearly $10,000 from the Hunting Heritage Super Fund and Federation volunteers are planting blueberry bushes in rights of way and hydro-seeding old roadbeds. Restoring vegetation to these openings will increase food sources and ground cover for the forest's wild turkeys, deer and non-game species.

Some roads or paths were created illegally by park users wanting more places to drive four-wheel drive and all-terrain vehicles Zielinski said. Although many of these roads are now closed, forest users still can access the areas by foot or bike travel. In 2009, 130 miles of roads were restored, with hundreds of trees planted. The NWTF's involvement with the project will continue in 2010.

The NWTF's dedicated volunteers work constantly to further the Federation's twofold mission of conserving wild turkeys and preserving our hunting heritage. Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, raised and spent more than $286 million and conserved nearly 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.

Fore more information about the NWTF visit www.nwtf.org or call (800) THE-NWTF. 

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