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The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Alston Tract, which is part of the Upper Hillsborough Tract, will be reserved Dec. 1-3 for an event that allows disabled hunters the opportunity to experience the outdoors. The property will be closed to the public during this time.The Alston Tract is located east of Zephyrhills in Pasco and Polk Counties. The entrance is off S.R. 39.The hunt is a joint effort between the District and the National Wild Turkey Federation/…

Eighteen Polk County teachers are among the record number of educators who applied for and received Splash! mini-grants through the Southwest Florida Water Management District.This year the District awarded Splash! mini-grants to 209 educators totaling more than $413,000. That’s 72 more grant recipients than last year.Mary Margaret Hull, lead communications coordinator, attributes the increase in awardees to an increase in promotion among the District’s school…

Winning runners earn gator heads for running fast through the swamp. The race course wound through, not just near, the water. Right: Louis Rufo crosses the finish line for his team, Riot. Some people like to camp on District land, some like to ride horses, some like to hike and some like to fish. Then there are those people who like to run 50 miles through river and swamp in the dead of winter. More than 300 of those running-through-the-river types invaded the…

h2. Learn About Polk County's Natural Resources at Circle B Bar ReservePolk county residents and families are invited to attend the 2011 Water, Wings & Wild Things Nature Fest at "Circle B Bar Reserve(Circle B Bar Reserve)":/recreation/areas/circlebbarreserve.html. The free, annual event takes place Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.The nature festival lets families learn about local natural resources and nature-based recreational opportunities. Presentations,…

Three Highlands County projects expected to reach up to 2,200 people were awarded Community Education Grants from the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://watermatters.org. These grants offer up to $5,000 to help fund projects that provide communities an opportunity to learn about water resources. This year the District awarded "35 grants Districtwide(2010 Community Education Grant Projects)":http://www.swfwmd.…

A project funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Aqua Utilities Florida, Inc. will bring reclaimed water to residents and agriculture in the eastern portion of Lakewood Ranch, a development in Manatee and Sarasota counties.The project includes the design and construction of more than 24,000 linear feet of reclaimed water transmission lines and a pump station.This project is expected to provide approximately 1.15 million gallons per day (mgd) of…

Governor Charlie Crist recently reappointed one member and appointed one new member to the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.*Judith C. “Judy” Whitehead of Brooksville was reappointed. She was first appointed to the Governing Board in March 2003. Whitehead is the current Governing Board vice chair and chair ex officio of the District’s Coastal Rivers Basin Board. Her term begins April 5, 2007 and ends March 1, 2011. She…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District's":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) Public Affairs Bureau was recently recognized by both the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) and the Public Relations Society of America's Sunshine District (PRSA) by receiving some of the organizations' top awards of excellence in public relations. The Restoring Our Springs! Campaign won an Award of Distinction from the FPRA and a statewide Radiance Award from the PRSA.…

Something special happened this November in the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve. Thirteen of fourteen disabled hunters participating in a deer/hog hunt were successful. The event was organized by the National Wild Turkey Federation/Wheelin’ Sportsmen on land managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.The hunters harvested ten deer and seven wild hogs during the two-day event. One young man who battles the effects of cerebral palsy was successful in…

Nine Pasco County teachers were awarded Splash! school grants through the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/Mary Margaret Hull, District lead communications coordinator, attributes the effectiveness of the grant program in Pasco County to the strong partnership with Pasco County Schools. Laura Hill, K–12 science supervisor for Pasco County Schools, serves as the District's liaison to teachers and helped get the word…

Florida native and citrus grower Ronald E. Oakley took his oath of office during the July Board meeting to serve on the Governing Board. Gov. Charlie Crist appointed the Zephyrhills resident to succeed Talmadge G. “Jerry” Rice. Oakley’s term ends March 1, 2011. Oakley is the executive vice president of Oakley Groves, Inc. in Lake Wales. He believes his experience as a citrus grower and rancher will give him insight into managing the District’s water resources,…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ will be conducting "controlled, prescribed burns" during August on the District's "Weekiwachee Preserve(Weekiwachee Preserve)":/recreation/areas/weekiwachee.html in Hernando County.Weekiwachee Preserve is located one mile west of Spring Hill. Approximately 360 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ will be conducting "controlled, prescribed burns" during August on the District's "Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve(Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve)":/recreation/areas/halpata.html in Marion County.Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve is located five miles east of Dunnellon. Approximately 1,535 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ will be conducting "controlled, prescribed burns" during August on the District's "Conner Preserve(Conner Preserve)":/recreation/areas/conner.html in Pasco County.Conner Preserve is located four miles north of Land O' Lakes. Approximately 830 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by…

One of the District’s agricultural cooperative funding programs may have a positive impact on the health of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. A group of Australian sugar cane growers interested in improving water quality recently traveled to Sarasota to meet with staff to discuss the District’s Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems (FARMS) Program. A sugar cane industry representative discovered the program while surfing the Internet. “I have to admit…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board(Governing Board)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/about/governingboard on Monday set a March 2, 2010, deadline for well owners to file claims for damage suffered during the Jan. 3-13, 2010 freeze. Most eastern Hillsborough County residents whose wells were damaged when aquifer levels dropped have already called the "District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://watermatters.org to "report their…

Won-Seok Kim, University of South Florida graduate student, second from left; Jeff Cunningham, USF assistant professor, third from left; and Anthony Andrade, District senior water conservation analyst, fourth from left, meet with the South Korean delegation at the USF Marshall Student Center. A delegation from the Environmental Research Institute of South Korea, the country’s equivalent of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, toured Pinellas County, Dunedin…

table(webalert). |Who:|Approximately 100 children from the "Boys & Girls Club of Hernando County(Hernando Boys & Girls Club)":http://www.bgchernando.org/ and "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us staff||*What:*|The District is coordinating a field trip at the "Serenova Tract(Serenova Tract)":/recreation/areas/starkey-serenova.html for children who attend the Boys & Girls Club of…

Six Highlands County teachers were awarded Splash! school grants through the Southwest Florida Water Management District.Mary Margaret Hull, District lead communications coordinator, attributes the effectiveness of the grant program in Highlands County to the strong partnership with Highlands County Schools. Dorothea Strickland, Highlands County science curriculum specialist, serves as the District's liaison to teachers and helped get the word out."The District recognizes…

"Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ land managers plan to hold a series of hog hunts on District land this fall and winter to help reduce the wild hog population.Beginning at 9 a.m. on Oct. 11, prospective hunters can purchase permits for these hunts on the District's web site at "WaterMatters.org/hoghunts/(Feral Hog Hunts)":/hoghunts. Permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis through 5 p.m. on Oct…