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The District’s Governing Board voted in a new slate of officers Tuesday for the 2019-2020 term. Governing Board members are unpaid, citizen volunteers who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate. The Governing Board sets policy for the District, whose mission is to protect water resources, minimize flood risks, and ensure the public’s water needs…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns now through December on the Edward W. Chance Reserve - Gilley…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday approved a management agreement that will allow the Sumter County Parks and Recreation Department to develop a 70-acre park within the District’s Lake Panasoffkee project area.The agreement will allow the county to construct and maintain a park that will primarily be used for living history events and displays like a Native American village and pioneer settlement structures. There will…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Gilley Creek Tract in Manatee County will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Jan. 9–11.Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 12 permits for these hunts have been sold.The Edward W. Chance Reserve - Gilley Creek Tract is located at 22310 CR 675 in Parrish.This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to control the…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Flying Eagle Nature Center in Citrus County will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Jan. 9-11.Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 20 permits for these hunts have been sold.Flying Eagle Nature Center is located at 12650 East Boy Scout Road in Inverness.This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to control the…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Chito Branch Reserve in Hillsborough County will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Jan. 2-4, 2024.Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 10 permits for these hunts have been sold.Chito Branch Reserve is located at 11254 Browning Road in Lithia.This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to control the damage…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Alston Tract at Upper Hillsborough Preserve in Pasco County will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Jan. 2-4, 2024. Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 11 permits for these hunts have been sold.The Alston Tract is located at 42144 Deems Road in Zephyrhills.This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday agreed to issue a non-exclusive license agreement to the Citrus County Airboat Alliance to Potts Preserve.The agreement will replace a temporary permit and allow the airboat group to continue to use and maintain a remote picnic and camping area located in the northwest portion of the preserve on the North Loop Road for a five-year term with the option to renew the agreement for two additional…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state's wildfire emergency in early spring. That's why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns November through March 2018 at Annuteliga Hammock and Weekiwachee Preserve in Hernando County. Annuteliga Hammock is located east of U.S. Highway 19, north of Centralia Road and…

Governor Jeb Bush recently appointed several members to seven of the eight Basin Boards of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Some of the Basin Board members are reappointments and some of them are newly appointed.Alafia River Basin Board:*Cheryl Johnson of Brandon was reappointed. She is a real estate associate with Tampa Electric Company. Her term began March 29 and ends March 1, 2009.*Jean C. Tort of Ruskin was reappointed to the Alafia…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns July through September at the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve, which includes, the Green Swamp East Tract in Polk,…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns July through September at Annutteliga Hammock and Weekiwachee Preserve in Hernando County. Annutteliga Hammock is…

High school students from Pasco, Hernando and Sumter counties displayed their knowledge for the 2017 Nature Coast Envirothon. The competition is a problem-solving, natural resources education program which tests high school students on their surrounding environment.  Frank Gargano, Katie Carswell, Krista McKean, Gabrielle Kiliman, Kim Dymond, Carolyn Pina and David Sauskojus represented the District this year at Fort Cooper State Park. The Regulation staff…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns June through September at Annuteliga Hammock and Weekiwachee Preserve in Hernando County. Annuteliga Hammock…

From top: (1) The restoration site prior to the cleanup. (2) Raymond Chen and other volunteers show off the coins he found. (3) Using a track hoe, Jason Wadsworth of J. D. Sunny Isle removes exotics. (4) Lisa Henningsen, District staff environmental scientist, and Bill Lewelling, District hydrologist, stand near a dumpster of trash collected during the cleanup. Eighty-five people answered the call for volunteers to help remove mountains of tires, television…

From left: Frederick J. Buckman, Pasco County Parks and Recreation director; Jay B. Starkey, Jr.; Allen Altman, Pasco County School Board chair; Todd Pressman, District Governing Board member; and Lou Kavouras, deputy executive director for District Outreach, Planning, Board Services & Ombudsman, mark the opening of the Starkey Environmental Education Center exhibits with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Representatives from the Pasco County School Board, Pasco…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns February and March at Annuteliga Hammock and Weekiwachee Preserve in Hernando County. Annuteliga Hammock is located east of U.S. Highway 19, north of Centralia Road and south of the county…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will open Phase 2 hog hunt registration Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 9 a.m. The District holds a series of hog hunts on District lands throughout the year to help reduce the feral hog population.What you need to know about Phase 2 hunts:

• Phase 2 will include five hunts that occur January through February 2024.
• Permits are transferable.
• The single top producer on each hunt of Phase 2 will be placed on…

The "Land Management Section of the Southwest Florida Water ManagementDistrict ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/documents/plans/landusemgmt/ (District) will be conducting prescribed burns from November through March on the Starkey, Conner and Cypress Creek Preserves in Pasco County. These properties are located in central and west Pasco County near Land O' Lakes and New Port Richey. Approximately 1,200 acres will be burned in small, manageable units. The District will also…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) will dedicate Phase 1 of the Terra Ceia Ecosystem Restoration Project on Monday, May 12th at 10:30 a.m. in Terra Ceia. Invited speakers include representatives from the District, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Manatee County government. In addition to the program speakers, representatives from the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, Inc. in Anna…