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The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve in Marion County will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Nov. 19-21. Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 25 permits for this hunt have been sold. Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve is located at 15430 SW Highway 484 in Dunnellon. This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to…

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 Nov. 12-14. 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…

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 Nov. 12-14. 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 Nov. 5-7. 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…

Dedication Celebrates Restoration A real time machine converted land back to a beautiful mosaic of habitats…” That’s what Ann Paul, Tampa Bay Regional Coordinator of Audubon of Florida, calls the completion of a restoration project in southeastern Hillsborough County. Paul and many other special guests joined the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Hillsborough County in a recent celebration of the completion of the Fred & Idah Schultz Preserve.…

Spending more than two hours on a bus in a traffic jam did not dampen the enthusiasm students had for the task they came to complete. These sixth graders from Learning Gate Community School were at the Schultz Preserve, which is located in southeastern Hillsborough County, to plant 5,000 plugs of marsh grass. The planting was coordinated by the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program and Tampa Bay Watch. Learning Gate Community School…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will open Phase 2 hog hunt registration Tuesday, Dec. 18, 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 six hunts that occur in January and…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Hampton Tract, including closed area tracts at Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve in Polk County, will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Nov. 27-29. Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. Permit sales are closed. Hampton Tract Green Swamp…

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 Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. 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…

Babb Will Represent Hillsborough County Michael A. Babb Gov. Rick Scott appointed Michael A. Babb to the District’s Governing Board in June. Babb is from Hillsborough County and is president of Two Rivers Ranch, Inc. in Thonotosassa. He was appointed to succeed Maritza Rovira-Forino and will represent Hillsborough County interests on the Board. His term ends March 1, 2014. A native of Richmond, Va., Babb graduated from Godwin High School in Richmond…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Hampton Tract, including closed area tracts at Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve in Polk County, will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Jan. 31 through Feb. 2. Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 30 permits for this hunt have been sold. The Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve Hampton Tract is located at 14301 Rock Ridge Road in Lakeland. This…

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 on Potts Preserve and the Two Mile Prairie Connector parcel in Citrus County. Potts Preserve is located approximately two miles east of the City of…

From a lazy ride with cool breezes on the Peace River to a cross-eyed possum to a warm hike through pine flatwoods, 120 people learned what Deep Creek Preserve has to offer at the “Get Outside!” event April 10. The event gave nearby residents a chance to learn about the property and encouraged them to use it more. Nearly 90 percent of the people who attended were first-time visitors. Governing Board Vice Chair Hugh Gramling brought family to Deep Creek, and he was…

 Tampa Bypass Canal Structure 160 is one of the 81 water-control structures the District operates in its 16-county area. With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting 14 to 23 named storms this hurricane season, the District’s Operations Department is standing by and ready for what could prove to be a very active summer. “All of the District’s 81 structures are inspected regularly to ensure proper functioning,” said David…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will open Phase 2 hog hunt registration Tuesday, Dec. 13, 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 2023.
• Permits are transferable.
• The single top producer on each hunt of Phase…

Citrus County residents recently benefited from a grass giveaway.  About 50 people left with more than 1,000 peat pots of eelgrass grown as part of the District’s Hunters Cove Revegetation Project.  The District has been growing mats of eelgrass in ponds at the Duke Energy Mariculture Center in Crystal River. After the mats were grown, they were rolled up and transported to Hunters Cove in Crystal River and placed on the bottom in sections, similar to…

Susanna Martinez Tarokh1-800-423-1476, ext. 2008 orCell Phone: (813) 781-9817The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board voted today to exchange properties with Hillsborough County in an effort to work together to protect conservation land. The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve this same effort at their regular meeting on April 20.The District agreed to exchange approximately 205 acres of land with the County for…

District scientists already are seeing benefits from the Hunters Cove Revegetation Pilot Project after just a couple months.  Senior environmental scientists from the District, with assistance from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, conducted fish surveys in January of the fenced areas of eelgrass, which are part of the District’s revegetation project. They found 11 different species of freshwater, estuarine and saltwater fish in the fenced…

The District’s Governing Board elected new officers to the board.  Randall S. Maggard was elected chair of   the Governing Board. Maggard represents Pasco County and is vice president of Sonny’s Discount Appliances Inc. in Dade City. Maggard was appointed to the Board in October 2011.  A native of Dade…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ will hold a night hog hunt on the Flatwoods Park Portion of Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve on February 11-13.Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All of the permits for these hunts have been sold.Flatwoods Park is located at 14302 Morris Bridge Road in Temple Terrace.The hunt is one of a series of hog hunts being held on District lands in an effort…