Migratory Bird Habitat Conserved on Two Alachua County Prairies

Posted on Nov 25, 2008 - 12:37 AM

In October and December, the US Fish and Wildlife Service provided grants totaling $1 million to Alachua Conservation Trust to protect two wet prairies. ACT purchased a conservation easement over 685 acres of Kanapaha Prairie, southwest of Gainesville.  ACT also added 139 acres of land to Tuscawilla Prairie, located south of Micanopy. 

The funding source for the purchases was the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA).  These funds are used to protect migratory bird habitat, and are granted through a competitive application process.  Donations from private landowners, from The Conservation Fund (a national non-profit group), and matching contributions from Florida Communities Trust and Alachua County Forever made the project possible.

Depending on water levels, these two prairies are important feeding and wintering grounds for Sandhill Cranes, Wood Storks, Bald Eagles, and many species of ducks, herons, shorebirds, and wintering species of native sparrows.

The Kanapaha Prairie conservation easement is not open to the public, except during special bird-watching field trips.  ACT’s 500-acre Tuscawilla Preserve is open to the public from Tuscawilla Road, just south of Micanopy.  An extensive list of bird-watching field trips is available at the Alachua Audubon website: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/aud/