ACT and Alachua County awarded $2M in Federal funds to conserve wetlands and forests in the Florida Wildlife Corridor

May 2, 2022

Gainesville, Florida – Phase II of ACT’s North Florida Wetland Connector Conservation project was awarded $2 million. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced late last week that ACT will be awarded the funds to assist with ACT’s conservation partner, Alachua County’s acquisition of the Fox Pen Connector tract. Alachua County acquired the 3,940-acre tract mix of wetlands and forest in January 2022 from Weyerhaeuser. This tract is located in eastern Alachua County just south of Hawthorne and is located in the Lochloosa Wildlife Corridor, which is a critical part of the larger Florida Wildlife Corridor.

The funding is part of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act funding, better known as NAWCA. NAWCA is the only federal grant program dedicated to the conservation of wetland habitats for migratory birds. Since 1989, funding has advanced the conservation of wetland habitats and their wildlife in all 50 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico, while engaging more than 6,600 partners in over 3,200 projects. ACT’s $2M award from NAWCA will be matched with over $9M from Alachua County that was expended to acquire this critical wildlife corridor tract.

ACT was awarded $1M in NAWCA funds last year to help with the acquisition of Orange Lake Overlook in Marion County and other parcels around Orange Lake. ACT and Alachua County and their partners have had great success with NAWCA funding awards in the past. These successes include Barr Hammock, Tuscawilla, Kanapaha Prairie, and Little Orange Creek Preserves.

This current project is the second of a multi-phase effort to protect critical habitat for migratory birds and other wetland-dependent species in north central Florida through fee-simple purchases.

This phase will preserve a massive expanse of wetlands and adjacent uplands in eastern Alachua County, with the ultimate goal of preserving and connecting numerous small yet important wetlands throughout the region. As one of the nation’s fastest growing states, Florida’s rapid conversion of natural areas to agricultural, urban, and other land uses has caused the loss and degradation of critical habitat for breeding, wintering, and migrating birds including waterfowl, waterbirds, and neotropical migrants. Human encroachment and disturbance also threaten to adversely impact birds’ ability to successfully breed, forage, and rest in what areas remain.

“Being able to use ACT’s grant writing expertise to leverage much needed Federal dollars with Alachua County’s Wild Spaces & Public Places sale tax dollars for conservation is a major victory for our community, region and wildlife,” said ACT’s Executive Director Tom Kay. “We are grateful for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Alachua County and ACT supporters for making conservation happen. This is a testament to great partnership and what a community can achieve if it invests locally in conservation. This is why the Lochloosa Wildlife Corridor has excellent odds of being completed in this coming decade.”

To read more about the projects funded in this round of NAWCA funding visit:

https://fws.gov/press-release/2022-04/95-million-awarded-wetland-conservation-projects

Banner photo by Kim Davidson. Select prints are available at kimdavidsonphotography.com though additional photos are available upon request. All proceeds from the sale of these prints go to further ACT's conservation projects.