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Chris Tucker
Pine Flatwoods
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Restoration of the pine flatwoods is largely completed at the
386-acre Branan Field. Today, gopher tortoises thrive in
the maturing forest, which is maintained by prescribed burning. Located
about 13 miles southwest of Jacksonville, the area was established in
1989 as a gopher tortoise mitigation preserve through the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s
Mitigation Park Program. Resource
management activities primarily focus on restoring and maintaining critical habitats for listed species. Jennings State
Forest is located one-half mile to the southwest. Because of encroaching
development, the park’s regularly burned pine flatwoods serve as an
oasis for gopher tortoises. Along the three miles of hiking trails,
visitors may spot the tortoises or their burrows, and eastern bluebirds,
wild turkey, white-tailed deer, southeastern kestrels and colorful
wildflowers and carnivorous plants.
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