Forest Legacy Program

Recommended Program Criteria

Sustainable Forestry

FNAI Florida Forever Sustainable Forestry layer

Florida Natural Areas Inventory used 1995 WMD landcover data to identify land available for sustainable forest management, including existing pine (natural or planted) or potential to support pine (e.g. pasture that was historically sandhill). The hardwoods data layer was developed from 1995 landcover data developed by Florida's five water management districts, using the appropriate hardwood and mixed forest land use categories.

Habitat

Fish & Wildlife Habitat

FNAI Habitat Conservation Priorities for Rare Species

FNAI developed occurrence-based habitat for 250 rare species having the greatest conservation need. Habitat quality for each species was ranked and species were assigned a conservation needs weighting factor based on rarity and degree of protection. Weighted habitats were overlaid to determine Habitat Conservation Priorities.

FWC Strategic Habitat Conservation Areas

Strategic Habitat Conservation Areas (SHCA) from Closing the Gaps in Florida’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation System (Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission 1994), habitats from Habitat Conservation Needs of Rare and Imperiled Wildlife in Florida (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 1999), and land acquisition priorities determined by expert working groups for Florida black bear and Florida panther. Habitats for 55 animal species and SHCAs for 4 natural communities were prioritized by Randy Kautz, Office of Environmental Services, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Threatened & Endangered Species

FNAI Element Occurrence Database

FNAI maintains precise locations of occurrences of rare plant and animal species, including all federally listed species.

Natural Communities

FNAI Florida Forever Under-represented Natural Communities layer

FNAI identified 7 under-represented natural community types and ranked them in the following priority order: (1) upland glades and pine rocklands; (2) scrub, sandhill, tropical hardwood hammock, and seepage slope; and, (3) upland hardwood forest. Geographic coverage for these communities was synthesized from one or more of the following data sets: Florida Natural Areas Inventory element occurrence records, 1995 WMD landcover data, 1985-89 FWC Landsat landcover data, and 1992-94 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Archbold Biological Station scrub survey. Pine flatwoods has since been added to this data layer.

Water Related Resources

Watershed Values

FNAI Florida Forever High Quality Watersheds layer

This is a combination of two data layers originally created for the Florida Forever Conservation Needs Assessment: Significant Surface Waters, and Floodplain.

Significant Surface Waters:

Synthesis by Florida Natural Areas Inventory and Dept. of Environmental Protection/Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas of the following data: Outstanding Florida Waters, shellfish harvesting areas (Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services/Division of Aquaculture), seagrass beds (Florida Marine Research Institute), springs, and sub-basins (Dept. of Environmental Protection) that fully meet their designated use (DEP State Water Quality Assessment 305(b) report).

Floodplain:

“Natural floodplain” is defined as wetlands adjacent to natural waterways, as recommended by Kathleen Swanson, DEP/Bureau of Submerged Lands and Environmental Resources. All streams identified by the USGS Digital Line Graph 1:2,000,000 hydrography were used to represent the major riverine systems in Florida. All contiguous wetlands occurring within the drainage sub-basins of these rivers were included as floodplain. Wetlands identified as urban, developed, or agricultural by 1995 WMD landcover data were excluded so that the resulting data layer was “natural floodplain.”

Groundwater Recharge

FNAI Florida Forever Aquifer Recharge layer

Compiled by Florida Natural Areas Inventory from the following sources: Suwannee River WMD (Floridan aquifer in the SRWMD); St. Johns River WMD (Floridan aquifer in the SJRWMD); Florida Geological Survey, 1995 Generalized Prime Recharge for Aquifers of Primary Use, Scale 1:250,000, Open File Map Series 69-82 (Floridan aquifer outside of SRWMD and SJRWMD, sand and gravel aquifer in the western panhandle, surficial aquifer along Atlantic coast north of St. Lucie County); Recharge rates to the intermediate aquifer system in the Southern West-Central Florida Ground-Water Basin, Southwest Florida WMD (intermediate aquifer in SWFWMD); Fairbank, P. and S. Hohner, 1995. Mapping Recharge (Infiltration/Leakage) throughout the South Florida Water Management District, Technical Publication 95-02 (surficial aquifer on east coast south of Indian River County); Dr. Thomas Missimer, Missimer International, Inc. (surficial aquifer in Lee, Collier and Hendry Counties.)

Wetlands

FNAI Florida Forever Functional Wetlands layer

Based on the National Wetlands Inventory. Degree of disturbance was assumed to be an indicator of functionality. Only those wetlands that were considered as natural landcover types by the WMD landcover data were included. Natural wetlands within FNAI Potential Natural Areas (PNA) were given higher priority than those outside PNAs.

Connectivity

Landscapes and Linkages

University of Florida/Office of Greenways & Trails Ecological Greenways
Ecological Greenways of the Statewide Greenways System Planning Project developed by the University of Florida and Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)/Office of Greenways and Trails (OGT). Ecological network results were prioritized by Tom Hoctor, Dept. of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida and approved by the Florida Greenways and Trails Council.
Ecological greenways were prioritized based on the following criteria: (1) Potential importance for maintaining or restoring populations of wide-ranging species (e.g., Florida black bear and Florida panther; (2) importance for maintaining a statewide, connected reserve network from south Florida through the panhandle; (3) redundant landscape linkages that provide other important opportunities to maintain statewide connectivity; and, (4) importance as a riparian corridor to protect water resources, provide functional habitat gradients, and to possibly provide connectivity to areas within other states.

Development Pressure

Forest Conversion

Geoplan Growth Allocation Model

An analysis of anticipated land use conversion patterns from 2005 to 2030, based on buffers of existing developed areas, historic growth patterns, vacant land, and population projections.