Comprehensive plan for St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge is now complete

The years long process of creating a comprehensive plan for the St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge is now complete.

On Tuesday the US Fish and Wildlife Service posted its Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Wildlife Refuge in the Federal register.

 

The refuge covers nearly 14 thousand acres in Franklin and Gulf Counties which includes two islands and an 86 acre tract on the mainland.

The comprehensive plan describes how the Service intends to manage the refuge over the next 15 years.

The process for creating the plan began in 2009.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says the new comprehensive plan will focus on a greater effort to manage and protect the refuge's native and imperiled species with additional efforts to protect and support nesting areas.

They will conduct evaluations to determine if it is suitable to reestablish populations of the eastern indigo snake, gopher tortoise, and eastern wild turkey on the refuge.

The plan also calls for a focus on controlling exotic, invasive, and nuisance animals and plants with emphasis on aggressively eradicating feral hogs.

Hunting and fishing opportunities will be expanded under the comprehensive plan as will other outdoor recreation activities including wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and environmental education and interpretation.

The entire plan is 239 pages, and you can read all of it on-line.

We’ve posted the link to the comprehensive plan on this story on the news page - just click here.

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