FWC MEDIA RELEASE:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invites people from Central Florida to roll up their sleeves Sept. 26 for National Public Lands Day. Those who volunteer for light work will help maintain and improve wild lands and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow volunteers.

FWC-related activities will be at Bok Tower Gardens, in Polk County, and the Perry Oldenburg Wildlife and Environmental Area (WEA), in Hernando County. However, National Public Lands Day is a nationwide event coordinated by the National Environmental Education Foundation, with over 130,000 volunteers and 2,000 worksites, so people everywhere can participate. Go to www.publiclandsday.org to search for a location near you.

The FWC’s Perry Oldenburg WEA, near Brooksville, is a habitat acquired to benefit gopher tortoises, which are a threatened species protected by state law. The park features a sandy, rolling landscape dominated by tall longleaf pines. Walking along its 1.5 miles of trails, one might see a gopher tortoise or some of the animals that share its burrow.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, volunteers will be blazing trees for easy trail identification and removing large tree limbs to create better trail access and reduce the chance of fires along the geographically unique Brooksville Ridge.

“By celebrating National Public Lands Day at Perry Oldenburg, we hope volunteers will find a new place to recreate, protect and enjoy nature throughout the year,” said Rebecca Brown, FWC volunteer coordinator.

The day starts at 8 a.m. and continues to 11 a.m. Lunch and drinks will follow at Tom Varn Park in Brooksville.

The Ridge Ranger volunteer group, managed by the FWC, has been logging volunteer hours for the past three months toward its National Public Lands Day celebration. While that work has been up and down the ridge, or spine, of peninsular Florida, from Lakeland to Lake Placid, the Sept. 26 effort will be at Bok Tower Gardens.

“The focus of our volunteers’ work is preserving the ridge’s endangered ecosystem,” said the FWC’s Jim Reed, Ridge Ranger program coordinator.

National Public Lands Day efforts will be no different. Volunteers will remove invasive plants from the Bok Tower Gardens’ Pine Ridge Trail, to help protect native plants on this geographically significant area. He said volunteers will also be working on trail maintenance around the scenic hill. Work begins at 8 a.m.

Girl Scout troops from Polk County, which are regularly involved in the Ridge Rangers’ public service, will pitch in. A cookout follows the work day.

Those who linger through the afternoon can hear the famous carillon bells of the “Singing Tower.”

To sign up to help Perry Oldenburg WEA or get more information, please call Rebecca Brown at 352-754-6722.

To join the FWC’s Ridge Ranger group at Bok Tower Gardens, a national historic landmark, contact Jim Reed, 863-699-3742.

To learn more about Chinsegut, the Ridge Rangers or other FWC volunteer opportunities all year long, visit MyFWC.com/GetInvolved.

For directions and a National Public Lands Day worksite near you, go to www.publiclandsday.org.