The most efficient and effective tool in our land managers toolbox is the match. Nearly all of the native plant community types in Florida are pyrogenic communities (evolved with fire) and they need to burn. At DuPuis and our East Coast Region, all of the SFWMD’s properties are on a 3-year burn rotation. That means we need to burn over 18,000 acres/year, and the best way to burn large areas is by helicopter. We conduct many of our burns from the air and use an aerial ignition device to drop fireballs from the sky.
Land manager, Justin Nolte's favorite program is the Upland ecosystem restoration. This process identifies a degraded parcel and uses land management techniques such as prescribed fire, roller chopping, exotic control and revegetation to restore natural habitats. Restoration is very challenging and requires a lot of planning, coordination, implementation time and money. However, it is extremely rewarding to see restoration results when plant communities rebound and wildlife returns to degraded habitats.
