Good news in Florida

Several land conservation efforts have recently seen success.

The Highlands County Expansion includes the protection of 1,500 acres that will be added to the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which is a vital roaming area for the endangered Florida panther. The corridor is 18 million acres of protected lands, including ranches and farms from the Georgia and Alabama borders all the way to the Everglades. Highland County is due east of Sarasota, in the middle of the state. 

The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program preserved over 9,100 acres of the Peace River Valley in southwest and central Florida from urban sprawl. Local landowners have agreed with the state to voluntarily give up their rights to develop their land. This safeguards the rural, farming, and agricultural way of life. These rural lands are crucial for local agricultural production and for preserving more open space for Florida’s wildlife.

In Putnam County, the Caravelle Ranch Wildlife Management Area acquired a critical 5 acres of private land, which will now be permanently conserved, providing wildlife connectivity and protecting local watersheds. This is important in preserving local water quality. 

Good news in the marine realm.

Marine experts from the University of South Florida have confirmed that the Atlantic sargassum seaweed reached its peak and will now be declining. This avoided another all-time record amount on tropical beaches this year. When sargassum weed piles up on beaches, it can ruin beachgoers' experience. The peak has passed; sargassum weed amounts will now decline in 2026. Unfortunately, sargassum weed is like a sponge and picks up heavy metals and arsenic from the oceans and should be avoided on the beach.

Wildlife officials reported the local oyster restoration project in the Apalachicola Bay is showing good results. This initiative aims to nurse the historic bay in the Florida Panhandle back to health. Previously, the EPA had funded projects to upgrade local sewage and stormwater infrastructure. Following that effort, the FWC and academic partners have acquired a large amount of funding to restore the Apalachicola’s collapsed oyster reefs. This will be a major contribution to continuing water quality improvements. Oysters filter and clean the waters in the bay, so healthy oyster reefs are crucial for a healthy marine ecosystem.

In the Florida Keys, an ongoing effort is being made to restore Florida’s coral reefs. Scientists would like to see the live coral cover improve from 2% to 25%. Targeting 7 vital sites, NOAA Fisheries and partners are continuing a massive multi-decade project called Mission Iconic Reefs.

The Florida Aquarium and other facilities are producing captive-spawned baby corals to regional nurseries for future outplanting in the Keys. Over 250,000 of these small corals have been successfully returned to the ocean. Scientists are actively using selective breeding and assisted evolution to produce heat-resistant corals that withstand rising global ocean temperatures and corals resistant to a destructive tissue-loss disease currently affecting coral reefs in the Keys.

Multi-agency efforts under NOAA continue to scale up outplants at critical sites, such as Eastern Dry Rocks off Key West, to rebuild structural reef habitats. Teams of scientists and conservationists also recently raced to the Keys to catch the annual broadcast spawning of fertilized elkhorn and staghorn corals, which are vulnerable, giving these corals a head start in the lab and then re-releasing them. 

Florida Python Challenge, July 10 through July 19, 2026, was a success!

In the Florida Everglades, non-native invasive Burmese pythons are consuming more than their share of prey, putting the ecosystem at risk. This year's Python Challenge was a great success; 907 people registered from 30 states to help capture these massive snakes. Nearly 300 pythons were removed from the Everglades. This is good news! Tom Rahill captured 96 snakes, becoming the overall winner and bringing home a $10,000 prize. The largest snakes caught were 16-17 feet in length. 

It takes hard work and dedicated individuals to preserve and protect our natural environment. If you are up for the challenge, get involved!  

Florida Wildlife Corridor 

North Florida Land Trust

Florida Wildlife Federation 

Python Elimination Program 

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