Help plan the future of Dinner Island Ranch Wildlife Management Area

Post date: Jun 20, 2015 3:5:59 PM

A 10-year plan for the Dinner Island Ranch Wildlife Management Area will be presented at a Tuesday, June 30, public hearing in Hendry County. People are invited to the 7 p.m. public hearing at the John Boy Auditorium, 1200 South W.C. Owen Ave. in Clewiston.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) staff will present the draft land management plan for the FWC-managed Dinner Island Ranch WMA, and people will be encouraged to comment and ask questions. For more information on the upcoming local public hearing, go to MyFWC.com/Conservation and select “Terrestrial Programs” then “Management Plans.”

Dinner Island Ranch WMA, encompassing almost 22,000 acres near Lake Okeechobee, gives its visitors a sense of the wide open spaces of south Florida that once were plentiful. Outdoor recreation opportunities include hiking, camping, hunting, wildlife viewing, biking and horseback riding – and it’s a great place for a scenic drive.

“Dinner Island Ranch WMA was purchased to conserve and restore cultural resources, landscapes, forest, water resources, biological diversity and other elements important to ecosystem functions,” said Peter Vandeburgt, FWC land conservation planner. “This draft plan will specify how we intend to do that.”

All lands purchased with public funds must have a management plan that ensures the property will be managed in a manner consistent with the intended purposes of the purchase. Hunting and fishing regulations are not included in this plan or meeting; those are addressed through a separate public process.

To obtain a copy of the draft land management prospectus for Dinner Island Ranch WMA, call Dylan Imlah at 850-487-7063 or email Dylan.Imlah@MyFWC.com.

For more information and background on management plans and their goals, visit MyFWC.com/Conservation and select “Terrestrial Conservation Programs” then “Management Plans.” For more on the Dinner Island Ranch WMA, go to MyFWC.com and select “Wildlife Viewing” then “Wildlife Management Areas.”