Caloosahatchee Forestry Center
Lee, Collier, & Hendry Counties
Landowner and Fire Prevention Services
The Caloosahatchee District is a microcosm of Florida. 2000 Census figures showed that 728,475 people lived in the district, though the population swells to over 1 million people during the winter. The district covers 3,982 square miles in Lee, Collier, and Hendry counties with diverse land ownership.
There are large urban areas along the coasts as well as cities inland alongside large government and non-profit landholdings for conservation purposes. Also present are large areas devoted to growing citrus fruit and sugar cane, as well as raising trees, vegetables, and livestock. As additional people move into the district, increasing amounts of rural farm and forest lands are converted into developments and urban areas.
Find out more about the Florida Division of Forestry's projects, programs, and opportunities in Lee, Collier, and Hendry counties...
Landowner Services
A landowner can vary from a homeowner with a ¼ acre lot, to a private forest owner with tens to hundreds of acres, to industrial forest lands that span thousands of acres and many diverse ecosystems. The information contained in a written management plan serves to increase owner understanding of their forests and other lands, and allows them to improve their long-term sustainable management. A natural resource plan will allow a landowner to plan for future activities, such as planting or burning, as well as to obtain maximum benefits from the property.
Information and assistance is available from private consultants and contractors, University of Florida extension offices, and State of Florida agencies and local governments.
Presentations
We always welcome requests to do presentations for groups of all types that want to learn more about forestry in southwest Florida. The following presentations are available and we are always receptive to designing new presentations:
- Forest History of Florida
- Forest Management in Florida
- General Pruning and Tree Survival for Hurricanes
- Urban Forests: Benefits and Why to Plant More Trees
- How to Have a Firewise Home
- Living on the Edge in Florida
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Contact Michael Weston at westonm@doacs.state.fl.us to coordinate having the Florida Division of Forestry come and speak to your group in Southwest Florida. We can also arrange visits to our district office in Fort Myers to conduct presentations in our conference room. |
Fire Prevention
 Smokey Bear and friends on Division of Forestry’s float themed “Be Firewise”. |
Over 70% of fires in Lee, Collier, and Hendry counties are human caused. Ignition sources vary from escaped vegetation and pile burning to escaped campfires and carelessly tossed cigarettes to intentionally caused arson fires. Caloosahatchee District personnel work hard to continue a proactive program of engaging citizens to teach them about the dangers and destructive powers of wildfires. We address dangers attributed to wildland fires toward life safety as well as property safety and damage to the environment. Education is tailored to all age levels and while we prefer visiting you, site visits to our facilities can also be arranged. Together we can reduce the number of man-made fires in Southwest Florida and have fun in the process.
Smokey Bear is over 60 years old, yet his and other fire prevention messages will continue to be pertinent in Southwest Florida as long as there is wildland and forests with unmanaged fuels to burn. Find out about Smokey Bear, Living on the Edge in Florida, Firewise and other fire prevention programs.
Fire Prevention Contacts:
Fire Mitigation
Learn about how to make your home, business, or community less vulnerable to wildfires by contacting our Wildfire Mitigation Specialist:
Gerry LaCavera
Telephone: 239/ 690-3500 Ext. 108
Email: lacaveg@doacs.state.fl.us |
During the past 6 months, the Caloosahatchee Forestry Center witnessed the fruitful efforts of ongoing fuel reduction programs. Large wildfires, in both Lee and Collier County, were slowed as the fires moved into areas of forest where fuel reduction has occurred, thus allowing firefighters to establish containment lines more quickly and safely. Fuel reduction was accomplished by roller chopping, prescribed burning, or mowing. One area off State Road 31 in Lee County exhibited the benefits of fuel reduction almost immediately. Less than 2 months after trails on the property were widened to serve as fire breaks, a wildfire ignited on the property. The wildfire grew to about 8 acres and stopped when it got to the first of the new fuel breaks. Without the fire breaks, the wildfire would most likely have intensely burned through all 80 acres of beautiful pine woods, and damaged many of the 18 structures on the property. Below are before and after pictures of the property.
Fireline created by gyrotrac in pine forest. The fireline was later plowed to bare earth by a tractor-plow. |
Wildfire burned through the same forest. Note the burned palmetto on the left and unburned area on the right side |
The District has been awarded approximately $50,000 from federal grants for this fiscal year. The grant money will be used to hire contractors to create and maintain strategic corridors serving as major fire breaks in Lee and Collier County. Over the past 3 years, the District has spent $37,280 on fuel reduction in interface areas. These activities have lowered the risk for homes valued at over $54 million and have also improved some of the areas for wildlife that live in the forest by creating new growth of bushes and grasses.
 Firewise is an educational program with components on the internet, interactive CD’s, booklets, and brochures. The program describes the characteristics of wildland fires and homes that are both at risk and reasonably safe should a damaging wildfire occur in a community with dangerous, unmanaged fuel characteristics. Additionally, participants can learn in community workshops or independently how to make their homes Firewise through building practices, landscaping, and community design. A wealth of information can be found at firewise.org or visit the Division of Forestry's Firewise web page. |
 Living on the Edge in Florida is a CD based program that explores Firewise principles including information about wildland fires, treatment of fuels around property, retrofitting homes, along with new activities to assess the danger posed by fires to communities similar to ones in southwest Florida, along with a program to retrofit communities having slight to severe risk of damage from a wildfire. |
Hydro-axe with grinder head working on Pine Island to reduce tree debris created by Hurricane Charley in August, 2004. Lanes 30-50 feet are being cleared along selected roads consisting of high risk fuels from tree blowdown caused by Hurricane Charley. |
Current Fire Mitigation Work
- Work is underway on Pine Island to reduce high risk fuel areas made worse by the winds from Hurricane Charley in 2004.
- District and regional personnel also work yearly on fuel management in Lehigh Acres, North Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Immokalee, Golden Gate Estates, and LaBelle. |
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