Charles H. Bronson, Commissioner    -    James R. Karels, Director

San Pedro Bay

Maps:
Flight Hazard Map (pdf, 1.2M)
San Pedro Bay (pdf, 5.2M)
 

Perry District

San Pedro Bay Landowners Association

LogoAbout San Pedro Bay

The San Pedro Bay is a hydrologic feature that consists of a large land area covering portions of Taylor, Madison, Lafayette, and Dixie Counties in the Florida Big Bend. At one time this area was open bay water. Changes were implemented in the area during the mid-20th century in order to make portions of it suitable for pulpwood production.

The San Pedro Bay area today consists primarily of a mixture of pine flatwoods (planted and aerial seeded) and isolated forested wetlands with vast areas of organic soil (muck). Due to short pulpwood rotations, fuel management in this area is limited which leads to heavy fuel buildups (as high as 96 tons/acre in some areas). These heavy fuel buildups and muck soils coupled with it's remoteness and limited access make this area notorious for damaging wildfires.

About the San Pedro Bay Landowners Association

Spring Meeting:
10:30 a.m., Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at the Division of Forestry's Perry District Office.

Due to the drought situation and increasing fire danger, the SPBLA Steering Committee has scheduled our regular spring meeting early this year and we are asking each member organization to select one or two representatives to attend.  We are excited to have David Still with the Suwannee River Water Management District as our guest speaker for this meeting and we will also be sharing the latest fire weather forecast and important changes coming soon with the DOF radio communication system.  This will be a fairly brief meeting and refreshments will be provided.

AGENDA
  • Welcome and introduction                      Travis McCoy
  • Fire Weather Update                              John Fish
  • Radio and Communications Update         John Link
  • SPBLA Resource Guide updates             John Fish
  • Upcoming Training Opportunities             Jack Smith
  • Drought Impacts                                    David Still
  • Other Business & Discussion                 Travis McCoy
  • Adjourn

Please RSVP to John Fish by Friday, January 25th with the names of those who will be attending.  On behalf of the Steering Committee, we value your membership and hope that you will be able to attend this important meeting. 

The San Pedro Bay Landowners Association (SPBLA) consists of landowners, land managers, state agencies, county governments, and other interested parties working together as a unified team in forest resource protection through wildfire pre-planning, hazard mitigation, and other wildfire prevention efforts in and around the San Pedro Bay area.

Wildfire Hazard Mitigation

Learn about how to make your home, business, or community less vulnerable to wildfires by contacting a Wildfire Mitigation Specialist.

Concentrated in areas of high risk because of the proximity of homes to areas of high risk wildland fuels, the Perry District uses both equipment and manpower to conduct vegetation management work using prescribed fire and mechanical reduction of fuels, with additional assistance from a regional Division of Forestry Mitigation Team as needed. Often, as areas are developed and in fill occurs, high fire danger areas become low fire danger areas. If you live in an area with dense vegetation surrounding your property, there are steps you can execute to better safeguard you, your family, and your property against severe threat from a wildfire.
Mitigation Work.

Wildfire Prevention

Firewise Communities USAFirewise 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. Learn about Firewise Communities in Florida.

Prescribed Fire. The Forestry Arson Alert Association supplies information to the public about woods arson and acquires funds and distributes rewards for information.

Prescribed Fire

Fire Weather:

A Partnership of Cooperation:

Florida Division of Forestry
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Suwannee River Water Management District
Foley Timber and Land Company
Buckeye, Florida
The Forestry Company
Jowett & Wood, Inc.
F&W Forestry Services
Hancock Forest Management
Article III Trust
Mutual Land Company
TIAA Timberland
Forest Systems
Bailey Brothers & Ocala Manufacturing
T.W. Byrd & Sons
Shaw’s Site Preparation
Bielling Site Preparation
A-1 Development, Inc.
Keen Forest Management
Florida Silviculture & Timberland, LLC
Taylor County Emergency Management
Madison County Emergency Management
Lafayette County Emergency Management
Dixie County Emergency Management
Wildland Fire Services

 

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Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services