Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
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Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
The Lake Wales Ridge State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The forest is located on the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida, within Polk County near Frostproof. The state forest consists of two large tracts, separated by 2 miles. The Walk in Water Tract, adjoining Lake Weohyakapka (Lake Walk in Water), contains the largest contiguous area of ridge sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and be ... in public ownership. The Arbuckle Tract, adjoining Lake Arbuckle to the south, is a good example of an ancient scrub ecosystem. Both tracts are open to the public and include hiking trails. Both tracts provide protected habitat for plants species endemic to Florida scrub. References External links Lake Wales Ridge State Forest: Florida Division of Forestry- FDACSi ...
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Polk County, Florida
Polk County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. This MSA is the 81st-most populous metropolitan statistical area and the 89th-most populous primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012. The center of population of Florida is located in Polk County, near the city of Lake Wales. Polk County is home to one public university, one state college, and four private universities. History Early history The first people to inhabit the area now called Polk County were the Paleoindians who arrived in Florida at least 12,000 years ago, late in the last ice age. With large amounts of water locked up in continental ice caps, the sea level was more than lower than at present. The Florida peninsula was twice as wide as it is today, and Flor ...
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Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Spanning , Florida ranks 22nd in area among the 50 states, and with a population of over 21 million, it is the third-most populous. The state capital is Tallahassee, and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida and the ninth-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville. Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first k ...
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Frostproof, Florida
Frostproof is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The city is located in southern Polk County on the Lake Wales Ridge. The population was 2,992 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 3,273. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The settlement in the area now known as Frostproof was established in 1850. This settlement, like many in central Florida at the time, was set up as a fort and was called Fort Clinch. The fort was named after the local Lake Clinch which was, in turn, named after the Seminole War commander Duncan Lamont Clinch. This settlement was abandoned only months later. By the 1880s, Frostproof began to see its first permanent settlers as homesteaders were attracted to the abundant hunting in the area which included much deer and turkey, as well as ample fishing. The name was a marketing ploy to convince potential landowners that the town has never had, and nev ...
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Florida Department Of Environmental Protection
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is the Florida government agency responsible for environmental protection. History By the mid-1960s, when the federal government was becoming increasingly involved in initiatives designed to protect the country's environmental interests, Florida had four agencies involved with environmental protection: the Florida Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (state land, including shores, beaches, wetlands, and bodies of water), the Department of Health (sewage treatment, drinking water quality), Florida Department of Natural Resources (state parks and recreation areas), and Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (hunting and fishing). In the late 1960s, the Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control was created under Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. Most staff were being taken from the Bureau of Sanitary Engineering of the state Department of Health. The name of the new agency was simplified to the Flo ...
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United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ...
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Lake Wales Ridge
The Lake Wales Ridge, sometimes referred to as the Mid-Florida Ridge,Eastern States Archaeological Federation. ''Archaeology of Eastern North America, Volume 11'', p. 54 is a sand ridge running for about 150 miles south to north in Central Florida. Clearly viewable from satellite, the white sands of the ridge are located in Highlands County and Polk County, and also extend north into Osceola, Orange, and Lake Counties. It is named for the city of Lake Wales, roughly at the midpoint of the ridge. The highest point of the ridge is Sugarloaf Mountain, which at is also the highest natural point in peninsular Florida. (The highest point of land, at , is a manmade mining tank west of Bartow.) Iron Mountain, the location of Bok Tower, marks another well known high point on the ridge, attaining an elevation of . A northern unconnected extension of the Lake Wales Ridge exists in western Putnam County near the town of Grandin. Origins Florida's ancient sand islands stretch for over 100 ...
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Central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Greater Orlando area, though in recent times the Tampa Bay area has often been described as its own region, with "Central Florida" becoming more synonymous with the Orlando area (most notably, this is what the local news channels in each respective metro area call their region). It is one of Florida's three directional regions, along with North Florida and South Florida. Under the previously mentioned "usual" definition, it includes the following counties: Brevard, Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas. Polk, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia though Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, and maybe Manatee are also considered to be the Tampa Bay area. Geography Like many ...
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Lake Weohyakapka
Lake Weohyakapka is a lake in Polk County, Florida, in the United States. The name is derived from the Creek language, most likely meaning "walking on water". The turpentine settlement of Walinwa (Walk In Water) was once located by the lake and was connected to other logging, sawmill, and turpentine industry towns by the Kissimmee River Railway, a Seaboard Air Line Railway subsidiary operated by the then nationalized railroad operator (United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...). Walk-in-the-Water Wildlife Management Area (WMA) abuts one part of the shore. References Lakes of Polk County, Florida Lakes of Florida {{PolkCountyFL-geo-stub ...
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Sandhill
A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and become more oak dominated. Entisols are the typical sandhill soil, deep well-drained and nutrient poor. In Florida, sandhills receive cm of rainfall per year, just like the more hydric ecosystems surrounding them. Sandhills are xeric because they have poor water holding capacity. Dominant vegetation includes longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris''), American turkey oak (''Quercus laevis''), and wiregrass (''Aristida stricta''). A number of rare animals are typical of this habitat including the gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus''), red-cockaded woodpecker (''Picoides borealis''), Sherman's fox squirrel ('' Sciurus niger shermani''), and striped newt (''Notophthalmus perstriatus''). Invasive species that are a problem on sandhills include Co ...
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Florida Scrub
Florida sand pine scrub is an endangered subtropical forest ecoregion found throughout Florida in the United States. It is found on coastal and inland sand ridges and is characterized by an evergreen xeromorphic plant community dominated by shrubs and dwarf oaks. Because the low-nutrient sandy soils do not retain moisture, the ecosystem is effectively an arid one. Wildfires infrequently occur in the Florida scrub. Most of the annual rainfall (about ) falls in summer. It is endangered by residential, commercial and agricultural development, with the largest remaining block in and around the Ocala National Forest. Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge also holds a high proportion of remaining scrub habitat, while the Archbold Biological Station near Lake Placid contains about of scrub habitat and sponsors biological research on it. Plant communities There is a high level of endemism in the flora and fauna, including an estimated 40 species of plants, 4 vertebrates and at least ...
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Florida State Forests
Florida's state forests are state forests overseen by the Florida Forest Service. There are 35 state forests in Florida covering more than 1,058,000 acres.State Forests
Florida Forest Service
The first state forest in Florida was , established on 6,960 acres in 1936. Cary State Forest was established in 1937. Blackwater River State Forest and