Blackwater River State Forest is a

State Forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia, a ...

in the western panhandle of

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 ...

. It is administered by the

Florida Forest Service 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.Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is an executive department of the government of Florida. The Commissioner of Agriculture (directly elected by voters statewide for a four-year term, and a member of the Florida ...

. Blackwater River State Forest is completely contained within

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

and Okaloosa Counties. The forest is managed from a common headquarters in Munson, Florida. There are local ranger offices in Molino ( Escambia County), Milton, (Santa Rosa County), and Baker (Okaloosa County).

Name

The forest shares its name with the

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black te ...

, which rises in southern Alabama and flows south dividing Okaloosa and Santa Rosa before emptying into the Blackwater Bay.

History

Otahite was one of the settlements that preceded the forest. It is now a ghost town but its post office was relocated and is part of a museum. State legislator John Wilkinson Jr. was documented as being from Otahite. Federal Forest and Department of Defense land was originally donated to the state of Florida in the 1950s to manage for timber and recreation. These tracts of land comprised close to 50,000 acres of primarily Longleaf, Slash, and Loblolly pine

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s with scattered scrub resulting from years of mismanagement. Over time multiple acquisitions have been made to extend the size of the forests. Most of the additions have been from purchasing private timber company land while others have come from smaller private land owners.

Recreation

The forest offers many recreational opportunities. Multiple camping areas, both developed and primitive are located throughout the forest. Krul Campground has two camp grounds and a day use area. Bear Lake Campground has a campground with water and power and a second campground with only water for tent campers. There is also a pavilion available for use at Bear Lake. To the North is Hurricane Lake with a campground on the north and south shores. The south campground does not have electricity at its campsites. All lakes, excluding Krul lake, are open for fishing and are managed and stocked by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

References

External links

Blackwater River State Forest
– Florida Forest Service Florida state forests Protected areas of Santa Rosa County, Florida Protected areas of Okaloosa County, Florida {{Florida-protected-area-stub

Name

History

Recreation

See also

References

External links