Tate's Hell State Forest is 202,000 acres (819 km²) of land in Franklin and

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

counties in

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 forest is located near Carrabelle off US 98 along the Gulf coast and on

St. James Island St. James Island is an inhabited area along the Florida Panhandle surrounded by the Carrabelle River, Crooked River, Ochlockonee River, and St. George Sound in Franklin County, Florida. It is more than long and averages wide. It is separated f ...

. At one time, Tate's Hell supported at least 12 major habitats including: wet flatwoods, wet

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, seepage slope, baygall,

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

forest, floodplain swamp, basin swamp, upland hardwood forest,

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 bec ...

, pine ridges, dense titi swamp thickets and scrub. Tate's Hell State Forest is an important

hydrologic Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

area and includes a section of the New River (Florida Panhandle). The park's watershed provides fresh water into the

Apalachicola Bay Apalachicola may refer to: * Apalachicola people, a group of Native Americans who lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida Places * Apalachicola, Florida *Apalachicola River * Apalachicola Bay * Apalachicola National Forest * Apa ...

, the Carrabelle River and the

Ochlockonee River The Ochlockonee River ( ) is a fast running river, except where it has been dammed to form Lake Talquin in Florida, originating in Georgia and flowing for before terminating in Florida. Background The name is from the Hitchiti language words ...

During a 40-year period of private ownership prior to the state's acquisition in 1994, over of forest roads and ditches were constructed on the property to accommodate intensive commercial forest management operations. Most of the area was planted with pine

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...

and the drainage canals dried what had been previously wetlands. There was extensive loss of habitat and wildlife. Apalachicola Bay suffered from the loss of the previously continuous fresh water flow into the bay provided by the wetlands, adding to the effect of loss of water flow into the bay from the Apalachicola River. Causes include surface water use upstream of the Apalachicola River basin, such as supplying drinking water to the city of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and agriculture use in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Debate over the use of water in this basin is the subject of a long-standing feud among the three southern states over which use or which user takes precedence over the others. A recent court ruling sets forth the history of water use in the upper reaches of the basin.

Name

Local legend attributes the forest's unusual name to Cebe Tate, a local homesteader who became lost in the woods in the mid 1870s. He had ventured into the woods with his hunting dog in order to shoot a panther that had attacked his livestock. The legend is often recounted with Tate becoming separated from his dogs and lost for seven days and seven nights before coming to a clearing near Carrabelle, where he lived only long enough to say to a passerby, "My name is Cebe Tate, and I just came from Hell," before collapsing.

Restoration

Since its acquisition by the State of Florida Department of Forestry in 1994, 12 restoration projects have been undertaken to restore some of the natural drainage and natural communities. These projects include removal or planting of some road beds, restoring natural water flow, and alteration of planted species. As of 2007, eight of the 12 projects had been completed at a cost of $1.446 million and affecting of the State Forest. It will however, take a much longer time for the forest to return to a more natural state. The Florida Department of Forestry and North West Florida Water Management District continue to study and plan for future restoration of the Forest.

Animals and plant life

Many endangered or threatened animals live in Tate's Hell State Forest, including the gopher tortoise and

red-cockaded woodpecker The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States. Description The red-cockaded woodpecker is small to mid-sized species, being intermediate in size between North America's two ...

. Some rare plant species living in the forest include thick-leaved water-willow (''

Justicia crassifolia Justicia may refer to: * ''Justicia'' (album), by Eddie Palmieri, 1969 * Justicia (Madrid), a ward in the Madrid city center * ''Justicia'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae * Justicia mayor, a 19th century Spanish ...

''), white birds-in-a-nest (''

Macbridea alba ''Macbridea alba'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name white birds-in-a-nest. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is found in four counties in the Florida Panhandle.USFWS''Macbride ...

''), Florida bear grass ('' Nolina atopocarpa''), Chapman's butterwort (''

Pinguicula planifolia ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...

''), and small-flowered meadow beauty ('' Rhexia parviflora''). Common animals such as

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

s and wild

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s are found in the area as well.

References

Recreation: Tate's Hell

FL-dof.com
{{coord, 29, 55, 13.52, N, 84, 49, 29.11, W, scale:200000_region:US, display=title Florida state forests Protected areas established in 1994 Protected areas of Franklin County, Florida Protected areas of Liberty County, Florida 1994 establishments in Florida