Blackwater River State Forest

Blackwater River State Forest

Location	Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties, Florida, United States
Nearest city	Milton
Coordinates	30°43′58.44″N 86°52′29.1″W / 30.7329000°N 86.874750°W / 30.7329000; -86.874750Coordinates: 30°43′58.44″N 86°52′29.1″W / 30.7329000°N 86.874750°W / 30.7329000; -86.874750
Area	189,848 acres (76,829 ha)
Other information	Hiking, biking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, camping, boating

The Blackwater River State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The 189,848 acre (768 km²) forest is located in the panhandle, northeast of Pensacola. Blackwater River State Forest is one of the largest state forests in Florida, and is named for the Blackwater River, which begins to the north in Alabama and meanders approximately 30 miles (48 km) southwestward through the forest into Blackwater Bay, near Milton, Florida. The Blackwater River is one of the few shifting sand bottom streams which remains in its natural state for nearly its entire length. The topography of the forest is gently rolling and contains various natural communities. Blackwater River State Forest is known for its longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem, which, in combination with the Conecuh National Forest to the north and Eglin Air Force Base to the south, is the largest contiguous ecological community of this type in the world.

This system once covered over 60 million acres (240,000 km²) in the southeastern United States coastal plain area. Less than 3 million of the original acreage now remains. Longleaf pine communities are rich in plant and animal life, including many classified as endangered, threatened, or species of special concern. The forest lies on the southern tip of sandy, red clay soil deposited over west Florida. Erosion shaped the land's surface into low rolling hills separated by meandering water courses and broad flood plains. Elevations within the forest range from 10 feet (3.0 m) to 290 feet (88 m) above sea level. The changes in soil composition and the varying degree of moisture present in the forest support at least five principal types of plant communities: longleaf pine-scrub oak, slash pine, swamp hardwood, loblolly pine-hardwood, and Atlantic white cedar.

One of the many outstanding features on Blackwater River State Forest is the many beautiful streams that meander throughout the forest. The most notable of these waterways are Blackwater River, Juniper Creek, Coldwater Creek and Sweetwater Creek. Canoeing on these waterways is a popular activity.Throughout the northern ranges of the forest where soil types retain more moisture, you will find vegetative species such as: longleaf pine, southern red oak, water oak and dogwood. In the southern ranges of the forest where soil types are coarse with little capacity to hold water you will find vegetative species such as: longleaf pine, turkey oak, post oak, bluejack oak and persimmon. Wiregrass, gallberry, yaupon, wax myrtle and blueberry are common understory species. Bottomlands support such species as water oak, sweetbay, redbay, titi, American holly, Atlantic white cedar and southern magnolia.

Within the forest, pitcher plant bogs are unique areas containing a diversity of carnivorous plants which lure, trap and then digest insects. The carnivorous plants of the forest include glistening sundews, butterworts, bladderworts, and four species of pitcher plants. Pitcher plants trap insects in their erect trumpet- shaped leaves with an array of downward pointing hairs and a slippery wall, which lead down to a deadly bath of rainwater and digestive enzymes.Through sound multiple-use management practices, the Florida Division of Forestry maintains a proper balance between resource utilization and resource protection. These practices include management of timber production and harvesting, watershed protection, management and enhancement of wildlife habitat, a management program for plants and animals that are endangered, threatened, or species of special concern, and recreation resource management.

Longleaf /pine wiregrass management is dependent upon an active prescribed fire program. The use of fire during the growing season is an effective tool in controlling hardwoods and promoting wiregrass flowering. Fire also helps to control brown spot needle blight on young longleaf pine seedlings, to improve wildlife habitat and control hardwood encroachment in sensitive areas such as pitcher plant bogs or red-cockaded woodpecker clusters. It also contributes to the restoration and maintenance of biological communities, and reduces the hazard of wildfire.

The prescribed burn program on Blackwater River State Forest enhances the habitat of native fauna and flora by controlling the hardwoods and underbrush that can replace the variety of fragile species living on the forest. Control burning allows for the maintenance of the largest remaining fragment of longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem in the world.

Timber management practices on Blackwater River State Forest are important in the restoration and maintenance of forest ecosystems and provide a variety of socioeconomic benefits to Floridians. Thousands of acres of slash pine plantations are being converted back to longleaf pine which historically dominated Blackwater River State Forest's sandy soils. Harvesting activities follow Silviculture Best Management Practices (BMPs).

References and external links

Blackwater River State Forest - Florida Forest Service

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Three Rivers Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Other

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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