Bob Tract Forest Management PlanEssay title: Bob Tract Forest Management PlanForest Management PlanPrepared For:Bob StobberXXX NE XXXth StreetXXXXXXX, FL 369887Plan Time Frame:2006-2011IntroductionProperty Location:The Bob Tract can be accessed by traveling north from Vero, Florida on State Road 77 for 17.5 miles to County Road 538. Turn left on CR 538. Head west on CR 538 for approximately 9.5 miles to NE xxth Avenue. Head north on NE xxth Avenue for 2.5 miles. The Bob Property lies to the northeast of the intersection of NE xxth Avenue and NE xxx Street and is located entirely in Section 22 of Township 9 South, Range 23 East. Appendix 1 is a locator map for the Bob Tract.
Landowner Objectives:This is an update to the original Forest Management Plan that was prepared for the Bob Tract in 1997. The primary objective for the original plan was to restore native plant communities for the purposes of enhancing aesthetic value and contributing to wildlife habitat. Since the original plan was written, several achievements have been made toward a restored community. Stands of young longleaf pine have been successfully established on much of the property. Longleaf pine is a historically significant component of native ecosystems that once dominated the coastal plan from southern Virginia to central Florida and eastern Texas. It is widely believed that at the time of European settlement longleaf pine covered 92 million acres. Longleaf pine is native to a wide variety of sites ranging from wet, poorly drained flatwoods to sandhills (both common in this area of Florida) to dry, rocky mountain ridges such as those found in northeastern Alabama.
In 1998, a special report was sent by the President to the Executive Office of the Interior (EOI) and the Public Geology Office (PUIG) with questions and requests about wildlife resources, vegetation, vegetation management, and restoration activity in the Bobtract forestlands of the Eastern Seaboard. The President’s request was that the EOI develop an active study policy regarding these resources and their use in an updated report that would include a review of federal conservation and recreation agencies, management and resource management programs in each of these lands and their respective use requirements, as well as work to develop a plan that would enhance wildlife habitat to increase tourism. For more information, email [email protected] or call the Bureau of Land Management at (404) 622-7481.
The Bob Tract is in restoration and recovery mode.
The Bob Tract and its resources have been conserved along with, and are also protected under, one or more of the following activities:
Diversion on wildlife resource and recreation lands:This is a “catch and release” program, where all wildlife collected before the date of this plan are redistributed along with all wildlife collected after that date at a minimum amount of conservation easements.
In general the annual, non-profit, public-private agreement provided for in the Federal Records Act in Section 302 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation permits the use of wildlife resources in the operations and conservation of wildlife and the use of wildlife by a licensed- and certified public agency in certain public-private partnership projects.
The Bob Tract’s current “community resource use area” has approximately 40,000 acres and is located on six hundred acres near and between the public site of the original Bobtract community plan on the east side of the river in front of the historic Bobtract home.
The Bob Tract is a federal public land designation and one of the primary uses of federal land and resources. Other uses also included use by nonprofit organizations such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Bob Tract’s activities and programs are protected under one or more of the following activities:
Restoration of native plant communities for the purpose of enhancing aesthetic value:
Recycling from and reintegrating native trees, shrubs, shrubs, and perennials:
Research, development, and conservation:
Development of native plants and shrubs associated with public use and natural resources:
For more information, contact a recreation officer or a ranger at (334) 764-7100.
The Bob Tract is owned and operated by the Bureau of Land Management.
The Bob Family continues to be interested in adding to the aesthetic value of the property and contributing to wildlife habitat through the sound management of their recently established forest resources.
Management Recommendation SummaryTimber:Recommendations for timber management will focus on maintaining and promoting growth of the established longleaf pine stands. The Bob Family is interested in long rotation timber production as well as continued reintroduction of other native plants.
Wildlife:Creating and managing a diversity of habitat types is essential for successful wildlife management. Habitat diversity can be maintained on the Bob tract through prescribed burning, wildlife openings (such as wide firelines), and mowing.
Species which are native to the longleaf pine/turkey oak community such as the bobwhite quail and gopher tortoise benefit from prescribed burning through increased herbaceous forage, a decrease in competing woody species, and ease of movement. Prescribed burning can also be used to maintain the openings that currently exist on the Bob property. The majority of openings