UF IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences SFFGS

09/19/2026

Going right to the source: Associate Professor Marcus Lashley of the UF Game Lab aka Mr. Turkey!

If you want an abundance of big birds on your land or on your hunting lease, manage it for abundance of insects, cover, and roosting opportunities.

Get the best advice in the episode from the My Florida Forest series for landowners.

Do you or some you know own a forest in Florida?
Check out the series here: https://myflforest.land/

09/18/2026

September 18, 2026 Florida Land Steward Update: Congratulations Mark and Janora Crow: 2026 Jon Gould Florida Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, UF Seeking Newly Planted Loblolly Pines Impacted by Drought, Apply for the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention and Assistance Program, Two Regional Conservation Partnership Programs to Provide Opportunities for Financial Assistance and Conservation Easements to North Florida Landowners, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Announces Financial Assistance Opportunities through the Environmental Quality Incentives and Conservation Stewardship Program, Deadline Extended for Florida Block Grant Disaster Relief Program Applications, New Florida Land Steward Program video released, Got Livestock? Participate in a Florida Rancher Survey, Check out the Forest Health Module in Forest Landowner Academy, and more.
UF IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences SFFGS Florida Forest Service Alachua Conservation Trust Florida Forestry Association MyFWC Florida Fish and Wildlife American Tree Farm System USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service National Woodland Owners Association

Have Land? Get a plan and stay connected. Florida Land Steward is your source of assistance, news, events, and opportunities.

09/18/2026

The Florida Tree Farm Program proudly recognizes Mark and Janora Crow as the 2026 Jon Gould Florida Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, honoring more than six decades of exemplary forest stewardship, sustainable land management, and an unwavering commitment to preserving Florida’s working forests for future generations.

For the Crow family, forestry is far more than an occupation—it is a way of life and a legacy that now spans four generations.
Florida Forestry Association American Tree Farm System Florida Forest Service MyFWC Florida Fish and Wildlife

Mark and Janora Crow honored by Florida Tree Farm Program as 2026 Jon Gould Florida Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year.

09/16/2026

You spend the money, take the time and effort, then you have your seedlings in the ground ready to start their growth into tall and hardy trees. However, as it’s liable to do, the weather turns poor and you get a severe drought, like the one that started in 2025 and carried into spring 2026.

“Landowners reported that the extreme drought conditions that occurred in the fall of 2025 and spring of 2026 was killing newly planted seedlings,” said Jason Vogel, associate professor with the UF School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences (SFFGS).

“With my colleagues (SFFGS Associate Professor) Dan Johnson and (UF Agronomy Department Plant Ecophysiologist) Bill Hammond, we wrote a proposal to identify what areas are most likely to have experienced high mortality so that landowners can check if they need to replant.”

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Project Award No. 2026-68019-46679

You spend the money, take the time and effort, then you have your seedlings in the ground ready to start their growth into tall and hardy trees. However, as it’s liable to do, the weather turns poor and you get a severe drought, like the one that started in 2025 and carried into spring 2026. […]

09/15/2026

THIS SATURDAY!

Come meet some fascinating pond critters at our annual Aquatic Ecology Day at the UF/IFAS Millhopper facility (7922 NW 71st St., Gainesville) from 8 a.m. to Noon!

In addition to our usual fishing activities, we will be setting up an interactive education booth displaying a collection of live aquatic invertebrates and plants. You are also welcome to explore the ponds and catch your own invertebrates.

Educators from the Alachua Conservation Trust will be on hand to identify your catch and discuss their unique characteristics and role in aquatic food webs.

Learn more about Fishing For Success and see future event dates here: https://ffgs.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/fishing-for-success/

09/15/2026

WUFT News reports on the 2026 Cow Creek wildfire and what has happened since 2,400 pine-lined acres in Levy County burned in April.

When carefully planned, monitored and managed, prescribed burning can control tree diseases, reduce the risk of wildfires and stimulate new growth.

"Florida’s millenia-long fire history prepared its plants and pollinators to rebound stronger."

Read the full story and input from SFFGS Fire Ecologist Raelene Crandall, Ph.D.:

The Cow Creek wildfire burned 2,400 pine-lined acres of Levy County in April. Florida’s millenia-long fire history prepared its plants and pollinators to rebound stronger.

09/13/2026

Cows plus timber equals SILVOPASTURE.

Check out how two North Florida forest landowners have joined cattle with timber to yield more than profit.

This is the latest video in the My Florida Forest series hosted and produced by SFFGS Forest Entomology Professor Jiri Hulcr.

The series aims to inspire landowners to keep forests as forests.

The videos feature Florida forest landowners from throughout the state who are members of the Florida Forestry Association and Florida Land Steward Partnership program.

See the My Florida Forest series: https://myflforest.land/

09/10/2026

Equipment donated by NASA's Kennedy Space Center is now part of SFFGS Associate Research Scientist Rosvel Bracho's long-term agroecosystem research.

The eddy covariance sensors — carbon dioxide and water v***r, and methane — and a sonic anemometer, along with meteorological sensors, data collection, and power systems for the DeLuca Preserve are now operational.

The equipment donation exceeds $50,000 and will become an invaluable part of Bracho’s research which he is carrying out with his team members Post-Doctoral Associate Dr. Temnotfo (Tenzy) Mncube, and Biological Scientist Mike Trevino.

Data collected from this site is collected continuously and will provide information on the carbon dioxide dynamics — productivity — water used and water yield, but also on methane emissions as related to cows’ presence. In short, it provides information on ecosystem functioning across daily, seasonal, yearly, and multiyear timeframes.

Read the full story: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/ffgs/2026/09/10/new-data-site-expands-research-of-sustainable-grazing-lands-in-florida/

09/09/2026

The Southeast Silviculture Library (SESL) is an online repository of demonstration or scientific studies highlighting forest management approaches in our region.

The SESL can help you connect with the larger forest management community and document your forest management efforts.

Check out this webinar presented by Drs. Tyler Carney and Jason Vogel, UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences.

The course was offered by the Florida Land Steward Partnership and recorded September 8, 2026.

Learn more about the SESL: https://sesilvi.org/

The Southeast Silviculture Library (SESL) is an online repository o...

09/09/2026

SFFGS Research Professor Sue Lowerre-Barbieri, Ph.D., who leads the Movement Ecology and Reproductive Resilience (MERR) laboratory — a science collaborative between SFFGS and the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, is the recipient of the Oscar E. Sette Award for Outstanding Marine Fishery Biologist.

Recipients are chosen by the American Fisheries Society Marine Section members for demonstrating sustained excellence in marine fishery biology through research, teaching, and administration. Oscar Elton Sette (1900-1972) is acknowledged as the pioneer to integrate the scientific fields of fisheries, oceanography and meteorology.

"I was especially honored to receive it because it recognizes sustained excellence in marine fishery biology through research, teaching, administration, or a combination of the three," Dr. Lowerre-Barbieri said. "And maybe even more because of the quality of science done by previous recipients."

Read more about MERR: https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/fish/other/reproductive-publications/


Read more about the Oscar E. Sette Award:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/511cdc7fe4b00307a2628ac6/t/5de0875051c72e2c5e107a73/1574995793547/Tab08_AFS-Sette-Award_2019-12.pdf