Resources
Resources with details on specific Florida WEAs
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Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.
Wildlife and Environmental Areas are much rarer in Florida than Wildlife Management Areas, where hunting is permitted. Both are managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
WEAs usually have an important natural feature that is protected by their special status, such as the ancient longleaf pine forest at Chinsegut WEA, or the gopher tortoise colony at Perry Oldenburg WEA.
Many of these public lands were purchased as mitigation lands – specifically, land preserved for a certain species’ diminishing habitat bought with funds paid by developers destroying similar habitats nearby.
Pets are not permitted in WEAs. The following are ones where we’ve seen wildlife and uncommon birds along our hikes.
Chinsegut Big Pine Tract The Big Pine Tract of Chinsegut WEA protects the southernmost old-growth longleaf pine forest in America, the second largest such tract in Florida.
Chinsegut Conservation Center Tract Discover the beauty of May's Prairie at the heart of the Chinsegut WEA Conservation Center Tract, a vast wetland where sandhill cranes gather.
Lake Placid Scrub Home to Florida scrub-jays, this 3.5 mile loop in the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife & Environmental Area provides views of the lake and a walk through ancient scrub.
Perry Oldenburg WEA With a surprising diversity of oak species for Central Florida, Perry Oldenburg WEA protects a prime piece of sandhill habitat where gopher tortoises thrive.
Split Oak Forest WEA A live oak tree more than 200 years old is the centerpiece of Split Oak Forest, a 2,000-acre prairie and scrub preserve near Orlando, home to families of sandhill cranes
Watermelon Pond Preserve With more than 4,200 acres in this FWC Wildlife Environmental Area, Watermelon Pond Preserve offers both solitude and scenery along a vast system of prairie habitats.