Environment

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4-H marine camp offered July 30 – August 3, 2012 at Camp Timpoochee

Learn about fresh and salt water habitats, snorkeling and more at week long camp Are you interested in learning about marine life, going fishing, or exploring the underwater world with a mask and snorkel? If so, this is the camp for you. Separated from the Destin beaches by the Choctawatchee Bay, Camp Timpoochee 4-H Center, (located in Niceville, Florida) allows campers first hand experience with Florida’s marine environment from above and below the waterline. Timpoochee’s marine lab is equipped with...

Moving feral hogs is illegal; bad for landowners

By Stan Kirkland, FWC Feral or wild hogs have an incredible reproductive potential: A few hogs can quickly grow to several dozen. Although despised and unwanted by many land managers, there’s increasing evidence some people move hogs in violation of the law and without regard for the environmental consequences. On May 6, a Walton County sheriff’s deputy saw vehicle tracks leading from Highway 20 into Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) property near Villa Tasso. He stopped and heard the sound...

Learn about alligators at Topsail June 15

Time: 1:30 p.m. Once they were hunted, then they were protected, now they are farmed.  Come and learn the facts and history of the American Alligator.  Park at the Day-Use area off Hwy 30A. Take a short hike to the club house. Fees: Program included in the park admission fee of $6.00 per vehicle. Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is located at 7525 W. Scenic Highway 30A, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459. For more information, call (850) 267-8330 ::MAP::...

Double red flags flying along South Walton beaches

Water is closed to the public June 10, 2012 DOUBLE RED FLAG CONDITIONS: WATER IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC SURF ZONE FORECAST: WAVE HEIGHTS: 3-4 feet. RIP CURRENT DEVELOPMENT PROBABILITY AND RIP CURRENT STRENGTH: very high…a very high risk of life threatening rip currents means that wind, wave and tidal conditions all support the development of extremely strong and dangerous rip currents. Water is closed to the public. For more information, go to: www.swfd.org/weather.php The Walton County Sheriff’s Office advises...

North Florida nightfall brings out diversity of bats, biologists

13 different species of bats exist in Florida As night falls over north Florida, a band of 66 men and women split into small groups to find bats in damp, mosquito-rich places in the Panhandle, like Apalachicola National Forest, Joe Budd Wildlife Management Area and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. To ensnare the bats, biologists hoist nearly invisible “mist nets” as tall as trees. They wait for hours in the dark. They have equipment out on portable tables, so they...