Environment

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Walton County road closures due to inclement weather Sept. 29, 2015

Updated 12 p.m. NORTH WALTON -Engles Rd.- Water running across it at new bridge -Red Hill Rd/ Sherwood Rd. – Water on the roadway around the bridge. -Indian Creek Ranch Rd. – Currently is impassable, water over road at bridges -White Creek Rd. – Water over the road at bridges -McKinnon Bridge Rd. – Water is currently over the bridge. -Walton Bridge Rd. – Water is currently over the bridge. -W C Currington Rd. – Water over the road at...

Guided tour of Grayton Beach wet prairies Oct. 7

Date/Time: Oct. 7, 2015 – 9 – 10:30 a.m. The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA), in partnership with Northwest Florida State College, are offering the fall season of their popular eco-tourism initiative, Eco Adventures of Walton County. Join the Park Ranger for an informative tour of some of the park’s Wet Prairie Restoration areas. Learn the importance of these areas, which endangered plants call them home, and how swamp titi trees impact the hydrology and flora of these areas. The ranger...

Northwest Florida Water Management District adopts budget focused on springs, water resource protection

PANAMA CITY – The Northwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board on Sept. 24 adopted a $55.7 million budget for Fiscal Year 2015-16, which begins Oct. 1. The budget represents an increase of $2.1 million from Fiscal Year 2014-15. “This budget shows, once again, the Board’s commitment to the people and natural resources of northwest Florida,” said Brett Cyphers, Executive Director of the Northwest Florida Water Management District. A majority of the spending in the final budget is directed toward...

Guided tour of Choctawhatchee River and Morrison Springs Sept. 25

Time: 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA), in partnership with Northwest Florida State College, are offering the fall season of their popular eco-tourism initiative, Eco Adventures of Walton County. Learn about unique places tucked away along the Choctawhatchee River. Learn about our precious water resources, flood plains, where the river flows, and why it is ever changing. Then we will drive to Morrison Springs. Lean about how many millions of gallons of water Morrison Springs emits every...

International Coastal Cleanup Day in South Walton Sept. 19

Visit South Walton is hosting the 2015 International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 19, 2015 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the following beach accesses: Dune Allen, Ed Walline, Inlet Beach and Miramar Beach. It is easy to get involved, there is no age limit or special skills required — supplies and water to be provided to all volunteers. For more information on how you can support beach cleanup in South Walton contact Stacey Infinger at (850) 267-4578...

Nature benefits from prescribed practices at Grayton Beach and Deer Lake State Park

Many people wonder why prescribed burning is done in our area State parks. Before there were roads and developments, lightning-set fires frequently swept almost unimpeded across Northwest Florida’s landscape. Over thousands of years, many natural habitats have evolved under the influence of periodic fire – and are dependent on it. Restoration and maintenance of such fire-dependent habitats now requires prescribed burning – the mimicking of lightning fires by carefully introducing fire according to detailed control plans called prescriptions. One of...

Lake Powell clean up September 19

Last year 560,000 volunteers from 91 countries picked up more than 16 million pounds of trash during the 2014 International Coastal Cleanup. In our little corner of the earth, we have a very unique and precious resource. LAKE POWELL was designated an Outstanding Florida Waterway in 1991. It is among the largest of the rare Coastal Dune Lakes which occur in only a few places around the world. The Lake Powell ecosystem is known for it’s beauty and biodiversity, as...

Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance offering invasive plant removal in South Walton

The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA) of Northwest Florida State College in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Longleaf Alliance will begin the second year of the Habitat Rx invasive plant removal program in South Walton County. The program is designed for interested property owners who wish to improve local habitat and restore plant and animal biodiversity. Invasive plants disrupt the delicate balance of ecosystems by out-competing beneficial native plants, diminishing biodiversity, and reducing food sources and...