complete agenda - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Unit Name: Jennings State Forest
Acres: 23,997.08 Managing Agency: FDACS-DOF
Current Management Plan
Approved:
369
10/12/2007
Narrative:
Jennings State Forest (JSF) is comprised of approximately 24,000 acres. The property was
acquired under the CARL and Save Our Rivers (SOR) programs, with CARL, SOR, Preservation
2000, and the St. Johns River Water Management District ad valorem funds to protect the
watershed of the Upper Black Creek. There are more than 15 different natural biological
communities on JSF, each with unique plants, animals, and physical characteristics. The Division of
Forestry uses prescribed fire to manage these communities in order to maintain the required
habitat for the many unique plants and animals that occur within them. Included among the
different types of natural communities are sandhill, slope forest, flatwoods, seepage slope, dome
swamp, blackwater stream, and seepage stream. Raccoon, otter, alligator, and wading birds can
be seen along North Fork Black Creek and other tributaries found throughout the forest. Whitetailed
deer, wild turkey, hawks and song birds can be found in the uplands. Several ravines can be
found in JSF, representing the slow but never ending process of erosion by the force of water. The
spring fed streams are visible when canoeing between Powell Ford and Ellis Ford on North Fork
Black Creek. The Forest is divided by the North Fork of Black Creek and Yellow Water Creek with
smaller streams and branches eventually flowing into the North Fork of Black Creek.
In an effort to standardize the land management planning and reporting methods implemented by
all state land managers, the LMUAC has established eight common management goals and 32
quantitative measures that should be addressed by all management plans, where they apply to the
specific purposes and mission of each management unit. The Division of Forestry’s progress
towards achieving the common goals and applicable core objectives, as well as additional State
Forest-specific objectives for the JSF, is described in quantitative terms on Tables 1- 8. The
management plan for JSF was approved prior to July 2008, and does not contain specific measures
and timeframes for the goals, objectives and recommended actions. In the narrative below, the
last two years of applicable outstanding accomplishments, deficiencies and corrective actions, and
other important or clarifying information is provided for each of the LMUAC management goals.
The Division of Forestry manages JSF under the multiple-use concept balancing environmental,
recreational and resource use needs. The Forest is open during daylight hours for hiking, bicycling,
canoeing, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing. JSF contains 2 hiking trails that are included in
the Florida Division of Forestry's Trailwalker Hiking Program. JSF is open to regulated hunting and
fishing under the direction of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. JSF staff
conducted 38 environmental education programs with local schools, rebuilt 5.5 miles of public
access roads, and installed three culverts to improve sheet flow and one low water crossing to
improve stream flow.
The following threatened or endangered species on JSF include gopher tortoise, striped newt,
Bachman’s sparrow, Bartram’s ixia, and pineland scurfpea. Accomplishments for the past two
years include 6,140 acres of prescribed burning, 597 acres of sandhill improvement was conducted
via reduction in oak overstory and sand pine regeneration. ULW herbicide was contract applied to
447 acres to begin restoration of sand hills. Ground cover is responding and restoration is
underway. Ninety-four acres were reforested with longleaf pine, and 8,314 tons of pine was
harvested at a value of $166,334.76. A timber inventory was conducted on 10,494 acres of JSF,
and two acres of cogon grass and one acre of sword fern were treated. Twenty-five archaeological
sites have been recorded on JSF.