NRCS Helping to Preserve Florida’s Heritage

The dynamic between grazing and wetlands interests Peter Frederick, a wetland science and restoration professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. Fifteen years ago, Frederick and his wife bought 282 acres of prairie, freshwater marshes, hammocks and stands of longleaf pine. The property’s beauty and location makes it prime real estate, vulnerable to development as nearby Gainesville expands.  But the land is protected as they entered it into a conservation easement with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Florida and Alachua County Forever, which requires he keep the land in agriculture.