3/16/07 - Grayton Beach State Park, Florida

Prescribed Burning - Prescribed fire is an effective tool for forest management. Under ideal weather conditions, and with the proper equipment and training, fire is intentionally set to burn off the native landscape. It restores and enriches natural communities, burns cycle nutrients, controls tree diseases, opens scenic vistas and perpetuates fire-adapted plants and animals. It can also be an important component of the reforestation process. Most importantly, prescribed burning reduces the chance of destructive wildfires by reducing dangerous fuel loads. www.floridaforest.org

A massive project has been undertaken to reintroduce the Longleaf Pine into the panhandle ecosystem, after logging nearly wiped out the species. Over one million seedlings have been planted in SoWal.

The skeleton of a mattress dumped beside the trail.

Images below were taken about a year after a fire north of Western Lake. The burn got out of hand, jumped the lake and burned an area adjacent Scenic 30A.