NWF Convinces Congress To Fund Wetland Purchase - National Wildlife Federation - Brief Article

National Wildlife, Feb-March, 2001

Thanks to an eleventh-hour effort by NWF and two of its state affiliates, 1,000 acres of a valuable southeastern wetland will pass into federal ownership. The area in question is the 170,000-acre Pinhook Swamp, which connects the Osceola National Forest in Florida and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.

An important habitat for Florida black bears, the diverse ecosystem also is home to a variety of imperiled species, including the wood stork, red-cockaded woodpecker, fox squirrel and parrot pitcher plant.

NWF, along with two of its affiliates, the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Georgia Wildlife Federation, has been urging Congress to add the Pinhook Swamp to the Osceola National Forest, creating one of the largest federally protected wildlife habitats east of the Mississippi River. So far, though, only 40,000 acres have been acquired.

When Congress passed the 2001 Interior Department appropriations bill without any mention of the Pinhook, NWF realized that one section of the bill contained money that could be used for a land purchase. Within hours after the bill was signed, NWF and its affiliates began coordinating letters and phone calls and scheduling meetings with key lawmakers. The result: Congressional leaders agreed to make $1 million available for purchase of 1,000 acres of the Pinhook that otherwise would have been sold for timber land.

"Had NWF not been vigilant, this opportunity would have slipped by without notice," says Andrew Schock, director of NWF's Southeastern Natural Resource Center. Besides immediately protecting 1,000 acres for wildlife, the purchase also keeps the Pinhook in Congress' sights for future funding, he adds.