The 383,000-acre Ocala National Forest is an island of green in an otherwise urban landscape. The Ocala’s geography and climate combine to create an enchanting and unique sanctuary for Florida’s diverse wildlife. Ocala’s longleaf pine forests support a vast majority of this wildlife.

A healthy longleaf pine forest has some of the greatest vegetative diversity in the Americas. These forests provide habitat for nearly 60 percent of the reptiles and amphibians in the southeastern United States, almost 900 endemic plant species, and 29 federally listed threatened or endangered species including the federally endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

Reduced to only three percent of its original 90-million-acre land base, longleaf pine is one of Earth’s most imperiled ecosystems. The Ocala is one of the largest intact longleaf pine ecosystems left on the planet and has been recognized as one of 16 “essential support populations” designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Over the past three decades, the Ocala has worked to meet their population goal under the USFWS recovery plan by improving habitat for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

Also greatly reduced, are the budgets and staff time necessary to provide the support for such a partnership. A new model is needed to support youth engagement on the Ocala in a way that uses Forest service staff time efficiently and still offers young people the opportunity to learn about important ecological and recreation issues in their own backyard.

With support from the Batchelor Foundation, the NFF is working with the Forest Service and Boy Scout leaders to establish a long-term partnership agreement between the Ocala National Forest, the Central Florida Council of Scouts, the North Florida Council of Scouts and Camp La No Che (operated by the Boy Scouts and adjacent to the Ocala Forest).

The goals of this partnership will be to establish the Ocala Forest as a “Scouting Destination” and a family-friendly National Forest. We also hope to enable Scouts to benefit from hands-on service learning on the Ocala and help increase in Ocala’s Red-cockaded woodpecker population. Lastly, we hope Scouts apply skills they have learned and undertake real world restoration projects that directly contribute to the ecological restoration and recreation objectives of the Ocala National Forest.

This work is a part of our multi-year plan to engage the community in improving forest health on the Ocala National Forest through NFF’s Treasured Landscapes, Unforgettable Experiences conservation campaign.