O2O Newsletter, Fall 2021

“Hiking, on-road and off-road biking, weekend warrior style, down (and up) the Florida National Scenic Trail through, in and around swamps, sandhills, springs, scrub, sinkholes, seeps, ravines, rivers, creeks, lakes, flatwoods, hammocks, prairie and pasture.”

In early March of 2018, we joined a small group of enthusiasts on a Florida Trail Association led hike of Bradwell Bay in Apalachicola National Forest to the west of Tallahassee. The hike (or swamp slog) was billed as “Florida’s roughest, wildest day hike.” While living up to its name, this 8.7-mile hike was so enjoyable that we decided to hike the entire 1300-mile Florida Trail.   We knew we could not manage a through hike, so we set out to achieve this in our lifetimes. Since we are both in our mid-sixties, we decided it would be advisable to start on this as soon as possible.

Our strategy was to first complete the famed “O2O” route which runs through the Ocala and Osceola Forests and the area between them. We concentrated initially on the sections closest to Gainesville, where we both live. So, in August 2018 we set off to conquer our first section, the popular 10-mile stretch that runs from Pat’s Island trailhead through the Juniper Wilderness Area south to Juniper Springs. We stopped off for lunch and a swim at Hidden Pond, a welcome relief from the 98-degree heat. We also began another tradition, bringing along hammocks or pack chairs and a beverage to better enjoy our lunch and the solitude of the wilderness.  After completing this first section of the O2O, we spent the rest of that wet winter and the following summer shuttling with two vehicles and methodically working our way north and south.

 While most of the Florida Trail runs through protected swaths of Florida, there are times when these swaths must be stitched together by private lands and public (and private) roads. We agreed early on that we would bike these road walks which, we reasoned, would help to speed things up. The heavy rains in the summer of 2019 did not make biking easier, as we were forced to wade through wide pools of water on forest roads, carry our bikes through overgrown paths that sometimes connected the road walks, and hoist them over pesky fences. On some occasions it was so wet that we carried our hiking boots and sloshed barefoot along the riverlike trail, listening to the water filter through the flooded flatwoods.

We never encountered a bear, that iconic symbol of the O2O protection effort, but there was plenty of evidence of them, and they certainly saw us.  We did, however, have the odd encounter with arguably the most dangerous species on the trail – humans. One hunter we came across had obviously spent more time taking shots from a bottle than with his rifle. On another occasion we found ourselves in the firing line of a hunter and downwind of the deer, which came running in our direction right after shots were fired. While we didn’t spot the hunter, perhaps because of the burst of speed we put on in the other direction, it made us even more wary of hunters further down the trail. On one of our last hikes through the southern part of the Ocala Forest, we came across a hunter pointing his rifle straight down the FT ready to shoot a deer that had been flushed in that direction by a pack of howling dogs. Fortunately, we weren’t hiking that section on that particular day. Later that month we made sure to hike it on a weekday wearing a full ensemble of orange clothing. This is not to cast aspersions on all hunters, the vast majority of those we encountered were both friendly, woods-wise, and helpful, but those encounters were less memorable.

By the start of the 2019 winter, we had made good progress, exiting the Osceola National Forest, and reaching the Suwannee River in the north and well into the Southern half of the Ocala Forest. However, suddenly disaster struck and unexpectedly we had to suspend our O2O section hiking for over a year, as the sorts of health issues that can crop up in the over 60 and active crowd conspired to delay our adventure. It was only in December 2020, after nearly a year of rest, recovery, and rehab that we were able to hike the last sections of Ocala Forest near Paisley, and complete the approximately 220 miles of the Florida Trail – from O 2 O.

As we have continued our journey to the north and the south of the O2O, we have noted many more miles of “road walks” where the FT wends its way around the sprawl of urban areas like Orlando or traverses’ private forest and farmlands. The unique connectedness of the O2O can be attributed to the efforts of groups like the North Florida Land Trust who work tirelessly to ensure there is a continuous swath of protection for the wide-ranging and charismatic megafauna – like bears – and the not so charismatic ones – like us.

Written by-Grenville “Barney” Barnes and Tom Ankersen

Click on the names to learn more about each partner that assisted with the proposals development

Army National Guard

Defenders of Wildlife

Enterprise Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Florida Forest Service

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

National Park Service

Natural Resources Conservation Service

North Florida Land Trust

North Florida Regional Planning Council

Putnam Land Conservancy

St. Johns River Water Management District

USDA Forest Service

US Department of Defense Navy

US Fish and Wildlife Service

Northeast Sentinel Landscape Proposal 2021

At our last O2O Partnership meeting, many of you volunteered to participate in the Northeast Florida Sentinel Landscape working group.  As you may recall, the Sentinel Landscape program aligns incredibly well with the O2O initiative in that its main goal is to support military readiness through land conservation and private landowner assistance programs. Over the next few months, NFLT convened the working group and added other partners from the Northeast Florida region to develop the full proposal for the Northeast Florida Sentinel Landscape.  As the proposal developed, it became clear that, to stand apart from the eleven other applicants, the partnership must focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation. In the national security context, climate change is a “threat multiplier,” meaning that climate change amplifies existing issues around the world and at home. The military not only provides protection to US interests from armed conflict, but also delivers humanitarian assistance and responses to natural disasters. As people migrate due to sea level rise or drought, conflicts will likely increase requiring military intervention. As the severity of droughts, wildfires and storms intensifies, the military’s resources are correspondingly burdened. The Sentinel Landscape program offers the opportunity for Northeast Florida and the O2O Partnership to be leaders in developing and implementing practices and protections that mitigate climate change effects. By continuing and accelerating our land protection and land management work, we can have a far-reaching impact on the resiliency of our region and beyond. Through the help of many of you, the Northeast Florida Sentinel Landscape full proposal was submitted in August.  Now we wait for the final determination from the Federal Coordinating Committee.  In December, we expect to hear whether we are chosen for designation.  Regardless of the result, the NEFSL partners believe it’s important to continue to collaborate on resiliency efforts in the region.  As those meetings progress, many of you will be involved, and those of you that aren’t directly involved will receive reports through the O2O Partnership.  A huge thank you to everyone that participated in the development of the proposal!  We look forward to continuing this working group on military readiness and resiliency in NE Florida and updating you along the way!  -Written by Rebecca Perry

Proposed Big Pine Preserve:  NFLT successfully gained approval for a brand-new Florida Forever “project area”. The proposed 541 acre “Big Pine Preserve” was approved! Significantly, Big Pine Preserve contains the largest unprotected old-growth longleaf pine forest in Florida, as well as notable lands on the shores of Lake Kerr in the middle of the Ocala National Forest.  This approval may facilitate State funding for conservation of this important and unique property. Read more about this very cool property by clicking here or on the picture below. 

If someone would like to support the protection of this property, please link them to the O2O donation website found here.

Newsletter brought to you by O2O’s lead partner the North Florida Land Trust.